Property: Text
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
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The adverbial "in its season" (בְּעִתּוֹ) implies habitual semantics since the "season" for fruit occurs again and again, each and every year. He will become (future) like a tree that regularly gives (habitual) fruit. +
The clause with יצליח is understood to be coordinated with the first clause of v. 3 (והיה)—see macrosyntax. Both clauses refer to future events with reference point movement. "He will become like a tree... and he will cause all that he does to flourish." +
The things that the man "does" are, from the speaker's perspective, only potential: "whatever he might do." +
The clause could be present ("the wicked people are not like this") or future ("the wicked people will not flourish in this way"). +
The tense of v. 4 (כמץ) is probably future, paralleling that of v. 3 (והיה כעץ). Because it is a verbless clause (no היה, unlike v. 3) it is glossed here as a stative ("will be") and not as an inchoative ("will become," as in v. 3). +
The tense of v. 4b paralleling that of v. 3bc (יתן...יבול). Wind characteristically drives chaff away. +
The verb "cares for" (יוֹדֵעַ) is a participle with gnomic semantics: YHWH is ever in a state of caring for the way of righteous people. See Ps 37:18—יוֹדֵ֣עַ יְ֭הוָה יְמֵ֣י תְמִימִ֑ם. Cf. NET: "The Hebrew active participle יוֹדֵעַ has here a characteristic durative force." Perowne: "The participle denotes that this is the character of Jehovah" (1878, 111). See BHRG §20.3.3, which says that "the participle may refer to habitual events" and JM §121b who list some examples of the participle with "frequentive aspect." Similarly, Joosten (2020, 5) says that "in other usages, the verbalized participle expresses functions that can also be expressed with yiqtol. Both forms can refer to habitual processes..." (citing Exod 13:15 as an example). +
The future tense of the event is crucial to the message of the psalm; although it seems like the wicked flourish in the present, their way will come to an end (cf. Jer 12:1; Mal 3:15; Pss 37; 73). See also LXX: ἀπολεῖται; Jerome (iuxta Hebr.): peribit. +
The first verb of the psalm ('''רָגַשׁ''') occurs only here in the Hebrew Bible, and so its meaning is unclear. There are two main options:
* "assemble" (NJPS) >> "conspire" (NIV, NRSV; cf. CEV, GNT). So SDBH: "action by which a relatively large number of people form a group in order to pursue a common goal together."'"`UNIQ--ref-00000000-QINU`"'
* "rage" (KJV, ESV, CSB); also "are... angry" (NLT), "in turmoil" (REB), "in an uproar" (NASB)
The meaning "assemble" is based on an Aramaic cognate (רגשׁ ''aphel'' stem) that means "to gather together urgently."'"`UNIQ--ref-00000001-QINU`"' But the Aramaic verb only has this meaning in the ''aphel'' (%3D ''hiphil'') stem. In the basic stem (%3D ''qal''), the Aramaic verb means "to rage, be upset."'"`UNIQ--ref-00000002-QINU`"' The word רגשׁ (''hithpael'', ''niphal'', and ''qal'') occurs with this sense in some later Hebrew texts:
* "against me the assembly of the wicked rages (תתרגש), and they roar (ויהמו) like stormy seas when their waves crash (בהרגש)" (1QH<sup>a</sup> col. 10, line 14. DJD vol. 40, p. 132, 142).
* "when the waves and the breakers of the waters surge up (ויתרגשו) on high with their noisy roar (המון)" (1QH<sup>a</sup> col. 11, line 16-17. DJD vol. 40, p. 155).
* "Lo, heaven and the highest heaven, the abyss and the earth, tremble (σαλευθήσονται %3D ירגשו?) at his visitation!" (Sirach 16:18, NRSV; cf. Ben Sira Ms A 16:18. which reads כרגשו—"when he rages")
Interestingly, in the first two of these passages, the "raging" wicked are likened to the tumultuous sea, an image which we find elsewhere in the Psalter (see esp. Ps 46). This would be a fitting image for the nations in Ps 2 as well.
Note that verbs for anger also occurs in the last verse of Ps 2 (יאנף...יבער אפו), thus forming an inclusio.
