As already noted there is a shift in pronominal use starting with verse 26. Until this point all references to God have been in the third person (with the exception of verse 3d). From this point until verse 30, the second person is used except in the second lines of verses 29-30. Furthermore there is at the same time a clear shift in the type of parallelism starting with verse 26. The two lines of verses 26-27 say very much the same thing, without adding significant information in the second line. That is, the two lines of verses 26-27 say very much the same thing, with no “going beyond” in the second line. This change constitutes a shift in the discourse. The poet will again revert to straight third-person reference to God in another five verses (31-35).
In verses 26-28 the writer no longer speaks in personal terms, as in verses 21-25, but speaks in more general terms of the LORD’s attitude toward the good and the wicked.
In verses 26-27 the writer attributes the same qualities to God as are found in people. The thought is that God matches the good qualities (verses 26a, b, 27a) and the bad quality (verse 27b) he finds in people.
The first quality (verse 26a) is loyalty, faithfulness (see the comments on “faithful ones” in 1 Sam 2.9 and on the noun “loyalty” in 2 Sam 2.5). On the part of God it means that he keeps his promises, while on the part of human beings, it means they faithfully obey God. Loyal and “faithful” are terms that contain a reciprocal relationship, and so they must often be recast to make explicit the relationship involved. For example, “With people who trust in you, you are a one-heart LORD,” “With people who follow you, you are a LORD of one way,” “You can be counted on to help those who always obey you,” or “You sustain people who rest on you.” In many languages the same word cannot naturally be used both of God and of human beings, so the translation must carefully distinguish between God’s “faithfulness,” that is, his constant love, and a person’s “faithfulness,” that is, the person’s obedience to God.
The second quality (verse 26b) is perfection, lack of fault, or a state of being blameless (see also verse 24). It is difficult to find one word that can be used in the same sense of God and of human beings. This explains why Good News Translation has “completely good … perfect.” The end of verse 26 in the Masoretic Text reads “and with the blameless valiant man you show yourself blameless.” Most interpreters think that the word “valiant” (or, warrior) is the result of a scribe’s copying error. The word for “young man” and “warrior” are nearly identical in spelling, with differences in vowels only.
The third quality (verse 27a) is moral purity, which is practically synonymous with blameless in the preceding line. The Hebrew words translated the pure and show thyself pure come from the same root as the word translated “cleanness” in verse 25. New English Bible, however, takes the Hebrew verb here to mean “be savage” and not “be pure.” But Revised English Bible reverts to a more traditional rendering of this part of the verse. Thou dost show thyself pure in reference to God and people is often difficult to express using the same term. In reference to people the focus is upon their blameless condition, but when speaking of God the meaning is more related to the goodness, that is, the kindness, of God. This may sometimes be rendered, for example, “you are good to those whose hearts are white” or “you are kind in regard to those who have shining hearts.” Contemporary English Version attempts to use the same verb in both cases with the idea “are sincere.”
The last quality (verse 27b) is expressed in two different words: for people it is the word crooked; for God it is a verb meaning “to be wise, astute, cunning” (see Job 5.13b “cunning men”). The basic meaning of the Hebrew verb is “to twist,” and for this reason some understand the sense to be strongly negative. Revised Standard Version and New Revised Standard Version both say show [yourself to be] perverse. But more likely is the sense of being crafty or clever. This half-verse is translated in different ways: “you outwit the cheat”; New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh, “with the perverse, you are wily”; New American Bible, “toward the crooked you are astute”; New Jerusalem Bible, “cunning to the crafty.” Perhaps the best way to represent the meaning is to say something like “you are cunning [or, shrewd] with those who are crooked.” Contemporary English Version has “but you treat the unfaithful as their deeds deserve.”
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 .