2 Samuel 22:10 (ASV)

Passage

He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet.

Nearby Context

2 Samuel 22:8 Then the earth shook and trembled, The foundations of heaven quaked And were shaken, because he was wroth.

2 Samuel 22:9 There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, And fire out of his mouth devoured: Coals were kindled by it.

2 Samuel 22:10 He bowed the heavens also, and came down; And thick darkness was under his feet.

2 Samuel 22:11 And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly; Yea, he was seen upon the wings of the wind.

2 Samuel 22:12 And he made darkness pavilions round about him, Gathering of waters, thick clouds of the skies.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "darkness", "bowed", "heavens", "came", "down", "thick", "under", and "feet". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "darkness" and "bowed", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 9's "There went up a smoke out of..." into verse 11's "And he rode upon a cherub and...", so "darkness" and "bowed" belong inside that flow. In 2 Samuel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "darkness" and "bowed" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.