Discovery BoxPsalms 2:1-9 
Context2:1 Why 2 do the nations rebel? 3
Why 4 are the countries 5 devising 6 plots that will fail? 7
2:2 The kings of the earth 8 form a united front; 9
the rulers collaborate 10
against the Lord and his anointed king. 11
2:3 They say, 12 “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! 13
Let’s free ourselves from 14 their ropes!”
2:4 The one enthroned 15 in heaven laughs in disgust; 16
the Lord taunts 17 them.
2:5 Then he angrily speaks to them
and terrifies them in his rage, 18 saying, 19
2:6 “I myself 20 have installed 21 my king
on Zion, my holy hill.”
2:7 The king says, 22 “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: 23
‘You are my son! 24 This very day I have become your father!
2:8 Ask me,
and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, 25
the ends of the earth as your personal property.
2:9 You will break them 26 with an iron scepter; 27
you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” 28
1 sn Psalm 2. In this royal psalm the author asserts the special status of the divinely chosen Davidic king and warns the nations and their rulers to submit to the authority of God and his chosen vice-regent.
2 tn The question is rhetorical. Rather than seeking information, the psalmist expresses his outrage that the nations would have the audacity to rebel against God and his chosen king.
3 tn The Hebrew verb רָגַשׁ (ragash) occurs only here. In Dan 6:6, 11, 15 the Aramaic cognate verb describes several officials acting as a group. A Hebrew nominal derivative is used in Ps 55:14 of a crowd of people in the temple.
4 tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
5 tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).
6 tn The Hebrew imperfect form describes the rebellion as underway. The verb הָגָה (hagah), which means “to recite quietly, meditate,” here has the metonymic nuance “devise, plan, plot” (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2).
7 tn Heb “devising emptiness.” The noun רִיק (riq, “emptiness”) may characterize their behavior as “worthless, morally bankrupt” but more likely refers to the outcome of their plots (i.e., failure). As the rest of the psalm emphasizes, their rebellion will fail.
8 sn The expression kings of the earth refers somewhat hyperbolically to the kings who had been conquered by and were subject to the Davidic king.
9 tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.
10 tn Or “conspire together.” The verbal form is a Niphal from יָסַד (yasad). BDB 413-14 s.v. יָסַד defines the verb as “establish, found,” but HALOT 417 s.v. II יסד proposes a homonym meaning “get together, conspire” (an alternate form of סוּד, sud).
11 tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).
12 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.
13 tn Heb “their (i.e., the
14 tn Heb “throw off from us.”
15 tn Heb “sitting.” The Hebrew verb יָשַׁב (yashav) is here used metonymically of “sitting enthroned” (see Pss 9:7; 29:10; 55:19; 102:12; 123:1).
16 tn As the next line indicates, this refers to derisive laughter. The Hebrew imperfect verbal forms in vv. 4-5 describe the action from the perspective of an eyewitness who is watching the divine response as it unfolds before his eyes.
17 tn Or “scoffs at”; “derides”; “mocks.”
18 sn And terrifies them in his rage. This line focuses on the effect that God’s angry response (see previous line) has on the rebellious kings.
19 tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification to indicate that the speaker is the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV).
20 tn The first person pronoun appears before the first person verbal form for emphasis, reflected in the translation by “myself.”
21 tn Or perhaps “consecrated.”
22 tn The words “the king says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The speaker is the Lord’s chosen king.
23 tn Or “I will relate the decree. The
24 sn ‘You are my son!’ The Davidic king was viewed as God’s “son” (see 2 Sam 7:14; Ps 89:26-27). The idiom reflects ancient Near Eastern adoption language associated with covenants of grant, by which a lord would reward a faithful subject by elevating him to special status, referred to as “sonship.” Like a son, the faithful subject received an “inheritance,” viewed as an unconditional, eternal gift. Such gifts usually took the form of land and/or an enduring dynasty. See M. Weinfeld, “The Covenant of Grant in the Old Testament and in the Ancient Near East,” JAOS 90 (1970): 184-203, for general discussion and some striking extra-biblical parallels.
25 sn I will give you the nations. The
26 tc The LXX reads “you will shepherd them.” This reading, quoted in the Greek text of the NT in Rev 2:27; 12:5; 19:15, assumes a different vocalization of the consonantal Hebrew text and understands the verb as רָעָה (ra’ah, “to shepherd”) rather than רָעָע (ra’a’, “to break”). But the presence of נָפַץ (nafats, “to smash”) in the next line strongly favors the MT vocalization.
27 tn The Hebrew term שֵׁבֶט (shevet) can refer to a “staff” or “rod,” but here it probably refers to the Davidic king’s royal scepter, symbolizing his sovereignty.
28 sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.
