Structurally it is best to consider this verse as consisting of three lines, like verse 9: He bowed the heavens/and came down/thick darkness was under his feet. Here the second parallel line is used to carry the action forward. In some cases it may be necessary to make the sequence of events more explicit by saying, for example, “Then he came swiftly down toward earth,” or “After that he suddenly came down,” or “Having bent the heavens like a hunter bends a bow, he came down.”

The picture in verses 10-15 is that of a thunderstorm. The verb translated bowed may mean “to stretch” (as in Psa 104.2, “stretched out the heavens like a tent”). Here the idea is that of bending down, or else “spread apart [like curtains].” New Jerusalem Bible has “parted”; New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh “bent.” Bowed the heavens is a figure that may require some adjustment in the direction of a simile; for example, “he opened the sky as a person opens a curtain” (compare Contemporary English Version) or “he tore the sky apart as a person tears a cloth.”

Came down: God is portrayed as making an opening in the firmament and descending to earth in order to save David.

The thick darkness … under his feet refers to dark clouds (see Nahum 1.3, where the clouds are the carpet on which God rests his feet). The darkness associated with it is to hide him from sight (as in Psa 97.2; 1 Kgs 8.12; Exo 19.16; 20.21).

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The verbs rode and flew may have to be translated by a single verb in the receptor language. The verb translated rode is related to the noun “chariot” in Hebrew. It was understood that the creature was the one doing the actual flying; similarly today a passenger “flies” in an airplane.

Psa 104.3 has a parallel to this verse, “You use the clouds as your chariot and ride on the wings of the wind” (Good News Translation).

The plural of cherub (“cherubim”) is used in 6.2 and 1 Sam 4.4 (see the comments on those verses). Throughout the Old Testament this term refers to a winged creature guarding the heavenly throne of Yahweh, or to images of that creature; see the description in Ezek 1.5-14; 10.21. There were gold figures of cherubim above the Covenant Box (Exo 25.17-22), which were thought of as Yahweh’s throne (1 Sam 4.4; 2 Sam 6.2; 2 Kgs 19.15); and 1 Chr 28.18 speaks of “the golden chariot of the cherubim.” Here the cherub serves as a chariot on which Yahweh rides. The wings of the wind in line b is parallel with the cherub in line a.

He rode on a cherub presents several problems for translators. Since cherub is largely unknown or misunderstood, a descriptive phrase will be required in many cases. However, one must not give the impression that it is a variant of some locally known large bird. Translators should normally avoid transliterating the term unless it is accompanied by a descriptive phrase, and even then the transliterated form may not be helpful. In most translations a descriptive note such as is found in the Word List at the back of Good News Translation will be helpful. If the descriptive phrase is confusing for the reader, it may be better to borrow the term from a major language in the area. Phrases like “winged animal” or “flying being” may be meaningless, and “a flying thing” may be equated with anything from an insect to an airplane.

He was seen: the parallel in Psa 18.10 has in place of this a word meaning “gliding” (Revised Standard Version, “came swiftly”), and there is textual evidence for the same reading here in 2 Samuel. A number of modern English versions seem to follow the variant; Revised English Bible and Anchor Bible have “he swooped,” and Fox has “gliding.” Others read “he soared” (New International Version) or “soaring” (New Jerusalem Bible). But Hebrew Old Testament Text Project recommends the text followed by Revised Standard Version, giving it a {B} rating. In Hebrew the basic forms of the two verbs are very similar: y-r-ʾ and y-d-ʾ. In those languages where the passive form is not advisable, it will be necessary to indicate who did the seeing. But Contemporary English Version retains the meaning of Revised Standard Version while avoiding the passive, by saying “You appeared.” This would, of course, be “he appeared” if the third-person pronoun of the original had been retained.

Upon the wings of the wind may require adjustment in languages where wind is not spoken of as having wings. In some cases this expression must be rendered as “the wind blew him there swiftly like a bird flies.” In addition to the parallel in Psa 18.10, this expression occurs in Psa 104.3.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Continuing the use of images that accompany a storm, the writer speaks of Yahweh’s “shelter,” that is, his canopy, which is normally a temporary structure, a “booth” made of branches (as in the Festival of Shelters).

