In verses 17-20 David describes how God rescued him from his enemies. In some languages translators will need to indicate the instrument of reached; for example, “The LORD reached his hand down from above and took hold of me.” Or, where there is a shift to the second person singular, “You, O LORD….”
Drew … out: the verb is used only here, Psa 18.16, and Exo 2.10 (where it is given as the source of the name Moses). It may be translated “removed,” “lifted,” or “pulled out.”
Many waters refers to the primordial watery mass, that is, the “deep,” which was “without form and void” (Gen 1.2) and which described the chaos and disorder that existed before the creative word of God was uttered (see Gen 1.6-7). Here it is used in a figurative sense of death, the deadly peril from which Yahweh saved David. These words will be better translated in many languages as “deep waters” (New International Version, New American Bible, Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, and New Century Version as well as Good News Translation).
The verb translated delivered is used in verse 1 of this chapter as well as in 12.7; 14.16; and 19.9. And the verb translated hated appears in 5.8; 13.15, 22; and 19.6. It is very probable that the singular strong enemy in line a of verse 18 has the same meaning as its parallel, the plural those who hated me, in line b. Since these two are really referring to the same people, translators must be careful how they render the conjunction “and” of Good News Translation. In many cases it will be better to translate “from my strong enemies, that is, from those who hated me.” Bible en français courant says “from my powerful enemies, from my adversaries too strong for me.”
In some languages translators will need to examine the position of the reason clause, for they were too mighty for me, to determine if it should be shifted ahead of the first two lines, giving a reading something like “My enemies were too strong for me to defeat them, and so the LORD….”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on the First and Second Books of Samuel, Volume 2. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .