Discovery BoxPsalms 2:1-3
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
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!”
Psalms 107:25-26
Context107:25 He gave the order for a windstorm, 15
and it stirred up the waves of the sea. 16
107:26 They 17 reached up to the sky,
then dropped into the depths.
The sailors’ strength 18 left them 19 because the danger was so great. 20
Psalms 124:3-5
Context124:3 they would have swallowed us alive,
when their anger raged against us.
124:4 The water would have overpowered us;
the current 21 would have overwhelmed 22 us. 23
124:5 The raging water
would have overwhelmed us. 24
Acts 4:25-27
Context4:25 who said by the Holy Spirit through 25 your servant David our forefather, 26
‘Why do the nations 27 rage, 28
and the peoples plot foolish 29 things?
4:26 The kings of the earth stood together, 30
and the rulers assembled together,
against the Lord and against his 31 Christ.’ 32
4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against 33 your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, 34
[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
[2:3] 14 tn Heb “throw off from us.”
[107:25] 15 tn Heb “he spoke and caused to stand a stormy wind.”
[107:25] 16 tn Heb “and it stirred up its [i.e., the sea’s, see v. 23] waves.”
[107:26] 17 tn That is, the waves (see v. 25).
[107:26] 18 tn Heb “their being”; traditionally “their soul” (referring to that of the sailors). This is sometimes translated “courage” (cf. NIV, NRSV).
[107:26] 20 tn Heb “from danger.”
[124:4] 22 tn Heb “would have passed over.”
[124:4] 23 tn Heb “our being.” The Hebrew term נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh) with a pronominal suffix is often equivalent to a pronoun, especially in poetry (see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 4.a).
[124:5] 24 tn Heb “then they would have passed over our being, the raging waters.”
[4:25] 25 tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).
[4:25] 26 tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”
[4:25] 28 sn The Greek word translated rage includes not only anger but opposition, both verbal and nonverbal. See L&N 88.185.
[4:25] 29 tn Or “futile”; traditionally, “vain.”
[4:26] 30 tn Traditionally, “The kings of the earth took their stand.”
[4:26] 31 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
[4:26] 32 sn A quotation from Ps 2:1-2.
[4:27] 33 sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.
[4:27] 34 sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”
