Christianity

Psalms 2The Lord's Anointed King

Summary

Psalm 2 pictures the nations and their rulers plotting against the LORD and his anointed king, while God laughs from heaven and installs his king on Zion. The king reports God's decree, Thou art my Son, and the rulers are warned to serve the LORD with fear. Originally a royal psalm likely linked to the coronation of Judah's kings, it became central to Jewish hopes for a Messiah and to Christian teaching about Jesus.

Key verse

“I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”

Psalms 2:7

Themes

Divine Kingship
The Anointed One
Rebellion of Nations
Refuge in God

Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?

The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,

Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us.

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the LORD shall have them in derision.

Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.

Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.

I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.

Ask of me, and I shall give thee the heathen for thine inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession.

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron; thou shalt dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.

Be wise now therefore, O ye kings: be instructed, ye judges of the earth.

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.

Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him.

Text: King James Version (1611/1769), public domain.

Across traditions

Christianity
Acts 13: This Day Have I Begotten Thee
In Acts 13:33 Paul applies Psalm 2:7 to the resurrection of Jesus, and Acts 4:25 to 26 quotes the opening verses about rulers gathering against the Lord's anointed.
Christianity
Hebrews 1: The Son Above the Angels
Hebrews 1:5 cites Psalm 2:7 to argue that the Son holds a status no angel has, a key text for Christian reading of Psalm 2 as messianic.
Judaism
Tehillim 2 in the JPS 1917 Tanakh
Jewish readers have understood the anointed king as David's line and, in many rabbinic and medieval commentaries, as the future Messiah, while some read it of David himself.

Questions about Psalms 2

Who is the anointed one in Psalm 2?

The Hebrew word is mashiach, anointed, used of Israel's kings. Historically it likely referred to a reigning Davidic king; Jewish tradition also applies it to the coming Messiah, and the New Testament applies it to Jesus.

What does Kiss the Son mean in Psalm 2:12?

The phrase is a gesture of homage to the king. The Hebrew word translated Son is debated, and some translations render the line differently, for example as a call to submit sincerely.