2 Samuel 22:45
in 2 Samuel 22Foreigners cower before me; when they hear me, they obey me.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
The foreigners shall submit themselves unto me: As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me.
KJV
Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me.
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This verse in 2 Samuel 22
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThis site's exposition
kept me to be head of the heathen
on 2 Samuel 22:44-46
Kept me to be head of the heathen turns the song from Israel's own wars to David's rule over nations beyond Israel, the Philistines, Moabites, Syrians, Ammonites and Edomites named in the setting of this chapter's own history. A people which I knew not shall serve me reaches beyond David's own conquests for the commentators, who take up the line as a picture of nations that never knew the God of Israel coming to serve him further on. Strangers shall submit themselves unto me widens the same claim, obedience given by nations with no prior claim on the king now ruling over them.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"Did Jesus come into the world for this purpose, that we [the Jews] should not believe him?" To which we immediately answer that he did not come with the object of producing unbelief among the Jews; but knowing beforehand that such would be the result, he foretold it and made use of their unbelief for the calling of the Gentiles. For through their sin salvation came to the Gentiles, respecting whom the Christ who speaks in the prophecies says, "A people whom I did not know became subject to me: they were obedient to the hearing of my ear"; and, "I was found by those who did not seek me; I became manifest to those who did not inquire after me."
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Thus the Son of David goes on conquering and to conquer, Rev. vi. His gospel, which has been victorious, shall be so more and more. For his seed: He showeth mercy to his Messiah (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Strangers shall submit themselves unto me: as soon as they hear, they shall be obedient unto me. See Gill on Psa 18:44.
The words behind it
8 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| בְּנֵ֥י | benei | sons of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| נֵכָ֖ר | nekhar | foreignness | H5236 → | |
| יִתְכַּֽחֲשׁוּ־ | yitkachashu- | they cringed | H3584 → | |
| לִ֑י | li | to <the> me | ||
| לִשְׁמ֥וֹעַ | lishmoa' | to hear | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| אֹ֖זֶן | ʾozen | an ear | H241 → | 187 times |
| יִשָּׁ֥מְעוּ | yishameu | they became obedient | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| לִֽי׃ | li | to <the> me |
בְּנֵ֥יsons of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
נֵכָ֖רforeignness
nekharH5236 →
יִתְכַּֽחֲשׁוּ־they cringed
yitkachashu-H3584 →
לִ֑יto <the> me
li
לִשְׁמ֥וֹעַto hear
lishmoa'H8085 →1159 times
אֹ֖זֶןan ear
ʾozenH241 →187 times
יִשָּׁ֥מְעוּthey became obedient
yishameuH8085 →1159 times
לִֽי׃to <the> me
li
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Psalms 66:3Say to God, “How awesome are Your deeds! So great is Your power that Your enemies cower before You.
it leads to
- Psalms 18:44
When they hear me, they obey me; foreigners cower before me.
- Psalms 65:5
With awesome deeds of righteousness You answer us, O God of our salvation, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas.
- Psalms 81:15
Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience, and their doom would last forever.
- Psalms 47:2
How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth!
- Psalms 18:44
Through
Psalms 81:15Those who hate the LORD would feign obedience, and their doom would last forever.
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 7:10
But those who hate Him He repays to their faces with destruction; He will not hesitate to repay to his face the one who hates Him.
- Deuteronomy 7:10
Through
Isaiah 56:3Let no foreigner who has joined himself to the LORD say, “The LORD will utterly exclude me from His people.” And let the eunuch not say, “I am but a dry tree.”
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 6:17
But he who unites himself with the Lord is one with Him in spirit.
- Matthew 19:12–30
For there are eunuchs who were born that way; others were made that way by men; and still others live like eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. The one who can…
- Acts 10:34
Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,
- 1 Corinthians 6:17
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About 2 Samuel
This page draws on Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Origen of Alexandria, AGAINST CELSUS 2.78.