He made darkness around him his canopy may be preserved as a figure by rendering it “he dressed himself with darkness” or “the dark night was his clothing.” New American Bible has “he made darkness the shelter about him,” while Contemporary English Version has “Darkness was your tent.” Nonfiguratively this may be translated “he hid himself in the darkness.” Though the Masoretic Text reads “a canopy,” the context permits the translation his canopy.

The second line has no verb. Some versions take He made of the first line as being understood in the second. Good News Translation seems to take the words “around him” from the first line and make them into a verbal expression as a part of the second line, “surround him.”

Anderson takes the word canopy as belonging to the second line and considers the verb “to be” as understood. He therefore translates:
He set darkness around him,
his canopy was the sieve of waters.

Anderson’s translation requires that the Hebrew be segmented differently from that in the Masoretic Text, since canopy clearly goes with the first part of the verse in the Masoretic Text.

The majority of versions, however, seem to take the second line as a fuller explanation of the meaning of darkness in the first line. Compare New International Version:
He made darkness his canopy around him
—the dark rain clouds of the sky.

This is probably the least problematic of the possible solutions to the problems presented by this verse.

The expressions thick clouds and a gathering of water refer to the same thing. Consequently some may translate “thick clouds where water gathers” or “the dark rain clouds of the sky” (New International Version). The word translated gathering occurs only here in the Old Testament. The meaning is debated; some render it “collection” or “mass,” and others “a sieve” or “strainer.” The Septuagint and the ancient Syriac both read “darkness of water,” but Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament, which gives an {A} evaluation to the Masoretic Text, rightly claims that “darkness” is the result of an attempt to resemble the parallel text in Psa 18.11.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

After pausing in verse 12 to build again the picture through intensification, the poet continues the progression of events. Note that Good News Translation makes this verse a continuation of the sentence that begins in the previous verse.

There is some uncertainty about the meaning of this verse, which is literally “from the brightness before him coals of fire were kindled.” But it is perhaps easier than the counterpart in Psa 18.12. The picture seems to be that of a storm that included lightning (brightness), which strikes the earth and causes fires. Coals of fire are not normally associated with a thunderstorm but can be the result of a lightning strike. New American Bible (“From the brightness of his presence coals were kindled to flame”) appears to follow the same general interpretation as Good News Translation. Contemporary English Version and New International Version, on the other hand, seem to see the lightning simply as lighting up the sky before Yahweh.

If the translator follows the imagery found in Good News Translation, it may be necessary to recast the sentence so that the lightning is the agent; for example, “The lightning before him caused fire to flame up [on the earth].”

Some Greek manuscripts and the Syriac have a reading at the end of the verse in agreement with the longer parallel text in Psa 18.12, but Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives an {A} rating to the shorter Masoretic Text.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

Verse 14 is instructive in that it reverses completely the normal order of general to specific parallelism. Perhaps by now the translator is prepared to see the figurative language, the specific term, the consequence, and the effect in the second of two parallel lines. That the biblical poets were not slaves of their poetic devices should encourage translators to experiment also. If in the receptor language intensification is sacrificed by the reversal, the translators may switch the lines. They should determine first what the difference in poetic meaning may be, if any.

The verb “to thunder” has been used of Yahweh in 1 Sam 2.10 and 7.10; Good News Translation “from the sky” and Revised Standard Version from heaven correspond to “in the heavens” in most of the Hebrew manuscripts of Psa 18.13. The LORD thundered may be unnatural in many languages, since only the sky is said to thunder. Therefore this expression may have to be recast as “The LORD spoke like thunder from the sky” or “When the LORD spoke it sounded like thunder.”

The Most High is sometimes rendered “God who is above all others” or “God who is the greatest god.” Curiously Good News Translation here translates “Almighty God” but renders the same term in Psa 18.13 more literally as “the Most High.” Translators are advised to be consistent, since the term is the same in the two parallel passages. In most languages a literal rendering will not be advisable.

