1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible
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| II Samuel 22:1 | And David spoke to the Lord the words of this canticle, in the day that the Lord delivered him out of the hand of all his enemies, and out of the hand of Saul. | Spoke, etc. By comparing this with the 17th Psalm, we may be convinced how much the Hebrew varies, particularly if we examine also the manuscripts. Kennicott specifies no less than 600 variations in this one canticle, and refutes the opinion of those who say that the 17th Psalm is a second edition, corrected by David's own hand, as the manuscripts frequently shew the inaccuracies of the printed copies. He has collated them with Walton's Polyglott. The variations are not however all distinct from each other, sometimes twenty manuscripts having the same various readings, and many of them relate to the letter V. See Diss. ii., p. 565. We shall give the explication in the order of the Psalms. The collation of parallel passages is of infinite advantage. Frequently (Haydock) the words differ so as to explain one another. --- Saul. He is specified as the most dangerous. David, by divine inspiration, thanks God for his deliverance from all his enemies, both corporal and spiritual, enjoying peace of mind on account of his sins being forgiven, and all his opponents repressed. (Worthington) --- This year, the thirty-seventh of David's reign, was free from any commotion. Yet the king seems to have given way to a little vanity, on account of the many valiant men whom God had collected in his service; (chap. 23.) and hence he consented to the unfortunate resolution of numbering his subjects. (Salien, the year of the world 3016.) |
| II Samuel 22:2 | And he said: *The Lord is my rock, and my strength, and my saviour. Psalm 17:3. | |
| II Samuel 22:3 | God is my strong one, in him will I trust: my shield, and the horn of my salvation: he lifteth me up, and is my refuge: my saviour, thou wilt deliver me from iniquity. | |
| II Samuel 22:4 | *I will call on the Lord who is worthy to be praised: and I shall be saved from my enemies. Psalm 17:4. | |
| II Samuel 22:5 | For the pangs of death have surrounded me: the floods of Belial have made me afraid. | |
| II Samuel 22:6 | The cords of hell compassed me: the snares of death prevented me. | |
| II Samuel 22:7 | In my distress, I will call upon the Lord, and I will cry to my God: and he will hear my voice out of his temple, and my cry shall come to his ears. | Temple. David was now busy in making preparations for it. |
| II Samuel 22:8 | The earth shook and trembled, the foundations of the mountains were moved and shaken, because he was angry with them. | |
| II Samuel 22:9 | A smoke went up from his nostrils, and a devouring fire out of his mouth: coals were kindled by it. | |
| II Samuel 22:10 | He bowed the heavens, and came down: and darkness was under his feet. | |
| II Samuel 22:11 | And he rode upon the Cherubims, and flew: and slid upon the wings of the wind. | Upon. Cordell (Menochius) would translate the Hebrew, "as in contest." |
| II Samuel 22:12 | He made darkness a covering round about him: dropping waters out of the clouds of the heavens. | |
| II Samuel 22:13 | By the brightness before him, the coals of fire were kindled. | Kindled. The words abju abru seem to be wanting here, as they are found in Syriac, Arabic and the Psalm. Kennicott would render this most striking image, "at the brightness of his presence his clouds removed; They kindled into coals of fire," etc. (Diss. i.) |
| II Samuel 22:14 | The Lord shall thunder from heaven: and the Most High shall give forth his voice. | Shall. Hebrew as well in the past tense. "The Lord thundered," etc. (Haydock) |
| II Samuel 22:15 | He shot his arrows, and scattered them: his lightning, and consumed them. | |
| II Samuel 22:16 | And the overflowings of the sea appeared, and the foundations of the world were laid open at the rebuke of the Lord, at the blast of the spirit of his wrath. | Overflowings. Hebrew, "channels," the waters receding as at the Red Sea, [Exodus 14:21,] and at the passage of the Jordan. [Josue 3:13.] |
| II Samuel 22:17 | He sent from on high, and took me, and drew me out of many waters. | |
| II Samuel 22:18 | He delivered me from my most mighty enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. | |
