2:1 Why 5 do the nations rebel? 6
Why 7 are the countries 8 devising 9 plots that will fail? 10
2:2 The kings of the earth 11 form a united front; 12
the rulers collaborate 13
against the Lord and his anointed king. 14
2:3 They say, 15 “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! 16
Let’s free ourselves from 17 their ropes!”
2:4 The one enthroned 18 in heaven laughs in disgust; 19
the Lord taunts 20 them.
2:5 Then he angrily speaks to them
and terrifies them in his rage, 21 saying, 22
2:6 “I myself 23 have installed 24 my king
on Zion, my holy hill.”
2:7 The king says, 25 “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: 26
‘You are my son! 27 This very day I have become your father!
2:8 Ask me,
and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, 28
the ends of the earth as your personal property.
2:9 You will break them 29 with an iron scepter; 30
you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” 31
21:8 You 32 prevail over 33 all your enemies;
your power is too great for those who hate you. 34
21:9 You burn them up like a fiery furnace 35 when you appear; 36
the Lord angrily devours them; 37
the fire consumes them.
21:10 You destroy their offspring 38 from the earth,
their descendants 39 from among the human race. 40
21:11 Yes, 41 they intend to do you harm; 42
they dream up a scheme, 43 but they do not succeed. 44
21:12 For you make them retreat 45
when you shoot your arrows at them. 46
72:9 Before him the coastlands 47 will bow down,
and his enemies will lick the dust. 48
109:4 They repay my love with accusations, 49
but I continue to pray. 50
109:5 They repay me evil for good, 51
and hate for love.
109:6 52 Appoint an evil man to testify against him! 53
May an accuser stand 54 at his right side!
109:7 When he is judged, he will be found 55 guilty! 56
Then his prayer will be regarded as sinful.
109:8 May his days be few! 57
May another take his job! 58
109:9 May his children 59 be fatherless,
and his wife a widow!
109:10 May his children 60 roam around begging,
asking for handouts as they leave their ruined home! 61
109:11 May the creditor seize 62 all he owns!
May strangers loot his property! 63
109:12 May no one show him kindness! 64
May no one have compassion 65 on his fatherless children!
109:13 May his descendants 66 be cut off! 67
May the memory of them be wiped out by the time the next generation arrives! 68
109:14 May his ancestors’ 69 sins be remembered by the Lord!
May his mother’s sin not be forgotten! 70
109:15 May the Lord be constantly aware of them, 71
and cut off the memory of his children 72 from the earth!
109:16 For he never bothered to show kindness; 73
he harassed the oppressed and needy,
and killed the disheartened. 74
109:17 He loved to curse 75 others, so those curses have come upon him. 76
He had no desire to bless anyone, so he has experienced no blessings. 77
109:18 He made cursing a way of life, 78
so curses poured into his stomach like water
and seeped into his bones like oil. 79
109:19 May a curse attach itself to him, like a garment one puts on, 80
or a belt 81 one wears continually!
109:20 May the Lord repay my accusers in this way, 82
those who say evil things about 83 me! 84
110:5 O sovereign Lord, 85 at your right hand
he strikes down 86 kings in the day he unleashes his anger. 87
110:6 He executes judgment 88 against 89 the nations;
he fills the valleys with corpses; 90
he shatters their heads over the vast battlefield. 91
19:17 Then 101 I saw one angel standing in 102 the sun, and he shouted in a loud voice to all the birds flying high in the sky: 103
“Come, gather around for the great banquet 104 of God,
19:18 to eat 105 your fill 106 of the flesh of kings,
the flesh of generals, 107
the flesh of powerful people,
the flesh of horses and those who ride them,
and the flesh of all people, both free and slave, 108
and small and great!”
19:19 Then 109 I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies assembled to do battle with the one who rode the horse and with his army. 19:20 Now 110 the beast was seized, and along with him the false prophet who had performed the signs on his behalf 111 – signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image. Both of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire burning with sulfur. 112 19:21 The 113 others were killed by the sword that extended from the mouth of the one who rode the horse, and all the birds gorged 114 themselves with their flesh.
1 tn Grk “to rule over them.”
2 tn This term, when used of people rather than animals, has some connotations of violence and mercilessness (L&N 20.72).
3 sn Slaughter them. To reject the king is to face certain judgment from him.
4 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.
5 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.
6 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.
7 tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
8 tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).
9 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).
10 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.
11 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.
12 tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.
13 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).
14 tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).
15 tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.
16 tn Heb “their (i.e., the
17 tn Heb “throw off from us.”
18 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).
19 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.
20 tn Or “scoffs at”; “derides”; “mocks.”
21 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.
22 tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification to indicate that the speaker is the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV).
23 tn The first person pronoun appears before the first person verbal form for emphasis, reflected in the translation by “myself.”
24 tn Or perhaps “consecrated.”
25 tn The words “the king says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The speaker is the Lord’s chosen king.
26 tn Or “I will relate the decree. The
27 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.
28 sn I will give you the nations. The
29 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.
30 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.
31 sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.
