Discovery BoxPsalms 2:1-9
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!”
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.”
2:7 The king says, 22 “I will announce the Lord’s decree. He said to me: 23
‘You are my son! 24 This very day I have become your father!
2:8 Ask me,
and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, 25
the ends of the earth as your personal property.
2:9 You will break them 26 with an iron scepter; 27
you will smash them like a potter’s jar!’” 28
Luke 19:42-44
Context19:42 saying, “If you had only known on this day, 29 even you, the things that make for peace! 30 But now they are hidden 31 from your eyes. 19:43 For the days will come upon you when your enemies will build 32 an embankment 33 against you and surround you and close in on you from every side. 19:44 They will demolish you 34 – you and your children within your walls 35 – and they will not leave within you one stone 36 on top of another, 37 because you did not recognize the time of your visitation from God.” 38
Luke 20:18-19
Context20:18 Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, 39 and the one on whom it falls will be crushed.” 40 20:19 Then 41 the experts in the law 42 and the chief priests wanted to arrest 43 him that very hour, because they realized he had told this parable against them. But 44 they were afraid of the people.
Acts 2:37
Context2:37 Now when they heard this, 45 they were acutely distressed 46 and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “What should we do, brothers?”
Acts 2:41
Context2:41 So those who accepted 47 his message 48 were baptized, and that day about three thousand people 49 were added. 50
Acts 5:33
Context5:33 Now when they heard this, they became furious 51 and wanted to execute them. 52
Acts 7:54
Context7:54 When they heard these things, they became furious 53 and ground their teeth 54 at him.
[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.”
[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.”
[2:7] 22 tn The words “the king says” are supplied in the translation for clarification. The speaker is the Lord’s chosen king.
[2:7] 23 tn Or “I will relate the decree. The
[2:7] 24 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.
[2:8] 25 sn I will give you the nations. The
[2:9] 26 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.
[2:9] 27 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.
[2:9] 28 sn Like a potter’s jar. Before the Davidic king’s awesome power, the rebellious nations are like fragile pottery.
[19:42] 29 sn On this day. They had missed the time of Messiah’s coming; see v. 44.
[19:42] 30 tn Grk “the things toward peace.” This expression seems to mean “the things that would ‘lead to,’ ‘bring about,’ or ‘make for’ peace.”
[19:42] 31 sn But now they are hidden from your eyes. This becomes an oracle of doom in the classic OT sense; see Luke 13:31-35; 11:49-51; Jer 9:2; 13:7; 14:7. They are now blind and under judgment (Jer 15:5; Ps 122:6).
[19:43] 32 sn Jesus now predicted the events that would be fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem in
[19:43] 33 sn An embankment refers to either wooden barricades or earthworks, or a combination of the two.
[19:44] 34 tn Grk “They will raze you to the ground.”
[19:44] 35 tn Grk “your children within you.” The phrase “[your] walls” has been supplied in the translation to clarify that the city of Jerusalem, metaphorically pictured as an individual, is spoken of here.
[19:44] 36 sn (Not) one stone on top of another is an idiom for total destruction.
[19:44] 37 tn Grk “leave stone on stone.”
[19:44] 38 tn Grk “the time of your visitation.” To clarify what this refers to, the words “from God” are supplied at the end of the verse, although they do not occur in the Greek text.
[20:18] 39 tn On this term, see BDAG 972 s.v. συνθλάω.
[20:18] 40 tn Grk “on whomever it falls, it will crush him.”
[20:19] 41 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
[20:19] 42 tn Or “The scribes” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.
[20:19] 43 tn Grk “tried to lay hands on him.”
[20:19] 44 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.
[2:37] 45 tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
[2:37] 46 tn Grk “they were pierced to the heart” (an idiom for acute emotional distress).
[2:41] 47 tn Or “who acknowledged the truth of.”
[2:41] 49 tn Grk “souls” (here an idiom for the whole person).
[2:41] 50 tn Or “were won over.”
[5:33] 51 sn The only other use of this verb for anger (furious) is Acts 7:54 after Stephen’s speech.
[5:33] 52 sn Wanted to execute them. The charge would surely be capital insubordination (Exod 22:28).
[7:54] 53 tn This verb, which also occurs in Acts 5:33, means “cut to the quick” or “deeply infuriated” (BDAG 235 s.v. διαπρίω).
[7:54] 54 tn Or “they gnashed their teeth.” This idiom is a picture of violent rage (BDAG 184 s.v. βρύχω). See also Ps 35:16.
