The Meaning of נָסַכְתִּי in Ps 2:6

Introduction

The Masoretic text of Ps 2:6 reads as follows:

וַ֭אֲנִי נָסַ֣כְתִּי מַלְכִּ֑י עַל־צִ֝יּ֗וֹן הַר־קָדְשִֽׁי׃

This exegetical issue will focus on the meaning of the word נָסַכְתִּי (a qal 1cs qatal verb from the root נסך).

Ancient and modern translations alike tend to understand this word in one of two ways:

• (1) God establishes his king upon Mount Zion—this idea is brought out by the following translation choices:
  • "put, placed, set" (CEV, NLT, NRSV, ZÜR, S21, RVR95)
  • "installed, established" (ESV, NET, NIV, GNT, JPS1985, LUT2017, NGÜ, BDS, PDV, NVI, cf. LXX, Peshitta, Jerome)
  • "enthroned" (NEB, REB)

• (2) God anoints his king, thereby ordaining him, and the place where God performs this action is Mount Zion. That is, the verb refers to an action whereby God confers rights and privileges upon the king. This is brought out in translation in the following ways:
  • "anointed" (Symmachus, Targum, NJB, TOB, BTX4)
  • "consecrated, set apart" (NFC, DHH)
  • "ordained" (EÜ, NBS?)
  • "crowned" (NVSR)

Two of the standard biblical Hebrew dictionaries adopt a third interpretation:

• (3) to make king with a drink offering (libation):
  • "to be consecrated, be made leader (with a libation)" (HALOT)
  • "consecrate/be consecrated (with a libation)" (DCH)

We have adopted a fourth interpretation, which is not represented in any of the translations or dictionaries that we consulted:

• (4) "But I have poured out/cast my king (as my statue/image) on Zion, my holy mountain."

Argument Maps

"Establish"

Some translations interpret the verb to mean "set, establish." See, for example, the NRSV: "I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill."

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[Establish]: The verb נָסַכְתִּי refers to God "establishing" his king (cf. Hupfeld 1855, 25 :C:). #dispreferred
  +<Ancient versions>: Some ancient versions understood the verb to mean "establish." #dispreferred
    + [Ancient versions]: Jerome: ego... orditus sum ("I have established"); Peshitta ܐܢܐ ܐ݁ܩܝܡܬ ("I have established") #dispreferred
    +<Septuagint>: The Septuagint translates with κατεστάθην ("I was established"). #dispreferred
      + [Septuagint]: "I was established (κατεστάθην) king by him" (NETS). #dispreferred
     <_<Emendation>: The Septuagint's reading requires an unlikely emendation to נִסַּכְתִּי מֶלֶךְ "I have been established (as)" plus another element expressing the equivalent of ὑπ̓ αὐτοῦ ("by him").
      - <Interpretation not textual variant>: There is no good explanation for how an underlying prepositional phrase in the Hebrew (represented by ὑπ̓ αὐτοῦ ‘by him’) should have dropped out. The Septuagint most likely represents an interpretation of the same consonantal text, not a variant (see the quote by Pietersma: "though it is not impossible that G derives from a parent text at variance with MT, it appears more likely that G was responsible for the changes.")#dispreferred
  +<Context>: It makes sense in the context that God would undermine the rebels' speech (v. 3) by asserting that he has established his king. #dispreferred
  +<Same meaning in Prov 8:23>: The niphal of נסך in Prov 8:23 means as "to be set up, founded" (BDB :L:) #dispreferred
    + [Prov 8:23]: "Ages ago I was set up (נִסַּכְתִּי) at the first" (ESV; cf. Jerome: ab aeterno ordita sum). #dispreferred
    -<Better interpretation>: The word נִסַּכְתִּי in Prov 8:23 probably means "arranged" (i.e., "being prepared to be brought forth;" see scholium in Syrohexapla; see also other manuscripts of Jerome's translation) instead of "set up, established." In this case, wisdom being "brought forth" (חוֹלָלְתִּי) in  Prov 8:24-25 would follow (chrono)logically (Barthélemy 2015, 527 :M:).
      +[Better interpretation]: A scholium in the Syrohexapla reads ܐܬܬܫܬܝܬ "to arrange a warp of yarn" and most manuscripts of Jerome read ordinata ("to arrange") instead of ordita ("to establish"), which could be applied to a warp of yarn (Barthélemy 2015, 526–527 :M:).
     + <Parallelism with קנה>: Prov 8:23 (with the verb נסך) is parallel with Prov 8:22 (with the verb קנה). The root קנה also occurs in Ps 139:13 and is in parallel with a verb meaning "to weave, arrange a warp of yarn."
      + [Ps 139:13]: "For you created (קָנִיתָ) my inward parts, you prepared (תְּסֻכֵּנִי, lit.: arranged) me in my mother's womb."
    <_ <Homonyms>: נסך in Proverbs 8 is probably a different word than נסך in Ps 2. They are homonyms (cf. HALOT :L:, BDB :L:, DCH :L:).

