Yahweh rewarded me according to my righteousness. He rewarded me according to the cleanness of my hands.
Parallel translations
- KJV The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness: according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
- BSB The LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness; He has repaid me according to the cleanness of my hands.
- NKJV “TheLord rewarded me according to my righteousness; According to the cleanness of my hands He has recompensed me.
- NASB “The Lord has treated me in accordance with my righteousness; In accordance with the cleanliness of my hands He has repaid me.
- NLT The Lord rewarded me for doing right; he restored me because of my innocence.
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
David says the LORD rewarded him according to his righteousness and clean hands. He speaks of his integrity and loyalty to God's covenant.
Overview
This claim is not sinless perfection but covenant faithfulness; David, unlike Saul, walked in genuine loyalty to the LORD and refused to grasp the throne by wicked means. God honored that uprightness. Yet such righteousness is itself a gift, and its perfect fulfillment is found only in Christ, whose flawless obedience secures our standing before God.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 1 Sam 26:23Yahweh will render to every man his righteousness and his faithfulness; because Yahweh delivered you into my hand today, and I wouldn’t stretch out my hand against Yahweh’s anointed.
- Ps 24:4He who has clean hands and a pure heart; who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully.
- 1 Kgs 8:32then hear in heaven, and act, and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness.
- Ps 7:8Yahweh administers judgment to the peoples. Judge me, Yahweh, according to my righteousness, and to my integrity that is in me.
- Jas 4:8Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
- Ps 18:20–25Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness. According to the cleanness of my hands has he recompensed me.
- 2 Sam 22:25Therefore Yahweh has rewarded me according to my righteousness, According to my cleanness in his eyesight.
- Job 17:9Yet shall the righteous hold on his way. He who has clean hands shall grow stronger and stronger.
- 1 Cor 15:58Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the Lord’s work, because you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord.
- Ps 19:11Moreover by them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is great reward.
- Ps 7:3–4Yahweh, my God, if I have done this, if there is iniquity in my hands,
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 22:21 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.