Psalms 2:1-4

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.

Psalms 76:10

76:10 Certainly ¹⁸  your angry judgment upon men will bring you praise; ¹⁹ 

you reveal your anger in full measure. ²⁰ 

Isaiah 17:12-13

17:12 The many nations massing together are as good as dead, ²¹ 

those who make a commotion as loud as the roaring of the sea’s waves. ²² 

The people making such an uproar are as good as dead, ²³ 

those who make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves. ²⁴ 

17:13 Though these people make an uproar as loud as the roaring of powerful waves, ²⁵ 

when he shouts at ²⁶  them, they will flee to a distant land,

driven before the wind like dead weeds on the hills,

or like dead thistles ²⁷  before a strong gale.

John 18:6

18:6 So when Jesus ²⁸  said to them, “I am he,” they retreated ²⁹  and fell to the ground. ³⁰ 

[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.”

[76:10]  ¹⁸ tn Or “for.”

[76:10]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the anger of men will praise you.” This could mean that men’s anger (subjective genitive), when punished by God, will bring him praise, but this interpretation does not harmonize well with the next line. The translation assumes that God’s anger is in view here (see v. 7) and that “men” is an objective genitive. God’s angry judgment against men brings him praise because it reveals his power and majesty (see vv. 1-4).

[76:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the rest of anger you put on.” The meaning of the statement is not entirely clear. Perhaps the idea is that God, as he prepares for battle, girds himself with every last ounce of his anger, as if it were a weapon.

[17:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “Woe [to] the massing of the many nations.” The word הוֹי (hoy) could be translated as a simple interjection here (“ah!”), but since the following verses announce the demise of these nations, it is preferable to take הוֹי as a funeral cry. See the note on the first phrase of 1:4.

[17:12]  ²² tn Heb “like the loud noise of the seas, they make a loud noise.”

[17:12]  ²³ tn Heb “the uproar of the peoples.” The term הוֹי (hoy, “woe, ah”) does double duty in the parallel structure of the verse; the words “are as good as dead” are supplied in the translation to reflect this.

[17:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “like the uproar of mighty waters they are in an uproar.”

[17:13]  ²⁵ tn Heb “the peoples are in an uproar like the uproar of mighty waters.”

[17:13]  ²⁶ tn Or “rebukes.” The verb and related noun are used in theophanies of God’s battle cry which terrifies his enemies. See, for example, Pss 18:15; 76:7; 106:9; Isa 50:2; Nah 1:4, and A. Caquot, TDOT 3:49-53.

[17:13]  ²⁷ tn Or perhaps “tumbleweed” (NAB, NIV, CEV); KJV “like a rolling thing.”

[18:6]  ²⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:6]  ²⁹ tn Grk “moved back” (but here a fairly rapid movement is implied).

[18:6]  ³⁰ sn When Jesus said to those who came to arrest him “I am,” they retreated and fell to the ground. L. Morris says that “it is possible that those in front recoiled from Jesus’ unexpected advance, so that they bumped those behind them, causing them to stumble and fall” (John [NICNT], 743-44). Perhaps this is what in fact happened on the scene; but the theological significance given to this event by the author implies that more is involved. The reaction on the part of those who came to arrest Jesus comes in response to his affirmation that he is indeed the one they are seeking, Jesus the Nazarene. But Jesus makes this affirmation of his identity using a formula which the reader has encountered before in the Fourth Gospel, e.g., 8:24, 28, 58. Jesus has applied to himself the divine Name of Exod 3:14, “I AM.” Therefore this amounts to something of a theophany which causes even his enemies to recoil and prostrate themselves, so that Jesus has to ask a second time, “Who are you looking for?” This is a vivid reminder to the reader of the Gospel that even in this dark hour, Jesus holds ultimate power over his enemies and the powers of darkness, because he is the one who bears the divine Name.