"Anoint"

Some translations understand the verb to mean "anoint." The NJB, for example, says, "I myself have anointed my king on Zion my holy mountain."

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[Anoint]: The verb נָסַכְתִּי refers to God "anointing" his king. #dispreferred
  +<Ancient interpretation>: Symmachus, the Targum and some Midrashic commentaries understand the verb to mean "anoint." #dispreferred
    + [Symmachus]: "And I anointed (ἔχρισα = ܡܫܚܬ) my king." #dispreferred
    + [Targum]: "I have anointed (רביית) my king." #dispreferred
    + [Midrash Tehillim]: "I have anointed him (אמשחתיה)" (Midrash Tehillim 2:8). #dispreferred
    <_<Problematic association with סוך>: These ancient interpreters probably associated with verb נסכתי with the root סוך "to anoint," but this association is problemantic, because סוך refers to hygienic anointing and not to ceremonial anointing (Tigay 2003, 246 :A:)
       + [משח vs סוך]: Deut 28:40; 2 Sam 14:2; Mic 6:15; Ruth 3:3; Dan 10:3; 2 Chron 28:15.
  +<Context>: It makes sense in the context that God would undermine the rebels' speech (v. 3) by asserting that He has "anointed" his king and thereby conferred on him the rights and duties of a king. #dispreferred
  +<Extension from "to pour out">: The basic meaning of the verb נסך is "to pour out" liquid, which is an appropriate way to describe the anointing of a king #dispreferred
    + [Extension from "to pour out"]: Hos 9:4; Exod 30:9; Isa 30:1 #dispreferred
    + [Pouring out as anointing]: "And he arose and went to the house. He then poured out (וַיִּצֹק) oil on his head and said to him, 'Thus says the Lord the God of Israel, "I have anointed you as king over the people of Israel"'" (2 Kgs 9:6). #dispreferred
    <_<Syntactically unlikely>: The meaning "to pour out" >> "to anoint" would require an object that denotes a liquid, but the object in Ps 2:6 is מַלְכִי "my king." It would make sense to say, "I have poured out \[oil\] on my king," but not "I have poured out my king."
      +<Arguments of נסך>: Whenever נסך in the Qal means to "pour" the object is virtually always some kind of liquid.
        + [Arguments of נסך]: Hos 9:4; Exod 30:9; Isa 30:1; 11QT21:10
  - <No anointing on Zion>: "History makes no mention of a king of Israel being anointed on Zion" (Delitzsch 1883, 94 :C:).

"Consecrate (with a drink offering)"

Although no translations reflect the meaning "to consecrate with a drink offering," this interpretation is the majority choice of modern lexica (e.g., HALOT, DCH).

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[Consecrate with a drink offering]: The verb נָסַכְתִּי in Ps 2:6 refers to a consecration ceremony involving a drink offering (HALOT :L:; DCH :L:). #dispreferred
 +<Extension from "to pour out">: The idea of "pouring out a drink offering" in order to consecrate a king is derived from the verb's usual meaning of "pouring out" liquid. #dispreferred
   +[Extension from "to pour out"]: Hos 9:4; Exod 30:9; Isa 30:1 #dispreferred
   - <Too much ellipsis so as to be obscure>: "'Pour the king' would be an extremely elliptical way of saying 'pour a libation to make king'" (Tigay 2003, 246 :A:).
 - <Not how kings were ordained>: "There is no evidence or reason to believe that libation played a role in Israelite coronation ceremonies" (Tigay 2003, 246 :A:).