32 tn The king is now addressed. One could argue that the
33 tn Heb “your hand finds.” The idiom pictures the king grabbing hold of his enemies and defeating them (see 1 Sam 23:17). The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 8-12 may be translated with the future tense, as long as the future is understood as generalizing.
34 tn Heb “your right hand finds those who hate you.”
35 tn Heb “you make them like a furnace of fire.” Although many modern translations retain the literal Hebrew, the statement is elliptical. The point is not that he makes them like a furnace, but like an object burned in a furnace (cf. NEB, “at your coming you shall plunge them into a fiery furnace”).
36 tn Heb “at the time of your face.” The “face” of the king here refers to his angry presence. See Lam 4:16.
37 tn Heb “the
38 tn Heb “fruit.” The next line makes it clear that offspring is in view.
39 tn Heb “seed.”
40 tn Heb “sons of man.”
41 tn Or “for.”
42 tn Heb “they extend against you harm.” The perfect verbal forms in v. 11 are taken as generalizing, stating factually what the king’s enemies typically do. Another option is to translate with the past tense (“they intended…planned”).
43 sn See Ps 10:2.
44 tn Heb “they lack ability.”
45 tn Heb “you make them a shoulder,” i.e., “you make them turn and run, showing the back of their neck and shoulders.”
46 tn Heb “with your bowstrings you fix against their faces,” i.e., “you fix your arrows on the bowstrings to shoot at them.”
47 tn Or “islands.” The term here refers metonymically to those people who dwell in these regions.
48 sn As they bow down before him, it will appear that his enemies are licking the dust.
49 tn Heb “in place of my love they oppose me.”
50 tn Heb “and I, prayer.”
51 tn Heb “and they set upon me evil in place of good.”
52 sn In vv. 6-19 the psalmist calls on God to judge his enemies severely. Some attribute this curse-list to the psalmist’s enemies rather than the psalmist. In this case one should paraphrase v. 6: “They say about me, ‘Appoint an evil man, etc.’” Those supporting this line of interpretation point out that vv. 2-5 and 20 refer to the enemies’ attack on the psalmist being a verbal one. Furthermore in vv. 1-5, 20 the psalmist speaks of his enemies in the plural, while vv. 6-19 refer to an individual. This use of the singular in vv. 6-19 could be readily explained if this is the psalmist’s enemies’ curse on him. However, it is much more natural to understand vv. 6-19 as the psalmist’s prayer against his enemies. There is no introductory quotation formula in v. 6 to indicate that the psalmist is quoting anyone, and the statement “may the
53 tn Heb “appoint against him an evil [man].”
54 tn The prefixed verbal form is taken as a jussive here (note the imperative in the preceding line).
55 tn The prefixed verbal form could be taken as a jussive, but the use of the imperfect form in the following line suggests that v. 7 anticipates the outcome of the accusation envisioned in v. 6.
56 tn Heb “he will go out [as] a criminal” (that is, guilty).
57 tn The prefixed verbal forms (except those with vav [ו] consecutive) in vv. 8-20 are taken as jussives of prayer. Note the distinct jussive forms used in vv. 12-13, 15, 19.
58 tn The Hebrew noun פְּקֻדָּה (pÿquddah) can mean “charge” or “office,” though BDB 824 s.v. suggests that here it refers to his possessions.
59 tn Or “sons.”
60 tn Or “sons.”
61 tn Heb “and roaming, may his children roam and beg, and seek from their ruins.” Some, following the LXX, emend the term וְדָרְשׁוּ (vÿdoreshu, “and seek”) to יְגֹרְשׁוּ (yÿgoreshu; a Pual jussive, “may they be driven away” [see Job 30:5; cf. NIV, NRSV]), but דָּרַשׁ (darash) nicely parallels שִׁאֵלוּ (shi’elu, “and beg”) in the preceding line.
62 tn Heb “lay snares for” (see Ps 38:12).
63 tn Heb “the product of his labor.”
64 tn Heb “may there not be for him one who extends loyal love.”
65 tn Perhaps this refers to being generous (see Ps 37:21).
66 tn Or “offspring.”
67 sn On the expression cut off see Ps 37:28.
68 tn Heb “in another generation may their name be wiped out.”
69 tn Or “fathers’ sins.”
70 tn Heb “not be wiped out.”
71 tn Heb “may they [that is, the sins mentioned in v. 14] be before the
72 tn Heb “their memory.” The plural pronominal suffix probably refers back to the children mentioned in v. 13, and for clarity this has been specified in the translation.
73 tn Heb “he did not remember to do loyal love.”
74 tn Heb “and he chased an oppressed and needy man, and one timid of heart to put [him] to death.”
75 sn A curse in OT times consists of a formal appeal to God to bring judgment down upon another. Curses were sometimes justified (such as the one spoken by the psalmist here in vv. 6-19), but when they were not, the one pronouncing the curse was in danger of bringing the anticipated judgment down upon himself.
