2 Samuel 22:6

22:6 The ropes of Sheol ¹  tightened around me; ² 

the snares of death trapped me. ³ 

2 Samuel 22:35

22:35 He trains ⁴  my hands for battle; ⁵ 

my arms can bend even the strongest bow. ⁶ 

[22:6]  ¹ tn “Sheol,” personified here as David’s enemy, is the underworld, place of the dead in primitive Hebrew cosmology.

[22:6]  ² tn Heb “surrounded me.”

[22:6]  ³ tn Heb “confronted me.”

[22:35]  ⁴ tn Heb “teaches.”

[22:35]  ⁵ tn The psalmist attributes his skill with weapons to divine enabling. Egyptian reliefs picture gods teaching the king how to shoot a bow. See O. Keel, Symbolism of the Biblical World, 265.

[22:35]  ⁶ tn Heb “and a bow of bronze is bent by my arms.” The verb נָחֵת (nakhet) apparently means “to pull back; to bend” here (see HALOT 692 s.v. נחת). The bronze bow referred to here was probably laminated with bronze strips, or a purely ceremonial or decorative bow made entirely from bronze. In the latter case the language is hyperbolic, for such a weapon would not be functional in battle.