"Cast (into an image)" (preferred)

Below we argue for a fourth position: "I have cast (lit.: poured out) my king (as my image/statue) on Zion, my holy mountain." According to this interpretation, Psalm 2:6 gives us the image of the king as YHWH's image (cf. Gen 1:26-28).

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[Cast]: The verb נָסַכְתִּי means "cast" (lit.: "pour out) and is used here to metaphorically refer to God making the king as his image.
 + <Attested meaning>: The meaning "to cast" in the sense of pouring out out molten liquid for metalwork (a common ANE practice) is well attested in Hebrew and other Northwest Semitic languages.
  +<Northwest Semitic>: The use of the root נסך in the domain of metal working is widespread throughout Northwest Semitic.
   +[Northwest Semitic]:E.g., Ugaritic ptcp. nsk /nāsiku/ "caster, forger of metals" (del Olmo Lete and Sanmartin 2015, 635 :L:); Phonecian nsk "iron caster," "goldsmith" (Tomback 1978, 214 :L:); Old Aramaic nsk "to pour out, found (in metal)" (Hoftjizer et. al. 1995, 736 :L:).
  + <Inscriptional Hebrew>: The occupation nsk brzl "iron-caster" is known from an early Hebrew funerary inscription from the 4th century.
   + [Inscriptional Hebrew]: ḥgy ()'r ()bn 'bd ()y. m()' rk nsk brzl ‘Haggay (...)'r (k?) son of 'bd (?) y m (...) the Tall (the) iron caster (text and translation from Heltzer 1989, 202 :A:).
  + <Biblical Hebrew>: The meaning "to cast" an idol is attested in biblical Hebrew.
   + [Biblical Hebrew]: "Craftmen cast (נָסַךְ) idols" (Isa 40:19); "Who makes a god or casts (נָסָךְ) an idol that does not have any benefit?" (Isa 44:10).
  + <ANE idol making>: Idols were made by pouring metals into a mould. The mould would be created by coating wax figurines with clay, then melting out the wax and baking the clay. The bronze would then be poured into the mold through a spout on the bottom of the feet, which would later serve as a peg to attach the idol to a wooden base. The cast would then be overlaid with gold or silver foil using a small hammer to affix it to the edges provided for that purpose (Walton et. al. 2000, 626 :C:).
 + <Common meaning>: To "pour out" is the most common meaning of the word נָסָךְ in the Hebrew Bible, and "cast (an image)" is an attested extension of this basic meaning.
  + [Common meaning]: Exod 30:9; Isa 29:10; Hos 9:4; 1 Chron 11:18; cf. Exod 25:29; 37:16.
  + <Biblical Hebrew>
 + <Association with birth and sonship>: The following verse describes the king as God's son (v. 7), which is significant since in the ANE the origin of the king's special status was portrayed through images of birth (cf. v. 7 יְלִדְתִּיךָ "I have become your father") and image-manufacture (cf. v. 6 נָסַכְתִּי) (see McDowell 2015, 84 :M:).
  + <Tukulti-Nunurta I>: A royal hymn to the Assyrian king Tukulti-Ninurta I (1233–1197 BC) describes him being born "through the birth canal of the mother goddess and cast as though he were metal being formed into a statue" (Machinist 1976, 462 n.23 :A:)
   + [Tukulti-Nunurta I]: ina purussû bēl mātāti ina ra-a-aṭ šas/turri ilāni ši-pi-ik-šu i-te-ešra "by the decision of the lord of all the lands he (Tukulti-Nunurta) was successfuly cast into/poured through the channel of the womb of the gods" (text and translation from Manchinist 1976, 462 :A:).
 + <King as image>: In the Hebrew Bible, the king is God's image. 
  +<King is God's son>: God calls the king his "son" (בְּנִ֥י אַ֑תָּה ‘you are my son’ Ps 2:7), and a son was the "image" of his father.
   + [Son as image]: "When Adam was 130 years old, he fathered (a son) in his likeness and according to his image (כְּצַלְמוֹ), and he named him Seth" (Gen 5:3).
  + <God's image bearers are rulers>: Those who are God's image bearers were commanded to rule over creation as kings.
   + [Gen 1:27-28]: "So God created man in his own image (בְּצַלְמוֹ), in the image of God (בְּצֶלֶם אֱלֹהִים) he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth'" (Gen 1:27-28, ESV). 
   

