Psalms 2

Why are the nations in an uproar? Why do the peoples make plans that will come to nothing?

1Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

Note"Heathen" in 1611 English simply meant the nations, the peoples outside Israel. It carried no comment on their religion. "Imagine a vain thing" means to plot something empty: a scheme that will come to nothing.

2The kings of the earth take their stand, and the rulers meet together, against the LORD and against the king he has chosen. They say:

2The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

NoteWhere the King James prints LORD in capitals, the Hebrew has the personal name of Israel's God, YHWH, which Jewish readers did not pronounce aloud; "Lord" in ordinary type (as in verse 4) is a different word, meaning master. "His anointed" translates Hebrew *mashiach*, from which English gets "messiah"; the Greek equivalent is *christos*. It means a person marked out for office by having oil poured over his head, here the reigning king of Israel, who was installed that way at his coronation.

3"Let us break their chains apart. Let us throw their ropes off of us."

3Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

Note"Their" means the LORD's and his king's. Chains and cords are the straps of a harness put on a working animal, a standard image for the obligations a subject ruler owed his overlord. The speakers are the rebelling kings of verse 2.

4The one who sits enthroned in heaven laughs. The Lord makes fun of them.

4He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.

5Then he speaks to them in his anger. He terrifies them in his burning displeasure, and says:

5Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

Note"Vex" in 1611 meant to shake or terrify, far stronger than the modern sense of annoy; "sore" meant severe or fierce, not painful.

6"I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill."

6Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

NoteZion was the fortified ridge in Jerusalem that David captured, and the name came to stand for the whole city and its temple hill. Calling it "my holy hill" marks it as God's own ground; ancient peoples commonly located a god's rule on a particular mountain.

7I will announce the LORD's decree. He said to me, "You are my Son. Today I have become your father.

7I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

NoteA "decree" here is a formal royal document, a written charter of appointment, read out when a king took the throne. "This day have I begotten thee" uses the language of legal fatherhood, not physical birth: across the ancient Near East a king was declared the god's son on the day of his coronation, which is what "this day" points to.

8Ask me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the farthest parts of the earth as your property.

8Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Note"Inheritance" and "possession" are legal words for property handed over and held by right, the same terms used for family land. "Ask of me" pictures a formal petition from the new king to the God who has just installed him.

9You will break them with an iron rod. You will smash them to pieces like a clay pot."

9Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

NoteThe "rod" is a king's mace or scepter, a heavy club that served both as a weapon and as the emblem of royal authority. The Hebrew verb translated "break" can be read, with different vowels, as "shepherd" or "rule"; the ancient Greek translation took it that way, so the line has been understood both as smashing the nations and as ruling them. Pottery is fired clay: once shattered it cannot be repaired, and smashing inscribed pots was a known ritual for cursing an enemy.

10So now be wise, you kings. Take the warning, you judges of the earth.

10Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

Note"Judges" here means rulers generally. In this world governing and judging were the same job, a king's chief duty was to hear cases and give verdicts.

11Serve the LORD with fear, and be glad, but tremble as you do it.

11Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Note"Serve" is the word used for a subject's duty to his king, not for worship alone. The Hebrew of the end of this verse and the start of verse 12 is unusually difficult, and translations differ over how the two lines divide.

12Kiss the Son, or he will be angry and you will die on the road you are walking, because his anger can flare up in a moment. Everyone who takes shelter in him is blessed.

12Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

NoteKissing the feet, hand or garment of a ruler was the standard public gesture of submission to him. The word for "son" here, *bar*, is Aramaic rather than Hebrew, which is one reason this line is heavily disputed; other readings of the same consonants give "kiss the chosen one" or "kiss his feet." "Perish from the way" is likewise open: it can mean to be destroyed on the road you are traveling, or to have your whole course come to nothing. "Blessed" here means fortunate or well off, and "put their trust in him" translates a verb meaning to take shelter, as from a storm or a pursuer.