76 tn Heb “and he loved a curse and it came [upon] him.” A reference to the evil man experiencing a curse seems premature here, for the psalmist is asking God to bring judgment on his enemies. For this reason some (cf. NIV, NRSV) prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” as conjunctive and translate the verb as a jussive of prayer (“may it come upon him!”). The prefixed form with vav consecutive in the next line is emended in the same way and translated, “may it be far from him.” However, the psalmist may be indicating that the evil man’s lifestyle has already begun to yield its destructive fruit.
77 tn Heb “and he did not delight in a blessing and it is far from him.”
78 tn Heb “he put on a curse as [if it were] his garment.”
79 tn Heb “and it came like water into his inner being, and like oil into his bones.” This may refer to this individual’s appetite for cursing. For him cursing was as refreshing as drinking water or massaging oneself with oil. Another option is that the destructive effects of a curse are in view. In this case a destructive curse invades his very being, like water or oil. Some who interpret the verse this way prefer to repoint the vav (ו) on “it came” to a conjunctive vav and interpret the prefixed verb as a jussive, “may it come!”
80 tn Heb “may it be for him like a garment one puts on.”
81 tn The Hebrew noun מֵזַח (mezakh, “belt; waistband”) occurs only here in the OT. The form apparently occurs in Isa 23:10 as well, but an emendation is necessary there.
82 tn Heb “[may] this [be] the repayment to my accusers from the
83 tn Or “against.”
84 tn The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being; soul”) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
85 tn As pointed in the Hebrew text, this title refers to God (many medieval Hebrew
86 tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 5-6 are understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing. Another option is to take them as rhetorical. In this case the psalmist describes anticipated events as if they had already taken place.
87 tn Heb “in the day of his anger.”
88 tn The imperfect verbal forms in vv. 6-7 are understood here as descriptive-dramatic or as generalizing, though they could be taken as future.
89 tn Or “among.”
90 tn Heb “he fills [with] corpses,” but one expects a double accusative here. The translation assumes an emendation to גְוִיּוֹת גֵאָיוֹת(בִּ) מִלֵּא or מִלֵּא גֵאָיוֹת גְּוִיוֹת (for a similar construction see Ezek 32:5). In the former case גֵאָיוֹת(ge’ayot) has accidentally dropped from the text due to homoioteleuton; in the latter case it has dropped out due to homoioarcton.
91 tn Heb “he strikes [the verb is מָחַץ (makhats), translated “strikes down” in v. 5] head[s] over a great land.” The Hebrew term רַבָּה (rabbah, “great”) is here used of distance or spatial measurement (see 1 Sam 26:13).
92 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
93 tn On the term translated “fine linen,” BDAG 185 s.v. βύσσινος states, “made of fine linen, subst. τὸ β. fine linen, linen garment…Rv 18:12, 16; 19:8, 14.”
94 tn Or “the Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).
95 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
96 tn Grk “will shepherd.”
97 tn Or “scepter.” The Greek term ῥάβδος (rJabdo") can mean either “rod” or “scepter.”
98 sn He stomps the winepress. See Isa 63:3, where Messiah does this alone (usually several individuals would join in the process), and Rev 14:20.
99 tn The genitive θυμοῦ (qumou) has been translated as an attributed genitive. Following BDAG 461 s.v. θυμός 2, the combination of the genitives of θυμός (qumos) and ὀργή (orgh) in Rev 16:19 and 19:15 are taken to be a strengthening of the thought as in the OT and Qumran literature (Exod 32:12; Jer 32:37; Lam 2:3; CD 10:9).
100 tn On this word BDAG 755 s.v. παντοκράτωρ states, “the Almighty, All-Powerful, Omnipotent (One) only of God…(ὁ) κύριος ὁ θεὸς ὁ π. …Rv 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7; 21:22.”
101 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
102 tn The precise significance of ἐν (en) here is difficult to determine.
103 tn On μεσουρανήματι (mesouranhmati) here see L&N 1.10: “high in the sky, midpoint in the sky, directly overhead, straight above in the sky.” The birds mentioned here are carrion birds like vultures, circling high overhead, and now being summoned to feast on the corpses.
104 tn This is the same Greek word (δεῖπνον, deipnon) used in 19:9.
105 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause, insofar as it is related to the first imperative, has the force of an imperative.
106 tn The idea of eating “your fill” is evident in the context with the use of χορτάζω (cortazw) in v. 21.
107 tn Grk “chiliarchs”; normally a chiliarch was a military officer commanding a thousand soldiers, but here probably used of higher-ranking commanders like generals (see L&N 55.15; cf. Rev 6:15).
108 tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.
109 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.
110 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of an unexpected development in the account: The opposing armies do not come together in battle; rather the leader of one side is captured.
111 tn For this meaning see BDAG 342 s.v. ἐνώπιον 4.b, “by the authority of, on behalf of Rv 13:12, 14; 19:20.”
112 tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”
113 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
114 tn On the translation of ἐχορτάσθησαν (ecortasqhsan) BDAG 1087 s.v. χορτάζω 1.a states, “of animals, pass. in act. sense πάντα τὰ ὄρνεα ἐχορτάσθησαν ἐκ τῶν σαρκῶν αὐτῶν all the birds gorged themselves with their flesh Rv 19:21 (cp. TestJud. 21:8).”