Conclusion (C)

Although our translation differs from that of many of the ancient versions, modern versions and lexica, it is actually the more conservative option because it is consistent with (1) usual meaning of נסך "to pour out" and (2) is an actually attested extension of this basic meaning. The meanings "to establish," "to anoint" or "to appoint as king with a drink offering" all basically suffer from either idiosyncratic readings foreign to the etymological meaning(s) of the root as well as its plain meaning elsewhere in the Bible, or they suffer from reference to a coronation practice unknown to Israelite society. By contrast, the meaning "to cast (as an image)" is consistent with the meaning of the root in Hebrew and in neighboring Northwest Semitic languages. Furthermore, the meaning "to cast (as an image)" reflects a practice towards kings that was widespread throughout the Ancient Near East. A king was considered a deity's image, and this was normally expressed with two metaphors: the king being "born" to the deity and the king being made into a "statue" or an "image." The first expression is attested in Ps 2:7 (בְּנִי אַתָּה "You are my son") and the second here in v. 6 (נָסַכְתִּי). For these reasons, we have chosen to interpret וַאֲנִי נָסַ֣כְתִּי מַלְכִּ֑י as "But I have cast my king (as my image)."

Research

Translations

Ancient

• LXX: Ἐγὼ δὲ κατεστάθην βασιλεὺς ὑπ̓ αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ Σιων ὄρος τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ
  • "But I was established by him as king on Sion his holy mountain."
• Aquila and Quinta: καὶ ἐγὼ ἐδιασάμην βασιλέα μου
  • "And I shaped my king"
• Symmachus: κἀγὼ ἔχρισα τὸν βασιλέα μου
  • "And I anointed my king"
• Sexta: κἀγὼ διέσωσα τὸν βασιλέα μου
  • "And I preserved my king"
• Jerome: ego autem orditus sum regem meum super Sion montem sanctum suum
  • "But I have set up my king on Sion his holy mountain"
• Peshitta: ܐܢܐ ܐ݁ܩܝܡܬ ܡ݁ܠܟܝ ܥܠ ܨܗܝܘܢ ܛܘܪܐ ܕܩܘܕܫܝ݁
  • "I have established my king upon Zion my holy mountain."
• Targum: אני רביית מלכי ומניתיה עַל טור מקדשׁי׃
  • "But I have anointed my king and installed him on Zion, the mountain of my sanctuary."

Modern

Establish

This idea is expressed through the following glosses: "put, placed, set" >> "installed, established" and possibly also the gloss "enthroned."

Put, placed, set

• CEV: I've put my king on Zion, my sacred hill.
• NLT: I have placed my chosen king on the throne in Jerusalem, on my holy mountain
• NRSV: I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.
• S21: «C’est moi qui ai établi mon roi sur Sion, ma montagne sainte!»
• RVR95: «Yo he puesto mi rey sobre Sión, mi santo monte.»

