2 Samuel 22:10

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

He bowed the heavens also, and came down; Thick darkness was under his feet.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Download a study sheet

One document with this verse’s original text, its word-by-word gloss line, the meaning frame, cross-references with their text, attributed commentary, and full source and license credits — printable, and it pastes into notes with its structure intact.

This verse Autodidact and up

Study sheet (.html) Plain text (.txt)

A passage Seminary Student

Up to 50 verses in one chapter. A passage sheet keeps up to 6 commentary sources and 12 cross-references per verse, in the order this page ranks them, and says so on the sheet whenever that leaves anything out. Ask for a single verse and you get the Autodidact verse sheet above.

Everything on this page stays free to read, with no account — the sheet is a download of what is already on screen, not access to it.

Want to remove ads? Support Godless Engineer

Word by word

More ways to search: Search by grammar → Find every occurrence → Compare this word →

Practice this passage: Drill this verse → Learn its vocabulary →

וַעֲרָפֶ֖ל

ʻărâphel

H6205

“and · cloud”

Conjunction + Noun, Common, Masculine, Singular, Absolute

Appears 15× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Exodus 20:21

Full BDB Definition

Origin: probably from H6201

TWOT: 1701b

cloud, heavy or dark cloud, darkness, gross darkness, thick darkness

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

6: words
6: distinct lemmas
Historical: section

Notable vocabulary

The rarest word here is וַעֲרָפֶ֖ל cloud H6205 — appearing just 15 times in the whole Hebrew Bible.

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וַעֲרָפֶ֖ל cloud H6205 occurs in 15 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

2 verbs
3 nouns
1 preposition

Verb forms

וַיֵּ֥ט Qal · Sequential Imperfect
וַיֵּרַ֑ד Qal · Sequential Imperfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 14 words from the Hebrew and 15 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 6 Hebrew tokens and 11 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to 2 Samuel 22:10 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

1 Kings 8:12 Then spoke Solomon, Yahweh has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
Psalms 97:2 Clouds and darkness are around him. Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
Exodus 20:21 The people stayed at a distance, and Moses drew near to the thick darkness where God was.
Psalms 144:5 Part your heavens, Yahweh, and come down. Touch the mountains, and they will smoke.
Deuteronomy 4:11 You came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire to the heart of the sky, with darkness, cloud, and thick darkness.
Psalms 104:3 He lays the beams of his chambers in the waters. He makes the clouds his chariot. He walks on the wings of the wind.
Isaiah 64:1–3 Oh that you would tear the heavens, that you would come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence,
Nahum 1:3 Yahweh is slow to anger, and great in power, and will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Yahweh has his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Matthew 27:45 Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour.
Luke 23:44–45 It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour.

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew 2 Samuel 22:10 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וַיֵּ֥ט שָׁמַ֖יִם וַיֵּרַ֑ד וַעֲרָפֶ֖ל תַּ֥חַת רַגְלָֽיו

He bowed the heavens also, and came down; Thick darkness was under his feet.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX 2 Samuel 22:10 Septuagint · lemma form

καί κλίνω οὐρανός καί καταβαίνω καί γνόφος ὑποκάτω ὁ πούς αὐτός

And he bowed the heavens, and came down, and there was darkness under his feet.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Jonathan Prophets (Joshua–Malachi)

וְאַרְכִּין שְׁמַיָא וְאִתְגֵלִי יְקָרֵיהּ וַעֲנַן אֲמִיטְתָא כְּבַשׁ קֳדָמוֹהִי:

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Jonathan — Aramaic: “Mikraot Gedolot” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “London "Chaldee Paraphrase," 1871” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on 2 Samuel 22:10 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

The Biblical Illustrator

Joseph S. Exell

2Sa_22:10-14

He bowed the heavens also and came down.

Jesus announced

In 1808 there was a meeting of the Emperors of France and Russia at Erfurt. There were distinguished men there from other lands. It was so arranged that when any of the Emperors arrived at the door of the reception-room the drum should beat three times; but when a lesser dignitary should come, then the drum would sound but twice. After a while the people in the audience-chamber heard two taps of the drum. They said, A prince is coming. But after a while there were three taps, and they cried, The Emperor! Oh, there is a more glorious arrival at your soul to-night. The drum beats twice at the coming of the lesser joys and congratulations of your soul; but it beats once, twice, thrice, at the coming in of a glorious King--Jesus the Saviour, Jesus the God. I congratulate you. All are yours--things present and things to come. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

God comes, to our succour

God lives, that is the armour that David had. You cannot see it; it does not glisten in the sun; but he has it; God is with him. There are two sovereigns who never move from their capitals. The Pope sticks to the Vatican--it is papal etiquette; and the Sultan, he has remained for fifteen years within the bounds of his capital--it is Mahommedan etiquette. But God is not like that. God, as it were, leaves high heaven, and He has betaken Himself to this young Davids side. Oh, warrior for Christ, why should you be downhearted? Why should you be sad? Why should not your vision be glorified so that you can behold the horses and the chariots of the living God? In the battle against sin: the armour you have is the consciousness of the living God. David knows God. (J. Robertson.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

So it seemeth when the air is dark.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

10. He bowed the heavens] The dark canopy of storm cloud, which is the pavement under His feet (Nah_1:3), lowers as He descends to judgment. God is said to come down when He manifests His power in the world (Gen_11:7; Gen_18:21; Isa_64:1). Darkness symbolizes the mystery and terror of His Advent (Exo_19:16; Exo_20:21; 1Ki_8:12; Psa_97:2).

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

John Gill's Exposition

He sent from above, he took me; he drew me out of many waters. See Gill on Psa 18:16.

.

2 Samuel 22:18

sa2 22:18

sa2 22:18

sa2 22:18He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them that hated me: for they were too strong for me. See Gill on Psa 18:17.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

10. Bows down the heavens — Bent down the firmament so as to form a broad descending way for his coming.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

unfoldingWord translationNotes

Door43 World Missions Community

General Information:

David's song to Yahweh continues. He uses parallelism to emphasize what he is saying. (See: Parallelism)

He opened the heavens ... rain clouds in the skies

David describes Yahweh's way of saving David from his enemies as a storm cloud gathering over a place. This emphasizes God's power and his anger. (See: Metaphor)

under his feet

David speaks of God as having feet like humans. (See: Personification)

He was seen on the wings of the wind

This can be translated in active form. AT: "He appeared on the wings of the wind" (See: Active or Passive)

the wings of the wind

This expression speaks of the wind as if it were a bird. (See: Metaphor)

He made darkness a tent around him

Here the darkness Yahweh creates is compared to a tent which hides him completely. AT: "He hid himself in the darkness" (See: Metaphor)

translationWords

darkness

cherub

tent

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

He bent heaven. To take revenge from His enemies, from Mitzrayim and from Pharoah.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

2 Samuel, in the Historical, opens this verse with 6 words (6 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is ʻărâphel (“cloud”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

What does “cloud” (ʻărâphel) contribute to the verse as a whole?
Exodus 20:21 shares the word «cloud» with this verse. How do the two illuminate each other?
These translations render this verse differently; the difference is in the English rendering, not the original. What questions does that raise?
The verb «וַיֵּ֥ט» is Qal Sequential Imperfect. How does its form color the action?
Reading how The Biblical Illustrator and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse, where do the two commentators agree and where do they part?

Things to notice

This verse counts 6 Hebrew ↔ 11 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 7 words in this verse.
6 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 6 words in this verse.