For swore see the comments on “swear” in verse 13. In Good News Translation the idea of swore is contained in the verb “promise,” which is made a part of what David said. It is perhaps better in some languages to introduce the direct quotation by saying “took an oath” (New International Version) or “made this promise” (New Century Version).

As the LORD lives is literally “on the life of the LORD.” This expression is used frequently in the Old Testament. It constitutes a very strong oath or promise that David will actually do what he says in the following verses. In many languages translators will be required to add something like “I promise” (Good News Translation) or “I swear” to show clearly that this is a forceful oath.

Redeemed my soul: The Hebrew noun translated soul (nephesh in Hebrew; see verse 12) refers to the “self” here, so my soul may be translated by the pronoun “me” in this context. Unlike the English word “soul,” which is often understood as referring to that part of a person that lives after the person’s death, the Hebrew noun refers to the whole person. The Hebrew verb translated redeemed sometimes has the sense “to buy back” or “to release [someone] by the payment of a price.” Other times, however, it means simply “rescued” (Good News Translation, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “delivered” (New American Bible, New Jerusalem Bible), or “saved” (New Revised Standard Version) without reference to any payment. The verb is used here in the second sense.

Adversity: This translates a Hebrew noun with the general meaning “misfortune,” without reference to the specific cause of the misfortune. Compare the different English translations, all of which express basically the same thought: “adversity” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jerusalem Bible), “trouble [or, troubles]” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, New Century Version, God’s Word, Revised English Bible), and “distress” (New American Bible).

In certain languages, the whole relative clause who has redeemed my soul out of every adversity will be better translated as a separate sentence. For example, David’s words in this verse may be rendered “The LORD has rescued me from all kinds of difficulty. So as surely as he lives, I swear….”

Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .