Psalms 2:1-6

Psalm 2 ¹ 

2:1 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.”

Revelation 11:15-18

The Seventh Trumpet

11:15 Then ²²  the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying:

“The kingdom of the world

has become the kingdom of our Lord

and of his Christ, ²³ 

and he will reign for ever and ever.”

11:16 Then ²⁴  the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God threw themselves down with their faces to the ground ²⁵  and worshiped God 11:17 with these words: ²⁶ 

“We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, ²⁷ 

the one who is and who was,

because you have taken your great power

and begun to reign. ²⁸ 

11:18 The ²⁹  nations ³⁰  were enraged,

but ³¹  your wrath has come,

and the time has come for the dead to be judged,

and the time has come to give to your servants, ³² 

the prophets, their reward,

as well as to the saints

and to those who revere ³³  your name, both small and great,

and the time has come ³⁴  to destroy those who destroy ³⁵  the earth.”

[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).

[2:3]  ¹² tn The words “they say” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The quotation represents the words of the rebellious kings.

[2:3]  ¹³ tn Heb “their (i.e., the Lord’s and the king’s) shackles.” The kings compare the rule of the Lord and his vice-regent to being imprisoned.

[2:3]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “throw off from us.”

[2:4]  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).

[2:4]  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.

[2:4]  ¹⁷ tn Or “scoffs at”; “derides”; “mocks.”

[2:5]  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.

[2:5]  ¹⁹ tn The word “saying” is supplied in the translation for clarification to indicate that the speaker is the Lord (cf. RSV, NIV).

[2:6]  ²⁰ tn The first person pronoun appears before the first person verbal form for emphasis, reflected in the translation by “myself.”

[2:6]  ²¹ tn Or perhaps “consecrated.”

[11:15]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[11:15]  ²³ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[11:16]  ²⁴ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[11:16]  ²⁵ tn Grk “they fell down on their faces.” BDAG 815 s.v. πίπτω 1.b.α.ב. has “fall down, throw oneself to the ground as a sign of devotion or humility, before high-ranking persons or divine beings.”

[11:17]  ²⁶ tn Grk “saying.”

[11:17]  ²⁷ 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.”

[11:17]  ²⁸ tn The aorist verb ἐβασίλευσας (ebasileusa") has been translated ingressively.

[11:18]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:18]  ³⁰ tn Or “The Gentiles” (the same Greek word may be translated “Gentiles” or “nations”).

[11:18]  ³¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[11:18]  ³² tn See the note on the word “servants” in 1:1.

[11:18]  ³³ tn Grk “who fear.”

[11:18]  ³⁴ tn The words “the time has come” do not occur except at the beginning of the verse; the phrase has been repeated for emphasis and contrast. The Greek has one finite verb (“has come”) with a compound subject (“your wrath,” “the time”), followed by three infinitive clauses (“to be judged,” “to give,” “to destroy”). The rhetorical power of the repetition of the finite verb in English thus emulates the rhetorical power of its lone instance in Greek.

[11:18]  ³⁵ tn Or “who deprave.” There is a possible wordplay here on two meanings for διαφθείρω (diafqeirw), with the first meaning “destroy” and the second meaning either “to ruin” or “to make morally corrupt.” See L&N 20.40.