Psalm 2 Story behind the Psalm

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Psalm Overview

Overview

The Story Behind Psalm 2.

In order to understand a Psalm, we have to understand not only what is said, but also what is assumed and left unsaid. Psalm 2, like many other Psalms, assumes a certain state of affairs, a sequence of events that have transpired in the past and others which may take place in the future (a story "behind the Psalm"). We can summarise this story as follows: YHWH sets up his king on Mt. Zion (see v. 6). In response, the nations and their rulers plans a rebellion (vv. 1-3). The king responds to the rebellion by warning the rebels and issuing and ultimatum. This is where the psalm itself fits into the story. Afterwards, it is assumed that the king will ask YHWH, and YHWH will give him the nations as his inheritance (see v. 8). From that point, the psalm envisions two possible futures (two ways in which the nations might be given): either the rebels serve YHWH and submit to the king or the king crushes the rebellion by force. In either case, YHWH's king, as God's son and heir, will exercise universal dominion.

Background Ideas

  • Lesser kings (vassals) frequently rebelled against greater rulers (suzerains),[1] especially when the greater kingdom experienced a change in kingship.[2][3]
  • YHWH made a covenant with David in which he promised to establish his dynasty forever (2 Sam. 7:12-16; cf. Ps. 89:4-5).
  • The Davidic king is God's "son" (cf. 2 Sam. 7:14) in the sense that he is in a special relationship with God, representing God's authority and resembling his attributes.
  • Firstborn sons inherit their father's property. The son of God, therefore, stands to inherit the whole earth (cf. Ps. 89:27-28).
  • YHWH chose Zion, "the city of David" (2 Sam. 5:7), as his holy mountain (Ps. 132:13-14).
  • God's holy mountain is the meeting place between heaven and earth.[4]

Background Situation

Psalm 2 - Background Situation.jpg

Expanded Paraphrase

(For more information, click "Expanded Paraphrase Legend" below.)

v. 1

Why have nations thronged (together) (with a common purpose), and why do peoples mutter emptiness? (Their efforts will come to nothing).

v. 2

Kings of earth (who rule over their people) are standing, and rulers (who govern their people)[5] have conspired together against YHWH and against his anointed one. (Kings were anointed with oil.)[6]

v. 3

(The earthly nations and kings are under the dominion of YHWH and his anointed king.) (But they have decided to rebel.) (Lesser kings frequently rebelled against greater rulers,[7] especially when the greater kingdom experienced a change in kingship.)[8] “Let us tear off their bonds. (We do not want to serve them).[9] and let us throw their ropes from us.” (We do not want to obey their laws.)[10] (We do not want to rule with justice and wisdom).[11]

v. 4

The one enthroned in the heavens (high above the earthly kings) laughs (in scorn)[12] The Lord mocks them. (He knows their plans will come to nothing).[13]

v. 5

Then he speaks to them in his wrath, and he dismays them with his anger (- anger appropriate to disobedient vassals).[14]

v. 6

“And I have fashioned my king (as my image)[15] (to resemble my character and represent my presence and authority)[16] (and I have placed him) on Zion (the city of David),[17] my holy mountain (the place where heaven and earth meet).”[18]

v. 7

Let me recount the decree (the covenant that God made with David).[19] (God said to David, ‘I will give you rest from all your enemies... YHWH will build you a house. When your days are complete... I will raise up your offspring after you... and establish his kingdom... I will be his father, and he will be my son.)[20] YHWH said to me, "You are my son. I have fathered you today.

v. 8

(The whole world and everything in it is my property,) (and sons stand to inherit their fathers' property.) (As my son, you stand to inherit my property.) [21] Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance and the ends of the earth your property.

v. 9

You will crush them with an (unbreakable and enduring)[22] iron sceptre.[23] You will smash them like a potter’s vessel (which is fragile and unable to be put back together when shattered)."

v. 10

And now, kings, be wise. Accept discipline, rulers of earth.

v. 11

Serve YHWH with fear and rejoice with trembling.[24]

v. 12

Kiss the son (- kissing was a sign of homage and submission[25] -) lest he become angry and you perish in your conduct, for his anger rages easily. Happy are all who take refuge in him.