| II Samuel 22:19 | He prevented me in the day of my affliction, and the Lord became my stay. | |
| II Samuel 22:20 | And he brought me forth into a large place, he delivered me, because I pleased him. | |
| II Samuel 22:21 | The Lord will reward me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands he will reward me. | |
| II Samuel 22:22 | Because I have kept the ways of the Lord, and have not wickedly departed from my God. | God. Perhaps David might have written this before his fall; or, if afterwards, his sincere repentance had restored him to his former state. |
| II Samuel 22:23 | For all his judgments are in my sight: and his statutes I have not removed from me. | |
| II Samuel 22:24 | And I shall be perfect with him: and shall keep myself from my iniquity. | |
| II Samuel 22:25 | And the Lord will recompense me according to my justice: and according to the cleanness of my hands in the sight of his eyes. | |
| II Samuel 22:26 | With the holy one, thou wilt be holy: and with the valiant perfect. | Holy; treating all according to their deserts. (Haydock) |
| II Samuel 22:27 | With the elect, thou wilt be elect: and with the perverse, thou wilt be perverted. | |
| II Samuel 22:28 | And the poor people thou wilt save: and with thy eyes, thou wilt humble the haughty. | |
| II Samuel 22:29 | For thou art my lamp, O Lord: and thou, O Lord, wilt enlighten my darkness. | Lamp. Hebrew Thair, "thou wilt light" my lamp, seems deficient; as it is found in some manuscripts, Syriac, Arabic, Psalm xvii., etc. (Kennicott) |
| II Samuel 22:30 | For through thee I shall be girded and run: through my God I shall leap over the wall. | |
| II Samuel 22:31 | As for God, his way is spotless, the word of the Lord is tried by fire: he is the shield of all that trust in him. | |
| II Samuel 22:32 | Who is God but the Lord: and who is strong but our God? | |
| II Samuel 22:33 | God, who hath girded me with strength: and made my way perfect. | |
| II Samuel 22:34 | *Who maketh my feet like the feet of harts, and setteth me upon my high places. Psalm 144:1. | |
| II Samuel 22:35 | Who teacheth my hands to war: and maketh my arms like a bow of brass. | |
| II Samuel 22:36 | Thou hast given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy mildness hath multiplied me. | |
| II Samuel 22:37 | Thou shalt enlarge my steps under me: and my ancles shall not fail. | |
| II Samuel 22:38 | I will pursue after my enemies, and crush them: and will not return again till I consume them. | |
| II Samuel 22:39 | I will consume them, and break them in pieces, so that they shall not rise: they shall fall under my feet. | |
| II Samuel 22:40 | Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: thou hast made them that resisted me to bow under me. | |
| II Samuel 22:41 | My enemies, thou hast made to turn their back to me: and them that hated me, and I shall destroy them. | |
| II Samuel 22:42 | They shall cry, and there shall be none to save: to the Lord, and he shall not hear them. | |
| II Samuel 22:43 | I shall beat them as small as the dust of the earth: I shall crush them, and spread them abroad like the mire of the streets. | |
| II Samuel 22:44 | Thou wilt save me from the contradictions of my people: thou wilt keep me to be the head of the Gentiles: the people which I know not, shall serve me. | Me. Though David conquered some Gentiles, and some were converted to the true faith under the Old Testament, yet the fulness of the Gentiles belongs to the Church of Christ, the perpetual stability of which is here foretold, ver. 51. (Worthington) |
| II Samuel 22:45 | The sons of the stranger will resist me, at the hearing of the ear they will obey me. | |
| II Samuel 22:46 | The strangers are melted away, and shall be straitened in their distresses. | |
| II Samuel 22:47 | The Lord liveth, and my God is blessed: and the strong God of my salvation shall be exalted: | |
| II Samuel 22:48 | God, who giveth me revenge, and bringest down people under me. | |
| II Samuel 22:49 | Who bringest me forth from my enemies, and liftest me up from them that resist me: *from the wicked man, thou shalt deliver me. Psalm 17:49. | |
| II Samuel 22:50 | *Therefore will I give thanks to thee, O Lord, among the Gentiles, and will sing to thy name. Romans 15:9. | |
| II Samuel 22:51 | Giving great salvation to his king, and shewing mercy to David, his anointed, and to his seed for ever. |