Discovery BoxPsalms 2:1-2
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
Psalms 3:1-2
ContextA psalm of David, written when he fled from his son Absalom. 13
3:1 Lord, how 14 numerous are my enemies!
Many attack me. 15
3:2 Many say about me,
“God will not deliver him.” 16 (Selah) 17
Psalms 22:11-13
Context22:11 Do not remain far away from me,
for trouble is near and I have no one to help me. 18
22:12 Many bulls 19 surround me;
powerful bulls of Bashan 20 hem me in.
22:13 They 21 open their mouths to devour me 22
like a roaring lion that rips its prey. 23
[2:1] 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.
[2:1] 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.
[2:1] 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.
[2:1] 4 tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.
[2:1] 5 tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).
[2:1] 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).
[2:1] 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.
[2:2] 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.
[2:2] 9 tn Or “take their stand.” The Hebrew imperfect verbal form describes their action as underway.
[2:2] 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).
[2:2] 11 tn Heb “and against his anointed one.” The Davidic king is the referent (see vv. 6-7).
[3:1] 12 sn Psalm 3. The psalmist acknowledges that he is confronted by many enemies (vv. 1-2). But, alluding to a divine oracle he has received (vv. 4-5), he affirms his confidence in God’s ability to protect him (vv. 3, 6) and requests that God make his promise a reality (vv. 7-8).
[3:1] 13 sn According to Jewish tradition, David offered this prayer when he was forced to flee from Jerusalem during his son Absalom’s attempted coup (see 2 Sam 15:13-17).
[3:1] 14 tn The Hebrew term מָה (mah, “how”) is used here as an adverbial exclamation (see BDB 553 s.v.).
[3:1] 15 tn Heb “many rise up against me.”
[3:2] 16 tn Heb “there is no deliverance for him in God.”
[3:2] 17 sn The function of the Hebrew term סֶלָה (selah), transliterated here “Selah,” is uncertain. It may be a musical direction of some kind.
[22:11] 18 tn Heb “and there is no helper.”
[22:12] 19 sn The psalmist figuratively compares his enemies to dangerous bulls.
[22:12] 20 sn Bashan, located east of the Jordan River, was well-known for its cattle. See Ezek 39:18; Amos 4:1.
[22:13] 21 tn “They” refers to the psalmist’s enemies, who in the previous verse are described as “powerful bulls.”
[22:13] 22 tn Heb “they open against me their mouth[s].” To “open the mouth against” is a Hebrew idiom associated with eating and swallowing (see Ezek 2:8; Lam 2:16).