Endnotes

  1. ↑ Ringgren 1983.
  2. ↑ Walton 2009:320.
  3. ↑ In the Neo-Assyrian period (7th-early 10th centuries BC), accounts of withstanding a rebellion were a regular part of inscriptions and palace decorations which served to confirm the divine appointment of a king (Radner 2016, 46, 54).
  4. ↑ Kim 2014:355.
  5. ↑ Rulers (רזן) are closely related in rank/office to Kings (מלכים) (Judg 5.3; Prov 8:15; Prov 31:4; Hab 1:10). They were part of the administrative legal apparatus since, in the near east, the king was the sole head of state (Westbrook 2003, 25–27).
  6. ↑ e.g. 1 Sam. 10:1; 16:13
  7. ↑ Ringgren 1983.
  8. ↑ Walton 2009:320.
  9. ↑ Reins are a metaphor for servitude (לעבוד) (Jer. 2.20; 27.2; 30:8). The main shared feature is fulfilling the will of the rider/suzerain (cf. Job 39.5).
  10. ↑ Ropes are a metaphor for leadership. The common feature is that one person is pulling another with something (e.g. Judg 15.13; Hosa 11.4; Psa 129.4)
  11. ↑ ’Continued legitimacy depended on the king fulfilling the mandate that the gods assigned to him, the most important element of which from the legal perspective was the duty to do justice. The justice in question is expressed by pairs of terms in Akkadian (kittum/mišārum) and in Hebrew (mišpat/ṣedaqah), the first member reflecting respectively its static aspect of upholding the existing legal order and the second its dynamic aspect of correcting abuses or imbalances that have invaded the system. In particular, the king was expected to protect the weaker members of society, such as the poor, the orphan and the widow, against the stronger. In Egyptian, the same motif is expressed through the wider concept of cosmic order (maat), of which justice was a part’ (Westbrook 2003, 26).
  12. ↑ ‘Laughter in the Bible is not associated with pleasure or cordiality’ (Kruger 2014, 6).
  13. ↑ The mocking (לעג) most likely points to the assurance that the plans of the object of לעג will not be successful (God only לעגs here Psa 59.9; Job 9:23. Elsewhere it seems to denote one person taking pleasure in the misfortunes of another, e.g. 2 Kgs 19.21; Jer 20:7; Psa 80:7; Job 11:13, etc). (cf. Psa 1:3 יצליח)
  14. ↑ ‘Since the object of this rage is almost always Israel (except Hab 3:8; Ps 18:8), and since the source of provocation often is “transgression of the covenant” (Josh 7:1; 23:16; Judg 2:20) or “pursuit of other gods” (Deut 6:14–15; 11:16–17; 31:16–17), ḥrh and ḥārôn seem to have a specialized use designating the legitimate rage of a suzerain against a disobedient vassal” (ABD sv ‘Wrath of God’).
  15. ↑ On the meaning of the verb נסך, see discussion of this verse at word-level semantics
  16. ↑ "The ANE and Canaanite cultural context is significant. In Egypt, from at least 1650 BC onwards, people perceived the king as the image of god because he was the son of god. The emphasis was not on physical appearance. For example, a male king could be the image of a female goddess. What is stressed is that the behavior of the king reflects the behavior of the god. The king as the image of god reflects the characteristics and essential notions of the god" (Gentry 2019, 113).
  17. ↑ 2 Sam. 5:7. YHWH chose Zion as his holy mountain (Ps. 132:13-14).
  18. ↑ see Kim 2014:355
  19. ↑ The “decree” is the “personal covenant document, renewing God’s covenant commitment to the dynasty of David" (Craigie 1983:67). G. H. Jones notes that “almost without exception the word ֹחק appears in connection with the Covenant made” (G.H. Jones, “The Decree of Yahweh (Ps. II 7),” Vetus Testamentum 15, no. 3 (1965): 336–44). In Egyptian coronation rituals, the deity presents the new king with a royal protocol (cf ḥoq in Psalm 2, 'edut in 2 kgs 11:12 and berit in Ps 89:40), as well as five titles (cf. Isa 9:5) (Roberts 2002, 143ff; Keel 1997, 256–262; both based on the seminal article by Von Rad 1947).
  20. ↑ 2 Sam. 7:11-14
  21. ↑ see Ps. 24:1
  22. ↑ Iron was though of as virtually unbreakable (Deut 28:48; Job 19:24; Jer 17:1; Jer 28:13; Jer 28:14)
  23. ↑ ‘Composite-sceptres with iron parts dated to the Iron Age II of the eighth and seventh century BCE were excavated in Tel Dan, Ta'anach and Nimrud (Lemaire 1986). Such sceptres were unknown in Egypt’ (Otto 2004). Rods (שבטים) could be used as weapons (2 Sam 18:14; 23:21 Isa 11:4; Job 37:13).
  24. ↑ It is not uncommon when meeting the Divine to feel both joy and fear (Psa 22:24; Psa 97:1; Psa 40:4; Ex 14:31).
  25. ↑ cf. 1 Sam 10:1; 1 Kgs 19:18; Craigie 2000:48; Barbiero 2008:80