Installed, established

• ESV: I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain
• NET: I myself have installed my king on Zion, my holy hill.
• NIV: I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain
• GNT: On Zion, my sacred hill," he says, "I have installed my king."
• JPS1985: ‘But I have installed my king on Zion, My holy mountain!’
• ZÜR:  Ich selbst habe meinen König eingesetzt auf Zion, meinem heiligen Berg.
• LUT: »Ich aber habe meinen König eingesetzt auf meinem heiligen Berg Zion.«
• NGÜ:  Er spricht: »Ich selbst habe meinen König eingesetzt hier auf dem Zion, meinem heiligen Berg!«
• GNB: »Ich habe meinen König eingesetzt! Er regiert auf dem Zion, meinem heiligen Berg.«
• BDS: « Moi, j’ai établi ╵mon Roi par l’onction sur Sion, ma montagne sainte. »
• PDV: Le Seigneur leur dit : « Moi, j’ai établi mon roi à Sion, sur ma montagne sainte. »
• NVI: «He establecido a mi rey sobre Sión, mi santo monte.»

Enthroned

• NEB: I have enthroned my king on Zion my holy hill
• REB: ‘I myself have enthroned my king’, he says, ‘on Zion, my holy mountain’

Anoints

This idea is expressed through the following glosses: "anointed" >> "consecrated, set apart" >> "ordained."

Anointed

• NJB: ‘I myself have anointed my king on Zion my holy mountain’
• TOB: Moi, j'ai sacré mon roi sur Sion, ma montagne sainte
• NVSR: C'est moi qui ai sacré mon roi Sur Sion, ma montagne sainte !
• BTX4: Yo mismo he ungido a mi Rey sobre Siơn, mi santo monte

Consecrated/set apart

• ELB:  »Habe doch ich meinen König geweiht auf Zion, meinem heiligen Berg!«
• NFC: « À Sion, la montagne qui m'appartient, dit-il, j'ai mis à part le roi que j'ai choisi. »
• DHH: «Ya he consagrado a mi rey sobre Sión, mi monte santo.»

Ordained

• EÜ:  Ich selber habe meinen König eingesetzt auf Zion, meinem heiligen Berg.
• NBS:C'est moi qui ai investi mon roi sur Sion, ma montagne sacrée!

Other

• HFA: Er spricht: »Ich selbst habe meinem König die Herrschaft übertragen! Er regiert auf dem Zion, meinem heiligen Berg.«

Secondary Literature

Barthélemy, Dominique. 2015. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament Tome 5: Job, Proverbes, Qohélet et Cantique Des Cantiques. Vol. 5. Göttingen: Academic Press/Vandenhoeck Ruprecht.

Dick, Michael B, et al. 2016. "Idols, Idolatry" In Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception. Edited by Constance M. Furey, Peter Gemeinhardt, Joel Marcus LeMon, Thomas Chr. Römer, Jens Schröter, Barry Dov Walfish and Eric Ziolkowski. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter.

Delitzsch, Franz. 1883. Biblical Commentary on the Psalms: Vol. 1. Translated by Eaton David. Vol. 1. New York: Funk and Wagnalls.

Heltzer, M. 1989. ‘Epigraphic Evidence Concerning a Jewish Settlement in Kition (Larnaca, Cyprus) in the Achaemenid Period.’ Aula Orientalis 7:189–206

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

Hoftijzer, J., and K. Jongeling. 1995. Dictionary of the North-West Semitic Inscriptions. 2 vols. Leiden: Brill.

Machinist, Peter. 1976. “Literature as Politics: The Tukulti-Ninurta Epic and the Bible.” The Catholic Biblical Quarterly 38 (4): 455–82.

McDowell, Catherine L. 2015. The Image of God in the Garden of Eden: The Creation of Humankind in Genesis 2:5-3:24 in Light of the Mīs Pî, Pīt Pî, and Wpt-r Rituals of Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns.

Olmo Lete, Gregorio del, and Joaquín Sanmartín. 2015. A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition. Edited and translated by Wilfred G.E. Watson. Leiden: Brill.

Tigay, Jeffrey H. 2003. “Divine Creation of the King in Psalms 2:6.” Eretz-Israel: Archaeological, Historical and Geographical Studies 27: 246*-251*.

Tomback, Richard S. 1978. A Comparative Semitic Lexicon of the Phoenician and Punic Languages. Missoula, MT: Scholars Press for the Society of Biblical Literature.

Walton, John H.; Matthews, Victor H.; Chavalas Mark W. 2000. The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press

References

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