Psalm 2 Discourse

Psalm Overview

• Grammar
• Semantics
• Story behind the Psalm
• Discourse
• Poetics

About the Discourse Layer

Our Discourse layer includes four analyses: macrosyntax, speech act analysis, emotional analysis, and participant analysis. (For more information, click 'Expand' to the right.)

Macrosyntax

The macrosyntax layer rests on the belief that human communicators desire their addressees to receive a coherent picture of their message and will cooperatively provide clues to lead the addressee into a correct understanding. So, in the case of macrosyntax of the Psalms, the psalmist has explicitly left syntactic clues for the reader regarding the discourse structure of the entire psalm. Here we aim to account for the function of these elements, including the identification of conjunctions which either coordinate or subordinate entire clauses (as the analysis of coordinated individual phrases is carried out at the phrase-level semantics layer), vocatives, other discourse markers, direct speech, and clausal word order.

For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Macrosyntax Creator Guidelines.

Speech Act Analysis

The Speech Act layer presents the text in terms of what it does, following the findings of Speech Act Theory. It builds on the recognition that there is more to communication than the exchange of propositions. Speech act analysis is particularly important when communicating cross-culturally, and lack of understanding can lead to serious misunderstandings, since the ways languages and cultures perform speech acts varies widely.

For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Speech Act Analysis Creator Guidelines.

Emotional Analysis

This layer explores the emotional dimension of the biblical text and seeks to uncover the clues within the text itself that are part of the communicative intent of its author. The goal of this analysis is to chart the basic emotional tone and/or progression of the psalm.

For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Emotional Analysis Creator Guidelines.

Participant Analysis

Participant Analysis focuses on the characters in the psalm and asks, “Who are the main participants (or characters) in this psalm, and what are they saying or doing? It is often helpful for understanding literary structure, speaker identification, etc.

For a detailed explanation of our method, see the Participant Analysis Creator Guidelines.

Discourse Visuals for Psalm 2

Macrosyntax

Notes

Word Order

• v. 1b - לְאֻמִּים is fronted to create a symmetrical pattern (predicate-subject // subject-predicate) that gives cohesion to v. 1. Note also the patterned repetition of sounds that results: לָמָּה // לְאֻמִּים and רָגְ // גּוּ־רִֽ.
• v. 2b - רוֹזְנִים is fronted to create a symmetrical pattern (predicate-subject // subject-predicate) that gives cohesion to v. 2.
• v. 4a - יוֹשֵׁב בַּשָּׁמַיִם is fronted for topic activation. Even though YHWH is already discourse-present in v. 2 (עַל־יְ֝הוָה), he is introduced here for the first time as the agent of a clause, and so the phrase referring to him is fronted for ease of processing.
• v. 4b - The subject-predicate word order of v. 4b mirrors that of the previous line, creating an ab//ab pattern.
• v. 5b - בַחֲרוֹנוֹ is fronted to create a symmetrical pattern with the previous line: verb-PP // PP-verb.
• v. 6a - וַאֲנִי is fronted for contrastive topic shift. The content of this speech picks up where the previous speech left off (v. 3).
• v. 7bα - יְֽהוָה is fronted to encode a thetic utterance. We would also be forgiven for presuming the agent of אֲסַפְּרָ֗ה in v. 7a was still YHWH, as the speaker of v. 6b, so that YHWH is speaking to me here, provides the necessary orientation for the reader.
• v. 7bβ - The verbless clause בְּנִ֥י אַתָּה is inverted to front בְּנִי as completive focus, filling in the focal information of "You are X [to me]". Alternatively, if the reader has kept up with who is talking (מְשִׁיחוֹ mentioned in v. 2b), perhaps the presupposition would be "You are [only] my human subordinate, sub-ruler and under-shepherd," which would be radically updated by the identification of מְשִׁיחוֹ as בְּנִי, so replacing/scalar focus.
• v. 7c - The double-fronting of אֲ֝נִ֗י הַיּ֥וֹם most naturally reads as topic shifting אֲנִי + focal הַיּוֹם. The adverbial הַיּוֹם is often used with qatal verbs to indicate a performative speech act (Deut 8:19; 30:18; Jer 40:4): "I hereby father you today." Perhaps הַיּוֹם is fronted for corrective focus, to make clear that the fathering is something that happens now ("today") at the moment of speech and not something that happened in the past, e.g., when the king was born. Or maybe it is intensive focus: "this very day..."
• v. 8b - constituents אֲחֻזָּתְךָ֗ אַפְסֵי־אָֽרֶץ inverted to creating symmetry between these and the resultative constituents of the previous clause: ג֭וֹיִם נַחֲלָתֶ֑ךָ וַ֝אֲחֻזָּתְךָ֗ אַפְסֵי־אָֽרֶץ, all bound under one explicit VP.
• v. 9b - כִּכְלִ֖י יוֹצֵ֣ר is fronted to create a symmetrical pattern with the previous line: verb-PP // PP-verb
• v. 12d - post-verbal כִּמְעַ֣ט preceding אַפּ֑וֹ for corrective focus, i.e., you will perish in your conduct because his anger does not burn slowly (and ineffectively with empty promises of wrath), but quickly and easily. This also lends itself to the urgency of the imperatives introduced in vv. 10-12. Furthermore, it also causes אַפּ֑וֹ to be clause final, bringing to mind v. 5a, which has final בְאַפּ֑וֹ, with the result that YHWH and his anointed son's wrath are placed in close comparison.

Conjunctions

• v. 6 - The waw at the beginning of v. 6 functions at the discourse level "to signal text level disjunction or transition." Specifically, in this case, it connects and contrasts YHWH's response to the nations' speech in v. 3. "The function of this type of speech-initial וְ is to mark a dispreferred response."
• v. 12 - The כִּי in v. 12 could be either causal ("for his anger easily ignites") or temporal ("when his anger quickly ignites"). If the phrase כִּמְעַט means "quickly/easily" (see note on lexical semantics) then the כִּי is probably causal. The clause is explaining why it is that they will perish in the way if they refuse to submit to the son; it is because his anger ignites (not slowly, but) quickly/easily.

Discourse Markers

• v. 5a - The function of the adverb אָז is not entirely clear. It could be a conjunctive adverb (cf. BHRG §40.6(2)) used to connect a sequence of events: "(first) he laughs and mocks; then he speaks...." Alternatively, it could be an adverb of time, referring to the time of the rebellion described in vv. 1-3: "at that time (when they were rebelling), he speaks to them..." It might also connect somehow to וְעַתָּה in v. 10 (cf. e.g., Josh 14:11). We have preferred the first of these options. The effect of using אָז in v. 5 together with yiqtol verbs in vv. 4-5 is to create a dramatic narrative with suspense.
• v. 10a - the combination of both וְ and עַתָּה can rightly be considered one constituent, "often introducing a new subject or section."

Vocatives

• v. 10a - The vocative מְלָכִ֣ים occurs before the imperative to identify the addressee.
• v. 10b - The vocative position results in a symmetrical structure with the previous line: vocative-verb // verb-vocative. That the vocative follows the imperative might also be intended to place focus on it.

Discourse discontinuities

• vv. 3/4 - The direct speech of v. 3 ends and a new topic is activated in v. 4a.
• vv. 9/10 - YHWH's direct speech of v. 9 ends and v. 10 begins with the discourse marker וְ֭עַתָּה and vocative מְלָכִ֣ים.

Speech Act Analysis

Summary Visual

Speech Act Chart

Emotional Analysis

Summary visual

Emotional Analysis Chart

Notes

Because the psalm features multiple speakers, each with their own set of feelings, the summary emotion visual is rather complicated. For details, see the Emotional Analysis chart.

• The psalm begins with the psalmist himself disparaging the nations, expressing contempt for them (vv. 1-3). The emotional tone is highly negative, aroused, and obstructive.
• In v. 3, he quotes the conspiratorial speech of the nations. The emotional tone of this speech is defiant and frustrated. It too is highly negative, aroused, and obstructive.
• In vv. 4-6, the psalmist continues as the main speaker, describing YHWH's response to the nations' rebellion. The emotional tone of this section is basically the same as in vv. 1-3.
• In v. 6, the psalmist quotes YHWH. The emotional tone of this speech is also highly negative, aroused, and obstructive, expressing anger and contempt.
• In vv. 7-9, the king himself speaks. In addition to feeling angry and contempt, he also feels convinced and superior—more positive emotions.
• In vv. 7bβ-9, the king quotes YHWH's decree. The decree stands out from the rest of the psalm in its emotional positivity, expressing feelings of delight and determination.
• Finally, in vv. 10-12, where the psalmist summons the earthly kings to submit to YHWH and his anointed, the emotional tone returns to where it began (vv. 1-3)—negative, aroused, and obstructive, expressing feelings of disdain and contempt (though the very last line [v. 12c] expresses the positive emotion of admiration).

Participant analysis

There are 4 participants/characters in Psalm 2:

• YHWH is the "Lord" (v. 4) over all the earth, "the one enthroned in the heavens" (v. 4a) as the highest king.
• YHWH, the heavenly king, does not rule over the nations directly. Rather, his rule is mediated by his anointed one (v. 2c), the king whom he placed as his image on Mt. Zion (v. 6), his only son and heir (vv. 7-9).
• The nations rightfully belong to the king, who rules over them like an emperor rules over the various domains in his empire. When Psalm 2 begins, however, the nations are "in an uproar" (v.1a), trying to throw off the shackles of YHWH and his anointed one (v. 3). Specifically, the earthly kings who rule the nations (vv. 2, 10) want to gain independence from YHWH and his king. Instead of being part of the king's empire and submitting to his rule, they want to govern themselves.
• Those who take refuge in the king are those who have gladly submitted to his rule and, therefore, will experience all of the benefits of living under a good king: peace, justice, and prosperity.

Participant Relations Diagram

The relationships among the participants may be abstracted and summarized as follows:

Participant Analysis Table

Notes

vv. 1-6, 10-12: Who is the primary speaker?

• In v. 7, the first-person "I" is clearly the king. For this reason, some argue that the king is probably the speaker in the rest of the psalm as well. For example, Eaton writes, "There seems no cause to assume... any change of speaker in the psalm. With Gunkel and Mowinkcel (GT), therefore, we should consider the Davidic king as the speaker throughout, referring to himself in the third as well as the first person."
• But there are at least two problems with this view.
  • (1) There is nothing in vv. 1-6 itself to suggest that the king is the primary speaker. Thus, even if he is the speaker in these verses, this does not become clear until v. 7. Someone reading or hearing the psalm for the first time would not likely identify the speaker of vv. 1-6 as the king.
  • (2) Outside of vv. 7-9, the king is consistently referred to in the third person (v. 2: "his anointed," v. 12: "the son... he become angry... his anger... in him"). In biblical Hebrew, speakers will sometimes refer to themselves in third person, so the use of the third-person does not necessarily mean that the king is not the speaker. But the fact that the third person is used consistently and exclusively for the king in vv. 1-6, 10-12, suggests that the king is not the speaker in these verses.
• For these reasons, others think that in v. 7 "a new speaker is now abruptly introduced, namely, the king of v. 6. Such alternations in speech are common in the Song of Songs and in other poetic Scriptures." We would agree with this interpretation and thus, for the most part, with Craigie's summary: "Although it is possible that the whole psalm should be viewed as containing the words spoken by the Davidic king..., it is perhaps better to note the change of speakers throughout the psalm. From a literary perspective, the psalmist or poet presents a variety of persons, each of whom speaks. First, he presents foreign nations and kings (2:1-2) who speak their words of arrogance (2:3). Second, he presents the Lord (2:4-5) who speaks concerning the chosen king (2:6). Third he presents the words of the king, who in turn proclaims the divine words of royal proclamation (2:7-9). Fourth, he addresses his own words of advice to the foreign nations and their rulers. Thus, the whole psalm has a dramatic character." The only minor change we would make to Craigie's summary is that the psalmist does not present the king as the speaker in v. 7; rather, the king becomes the main speaker at this point in the psalm. In this sense, the psalm is polyphonic, like Ps 118 (see notes there).

v. 12: YHWH or the king?

• The subject of the verb "become angry" in v. 12 is ambiguous, and so is the antecedent of the pronouns in the phrases "his anger" and "those who take refuge in him." Are these third-person references to YHWH or to the king?
• If we are correct that בַר in v. 12 means "son" (The Text and Meaning of Ps 2:12a), then the king is the participant most recently mentioned and thus the most likely candidate for the 3ms verb and pronoun in the subsequent clauses. "Kiss the son, or else he will become angry..." Furthermore, v. 9 has already said that it is the son who will crush the nations with an iron scepter.
• Nevertheless, even those who agree that בַר means "son" have argued that the 3ms verbs and pronouns in v. 12 refer to YHWH. E.g., Ibn Ezra commenting on יאנף: "It returns to [YHWH] who was mentioned in the previous verse." One argument for this view is that the verb יאנף elsewhere refers exclusively to divine anger. Another argument is that the pronoun in the phrase "all who take refuge in him" most naturally refers to YHWH. Also, the same phrase "his anger" occurs in v. 5 where it refers to YHWH's anger. (Note also that LXX explicitly identifies the subject of the 3ms verb in v. 12 as "the Lord" [κύριος].)
• But the application of divine attributes to the king makes sense in this context where the king is described as YHWH's son, for sons are the image and likeness of their fathers (cf. Gen 5:3; cf. the image metaphor in Ps 2:6). Psalm 110 ends with a similar blurring of the identities of God and king. Thus, there is no good reason not to take the son, who was the most recently mentioned participant, as the referent of the 3ms language in v. 12.

Bibliography

Baethgen, Friedrich. 1904. Die Psalmen. Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht.

Bandstra, Barry. 1995. “Marking Turns in Poetic Text. ‘Waw’ in the Psalms.” Narrative and Comment: Contributions to Discourse Grammar and Biblical Hebrew, 45–52.

Craigie, Peter C. 1983. Psalms 1–50. WBC 19. Waco, TX: Word.

Hengstenberg, Ernst Wilhelm. 1863. Commentary on the Psalms. Vol. 1. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

Hossfeld, Frank-Lothar, and Erich Zenger. 1993. Die Psalmen I: Psalm 1–50. Neue Echter Bibel. Würzburg: Echter.

Hupfeld, Hermann. 1855. Die Psalmen. Vol. 1. Gotha: Friedrich Andreas Perthes.

Kim, Young Bok. 2023. Hebrew Forms of Address: A Sociolinguistic Analysis. Atlanta: SBL Press. vvo.

Eaton, J. H. 1975. Kingship and the Psalms. London: S.C.M. Press.

Miller, Cynthia L. 2010. “Vocative Syntax in Biblical Hebrew Prose and Poetry: A Preliminary Analysis.” Semitic Studies 55, no. 1: 347–64.

Poole, Matthew. 1678. Synopsis Criticorum Aliorumque Sacrae Scripturae. Vol. 2: a Jobi ad Canticum Canticorum.

Raabe, Paul. 1991. “Deliberate Ambiguity in the Psalter.” Journal of Biblical Literature 110 (2): 213–27.