Uttered his voice may be translated simply as “spoke,” but some versions consider that the context requires something stronger, such as “resounded” (New International Version) or “raised his voice” (Revised English Bible and New Century Version). The Hebrew verb is often translated “to give,” but it has a wide range of uses, depending on the context. For comments on the word voice, see verse 7.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

The parallelism of verse 15 carries two functions. If them is taken to refer to the enemies, the action of destroying the enemies is brought forward from verse 18. At the same time line b, lightning, may be seen as an intensification of sent out arrows. The added intensity of the second line should be represented in translation; for example, “He shot his arrows…; he even flashed them with lightning….” While the parallel in Psa 18 has the verb “flashed forth [lightning],” this is not found here in 2 Samuel. It may, however, be taken as understood and therefore made explicit in translation.

In this verse the parallel form implies that the “flashes of lightning” are Yahweh’s arrows that he shoots. In areas where the shooting of arrows is not known, it may be necessary to substitute another weapon.

The Hebrew text does not say what (or who) is referred to by them in both lines. Some take it to be the arrows themselves; compare Revised English Bible “He loosed arrows, he sped them far and wide, his lightning shafts, and sent them echoing.” Others, like Good News Translation and Biblia Dios Habla Hoy, take it to be a reference to “his enemies.” The two verbs scattered and routed (“to confuse, bring into commotion”) seem to apply more naturally to people than to weapons, and so it is recommended that “his enemies” be given as the object of the two verbs.

For some languages the following model may be more suitable than either Revised Standard Version or Good News Translation:

• He caused the lightning to flash,
and made his enemies scatter.
It was like shooting arrows
to make them run away.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

In this verse the psalmist to some degree makes line b more astonishing, with revealing the foundations of the world, not merely the channels of the sea. However, the degree is slight in the first pair, that is, in lines a and b. By contrast, in the second pair, lines c and d, the movement from the rebuke of the LORD to the blast of the breath of his nostrils is a vivid rhetorical leap from less to more, which Good News Translation attempts with “roared at them in anger.”

Then reflects the common Hebrew conjunction and may be omitted in translation.

The language used in this verse recalls the parting of the waters of the Red Sea (that is, the Sea of Reeds) when the Israelites fled from Egypt (see Exo 15.8; Psa 106.9). The ocean bed is spoken of in terms of the streams under the ocean (channels of the sea), which were believed to supply the ocean with water. The most natural equivalent in English is “the ocean floor,” but this dilutes the imagery of the Hebrew. Many cultures, however, have no notion at all about the bottom of the ocean. In such cases, translators may say simply “the bottom of the great water” or something similar.

The furious rage of Yahweh is pictured as the blast of the breath of his nostrils. But this may be an explicit reference to the strong wind that parted the waters of the sea, and some translations interpret it this way (Biblia Dios Habla Hoy “the strong breath that he blew”). See the comments on nostrils in verse 9 above.

In languages that cannot use the passive voice, for channels of the sea were seen and foundations … were laid bare, it may be necessary to say, for example, “the bottom of the ocean appeared” or “he made the waters of the sea dry up,” and “the earth shook to its foundations” or “he made the supports of the earth bare.” Foundations of the world may also be expressed as “the ground on which the earth stands” or in some languages “the legs of the earth.”

Good News Translation has made the rebuke and the raging breath to be directed against the enemies; but they can be understood as directed at the ocean bed and the earth’s foundations. Some commentators see in this verse a picture of Yahweh cutting his way through the sea and the foundations of the earth down into Sheol, from where he draws forth David (verse 17).

Line c, at the rebuke of the LORD, stands as a temporal clause and chronologically precedes the actions in lines a and b. For this reason it may be more meaningful in some languages to place the final two lines at the beginning; for example, “When the LORD rebuked….” The English word rebuke is probably too mild for the action described by this Hebrew verb. Something like “roaring” (New Jerusalem Bible) or “mighty roaring” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) is better.

This verse is distinguished from its counterpart in Psa 18 by the fact that the third person forms are used here instead of direct address and second person pronouns.

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .