Chapter Overview
Summary
Psalm 2 is the single most NT-quoted psalm in the Davidic-royal category. 'You are my Son, today I have begotten you' (v. 7) is cited at Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5, and 5:5 as the foundational text for Christ's divine Sonship-by-begetting. The psalm's whole royal-messianic structure — the rebellious nations, the LORD's anointed, the iron-rod rule, the 'kiss the son' warning — supplies Revelation's Christ-the-warrior-King imagery (Rev 2:27, 12:5, 19:15).
Notable Variants
The opening 'why do the nations conspire' cited at Acts 4:25–26 as applied to Herod-Pilate-Gentiles-Israel against Christ; 2:7 'you are my Son' cited at Acts 13:33, Heb 1:5, 5:5; 2:8 'ask of me and I will give you the nations' echoed in Rev 2:26; 2:9 LXX's 'shepherd/rule' (poimaneis) vs. MT's 'break' (tir'em) — three NT citations (Rev 2:27, 12:5, 19:15) all follow LXX; 2:11–12 'kiss the son' textual crux.
Structural Notes
LXX Psalm 2 has 12 verses. English Bible versification differs: the English Psalm 2 opens at Hebrew verse 1, which is the same. But in many English Bibles, some verses are renumbered (e.g., NRSV 2:12 ends 'with trembling' and starts 2:13 'kiss his feet'). TCR preserves the Hebrew numbering.
Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
Masoretic (WLC)
לָמָּה רָגְשׁוּ גוֹיִם וּלְאֻמִּים יֶהְגּוּ־רִיק
Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
Septuagint (LXX)
ἵνα τί ἐφρύαξαν ἔθνη καὶ λαοὶ ἐμελέτησαν κενά
Why did the nations rage and the peoples plot vain things?
Acts 4:25–26 cites this verse verbatim in its LXX form: 'Why did the nations rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth took their stand, and the rulers gathered together, against the Lord and against his Christ.' The early Christian prayer-interpretation identifies the nations as Gentiles, the peoples as Israel, the kings as Herod, the rulers as Pilate.
The LXX's ephryaxan ('raged, snorted') is distinctive — a vivid verb of animalistic fury. Acts 4:25's citation preserves it verbatim. This is one of the clearest NT-LXX-verbatim citations.
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against the LORD and against His anointed:
Masoretic (WLC)
יִתְיַצְּבוּ מַלְכֵי־אֶרֶץ וְרוֹזְנִים נוֹסְדוּ־יָחַד עַל־יְהוָה וְעַל־מְשִׁיחוֹ
The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers conspire together against the LORD and against His anointed
Septuagint (LXX)
παρέστησαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἄρχοντες συνήχθησαν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ κατὰ τοῦ κυρίου καὶ κατὰ τοῦ χριστοῦ αὐτοῦ
The kings of the earth took their stand and the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his anointed (christos)
'Kata tou christou autou' — 'against his Christ' — supplies the decisive NT Christological application. The LXX's christos for Hebrew mashiach is the single-word lexical bridge that makes the NT's identification of Jesus as Christ exegetically possible.
Acts 4:26 cites this verse verbatim. The 'kings and rulers' are identified with the specific historical-opposition to Christ (Herod and Pilate), making the Psalm-2 paradigm directly Christological.
"Let us tear off their chains and throw off their ropes from us!"
'Let us tear off their chains' tracks MT. The rebel-coalition's self-declared program of casting off YHWH's reign.
The One enthroned in the heavens laughs; the Lord mocks them.
'The One enthroned in the heavens laughs' tracks MT. The divine-laughter at human rebellion is one of the Hebrew Bible's starkest theological images (echoed Ps 37:13, 59:8).
Then He speaks to them in His anger and terrifies them in His burning wrath:
Divine wrath-speech tracks MT.
"But I — I have installed my king upon Zion, my holy mountain."
'I have installed my king on Zion' tracks MT. 'Installed' (katestathēn) — royal-installation vocabulary. The divine king-making overrides all earthly rebellion.
I will recount the decree of the LORD. He said to me, "You are my son; today I have begotten you."
Masoretic (WLC)
בְּנִי אַתָּה אֲנִי הַיּוֹם יְלִדְתִּיךָ
You are my son; today I have begotten you
Septuagint (LXX)
υἱός μου εἶ σύ ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε
You are my son; today I have begotten you
THE MOST NT-CITED PSALM VERSE. Acts 13:33 (Paul's Pisidian-Antioch sermon: raised up Jesus, as it is written in the second Psalm, 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you'), Hebrews 1:5 (to which of the angels did God ever say, 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you'?), and Hebrews 5:5 (he who said to him, 'You are my Son; today I have begotten you') all cite this verse verbatim in its LXX form.
The Father's voice at Jesus' baptism (Mark 1:11, Matt 3:17, Luke 3:22) — 'You are my beloved Son' — alludes to this verse. Luke 3:22 in some manuscripts actually reads 'today I have begotten you' verbatim from Psalm 2:7.
The Transfiguration voice (Mark 9:7, Matt 17:5, Luke 9:35 — 'This is my beloved Son') also echoes this psalm.
The LXX's egō sēmeron gegennēka se is the single most Christologically-loaded NT-OT citation.
Ask of me, and I will give the nations as your inheritance, the ends of the earth as your possession.
'Ask of me, and I will give the nations as your inheritance' tracks MT. Revelation 2:26 echoes this: 'to the one who conquers and keeps my works to the end, I will give authority over the nations.' The 'ends of the earth' inheritance is Christologically applied.
You will shatter them with an iron rod; like a potter's vessel you will smash them to pieces.
Masoretic (WLC)
תְּרֹעֵם בְּשֵׁבֶט בַּרְזֶל
You will shatter them with an iron rod
Septuagint (LXX)
ποιμανεῖς αὐτοὺς ἐν ῥάβδῳ σιδηρᾷ
You will shepherd them with an iron rod
MAJOR LXX/MT DIVERGENCE. Hebrew tir'em (from ra'a, 'to break, shatter') vs. LXX poimaneis (from poimainō, 'to shepherd, rule as shepherd'). The Hebrew consonantal text can be vocalized either way — tiroem or tir'em.
Revelation 2:27 ('he will shepherd them with a rod of iron,' poimanei autous en rhabdō sidēra), Revelation 12:5 ('who is to shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron'), and Revelation 19:15 ('he will shepherd them with a rod of iron') all cite this verse in the LXX's 'shepherd' form — NOT the MT's 'shatter' form.
This is one of the clearest cases where three NT citations all follow LXX against MT. The shepherd-imagery carries both pastoral-protective and firm-disciplinary overtones — the Messianic ruler who shepherds the nations with iron firmness.
So now, O kings, act wisely; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
Warning-to-kings tracks MT.
Worship the LORD in reverent fear and rejoice with trembling.
'Worship the LORD in reverent fear and rejoice with trembling' tracks MT. Philippians 2:12 ('work out your salvation with fear and trembling,' meta phobou kai tromou) picks up the LXX's phobos-kai-tromos combination.
Pay homage to the son, lest He grow angry and you perish on the way, for His wrath ignites in an instant. How fortunate are all who take refuge in Him!
Masoretic (WLC)
נַשְּׁקוּ־בַר פֶּן־יֶאֱנַף וְתֹאבְדוּ דֶרֶךְ
Pay homage to the son, lest He grow angry and you perish on the way
Septuagint (LXX)
δράξασθε παιδείας μήποτε ὀργισθῇ κύριος καὶ ἀπολεῖσθε ἐξ ὁδοῦ δικαίας
Receive instruction lest the Lord be angry and you perish from a righteous path
NOTORIOUS TEXTUAL CRUX. The MT reads nashshequ-bar ('kiss the son' — using the Aramaic bar rather than Hebrew ben for 'son'). The LXX reads 'lay hold of instruction' (draxasthe paideias) — apparently reading the consonants b-r as from bar ('pure' or 'seize') rather than as 'son.'
The Aramaic bar in a Hebrew psalm is unusual; the MT reading has been suspected as corrupt. Modern critical translations vary: NRSV reads 'kiss his feet' (moving 'his feet' from v. 11); NJPS retains 'pay homage in good faith.'
The Christological tradition reads the MT: 'kiss the son' — applied to Christ as the Son of Psalm 2:7. The LXX's alternate reading loses this Christological possibility. Early Christian polemic (Justin Martyr, Irenaeus) preferred the MT reading; Jewish readings generally preserved the Aramaic wordplay.
The closing 'blessed (makarioi) are all who take refuge in him' echoes 1:1's 'blessed is the man' — the Psalter's frame brackets the first two psalms with makarios-beatitudes.