For thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast thou subdued under me.
Parallel translations
- WEB For you have armed me with strength for the battle. You have subdued under me those who rose up against me.
- BSB You have armed me with strength for battle; You have subdued my foes beneath me.
- NKJV For You have armed me with strength for the battle; You have subdued under me those who rose against me.
- NASB “For You have encircled me with strength for battle; You have forced those who rose up against me to bow down under me.
- NLT You have armed me with strength for the battle; you have subdued my enemies under my 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 armed David with strength for battle and subdued his adversaries under him. Victory is credited wholly to God's empowering.
Overview
David again confesses that his strength for war and his triumph over enemies are God's gifts. He is the instrument; God is the source. This humility before God's sovereignty marks true faith and finds its fulfillment in the kingdom established not by human might but by God's power in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ps 44:5Through thee will we push down our enemies: through thy name will we tread them under that rise up against us.
- Col 1:11Strengthened with all might, according to his glorious power, unto all patience and longsuffering with joyfulness;
- Isa 60:14The sons also of them that afflicted thee shall come bending unto thee; and all they that despised thee shall bow themselves down at the soles of thy feet; and they shall call thee, The city of the LORD, The Zion of the Holy One of Israel.
- Ps 18:32It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
- Ps 18:39For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
- Rev 5:9And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
- Isa 45:5I am the LORD, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not known me:
- 1 Sam 17:49–51And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
- Ps 144:2My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower, and my deliverer; my shield, and he in whom I trust; who subdueth my people under me.
- 1 Sam 23:5So David and his men went to Keilah, and fought with the Philistines, and brought away their cattle, and smote them with a great slaughter. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 22:40 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.