He bowed the heavens also, and came down; and darkness was under his feet.
Parallel translations
- WEB He bowed the heavens also, and came down. Thick darkness was under his feet.
- BSB He parted the heavens and came down with dark clouds beneath His feet.
- NKJV He bowed the heavens also, and came down With darkness under His feet.
- NASB “He also bowed the heavens down low, and came down With thick darkness under His feet.
- NLT He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God bows the heavens and descends with thick darkness beneath his feet. The Lord himself comes down to rescue David.
Overview
The picture of God parting the heavens and coming down dramatizes his personal intervention. Darkness under his feet conveys hidden majesty and unsearchable power. The God who condescends to save his people here ultimately condescends fully in the incarnation, coming down to deliver us in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- 1 Kgs 8:12Then spake Solomon, The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
- Ps 97:2Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne.
- Ps 144:5Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
- Exod 20:21And the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where God was.
- Deut 4:11And ye came near and stood under the mountain; and the mountain burned with fire unto the midst of heaven, with darkness, clouds, and thick darkness.
- Ps 104:3Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:
- Isa 64:1–3Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,
- Nah 1:3The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.
- Matt 27:45Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour.
- Luke 23:44–45And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
God's covenant with David — a son whose throne and kingdom would last forever (7:12–16) — finds its yes in Jesus, the Son of David who reigns without end.
How 2 Samuel 22:10 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.