The use of an Aramaic word at the beginning of the psalm might be a deliberate rhetorical device: the psalm deals with events of international significance, so it makes use of the international language of Aramaic. (Note other Aramaisms in vv. 9, 12. Compare also the use of Aramaic in Dan 2-7 where the content also concerns international politics).
'''לְאֻמִּים''' is used especially in poetic texts.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000004-QINU`"' +
The verb הָגָה ("mutter" %5BSDBH%5D) has "the metonymic nuance 'devise, plan, plot' (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2)" (NET). In this context, the verb contributes further to the picture in the previous line of the nations as a noisy crowd, agitated like a tumultuous sea. Elsewhere, הגה can refer to a noisy inarticulate sound (cf. TDOT). E.g., "We all growl (נֶהֱמֶה) like bears; we moan mournfully (הָגֹה נֶהְגֶּה) like doves" (Isa 59:11, NIV). In Job 37:2, the noun הֶגֶה refers to "rumbling" of thunder (ESV, NIV, NET). Thus, with the verbs רגשׁ and הגה, Ps 2:1 gives an image of the nations like a gathering storm (cf. Ps 46). +
"The noun '''רִיק''' (“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."'"`UNIQ--ref-00000000-QINU`"' +
"kings of earth >> '''earthly kings'''," i.e., "earthly kings in contrast to the heavenly king (v. 4)."'"`UNIQ--ref-00000000-QINU`"' +
The verb "'''stand'''" (יִתְיַצְּבוּ) can mean to "take one’s stand (firmly)" (HALOT) and, by metaphorical extension, "to resist" (HALOT; see e.g., Deut 7:2; Josh 1:5; Job 41:2; 1 Chron 20:6). +
The same expression '''הִוָּסֵד יחד על''' occurs in Ps 31:14: "For I hear many whispering, 'Terror on every side!' They conspire against me (בְּהִוָּסְדָם יַחַד עָלַי) and plot to take my life" (Ps 31:14, NIV). In this passage, as in Ps 2, the verb probably means "get together" >> "conspire" (cf. HALOT; so REB and NASB %5B"conspire"%5D; LXX: "gather" %5Bσυνήχθησαν%5D). According to HALOT and Gesenius 2013, 471, this verb probably derives from the root יסד II (a by-form of סוד; cf. the nοun סוֹד which can refer both to a "group, gathering" of people and, by metaphorical extension, to a "plot" or "scheme" known only by that group %5Bsee SDBH%5D). +
The preposition in the phrase "'''against (עַל) YHWH and against (עַל) his anointed one'''" is used in "the oppositional sense."'"`UNIQ--ref-00000000-QINU`"' The repetition of the preposition עַל in v. 2c draws attention to the conflict. +
The verb '''ישׁב''' (lit.: "sit") can refer figuratively to "reigning" (i.e., sitting on a throne). It appears a number of times in the phrase ישׁב על כסא (Exod 11:5; 12:29; Deut 17:18; 1 Sam 1:9; 4:13; 1 Kgs 1:13, 17, 20) and can have a similar meaning even when the prepositional phrase (על כסא) is omitted (e.g., Isa 40:22; Zech 9:6). The verb probably has this meaning in this context, where YHWH "the one who reigns in heaven" is contrasted with the "kings of earth" (v. 2). So SDBH: "action by which humans or deities assume a position of leadership, as if sitting on an actual throne." Cf. NIV: "The One enthroned in heaven" (cf. NLT, CSB, CEV, GNT). +
The ''lamed'' preposition in the phrase "'''laugh %5Bat them (למו)%5D... mock them (למו)'''" indicates the entity negatively affected by the action,'"`UNIQ--ref-00000007-QINU`"' the object of scorn and mockery (cf. Ps 22:8—יַלְעִגוּ לִי; Ps 37:13—יִשְׂחַק לוֹ). +
In regard to '''בַחֲרוֹנוֹ''', it seems that "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.'"'"`UNIQ--ref-00000000-QINU`"' +
The ''bet'' prepositions in the phrases "'''in his anger'''" and "'''in his wrath'''" indicate the mode of the actions.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000004-QINU`"' +