Psalms 2:8-12

8 Ask me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession.
9 You will break them with a rod of iron[a] ; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.”
10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth.
11 Serve the LORD with fear and celebrate his rule with trembling.
12 Kiss his son, or he will be angry and your way will lead to your destruction, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalms 2:8-12 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO PSALM 2

This psalm is the second in order, and so it is called in Ac 13:33; which shows that the book of Psalms was in the same form in the apostles' days as now, and as it ever had been; and though it is without a title, yet certain it is that it is a psalm of David, since the twelve apostles of Christ with one voice ascribe it to him, in which no doubt they the generally received sense of the Jewish Ac 4:24,25; and the Messiah is the subject of and that it is a prophecy concerning him, his person, office, and kingdom, appears from the express mention of the Lord's Anointed, or Messiah, in his being set as King over Zion, notwithstanding the opposition made against him; from the person spoken of being called the Son of God, and that in such sense as angels and men are not, and therefore cannot belong to any creature; and from his having so large an inheritance, and such power over the Heathen; and from the reverence, service, and obedience due to him from the kings and judges of the earth; and from the trust and confidence which is to be put in him, which ought not to be placed but in a divine Person; and more especially this appears from several passages cited out of it in the New Testament, and applied to the Messiah, \Ac 4:25-27 13:33 Heb 1:5 5:5\, to which may be added, that the ancient Jewish doctors interpreted this psalm of the Messiah {s}; and some of the modern ones own that it may be understood either of David or of the Messiah, and that some things are clearer of the Messiah than of David {t}; and some particular passages in it are applied to him both by ancient and later writers among the Jews, as Ps 2:1,2, "Why do the Heathen rage" {u}; Ps 2:6, "I have set" {w}; Ps 2:7, "I will declare the decree", &c. {x}, and Ps 2:8, "Ask of me" {y}; and we may very safely interpret the whole of him.

{s} Jarchi in loc. {t} Kimchi in v. 12. & Aben Ezra in v. 6. 12. {u} T. Bab. Avodah Zarah, fol. 3. 2. Pirke Eliezer, c. 19. {w} R. Saadiah Gaon in Dan. vii. 13. {x} Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 90. 2. Zohar in Numb. fol. 82. 2. Maimon in Misn Sanhedrin, c. 11. 1. & Abarbinel Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 37. 4. &. 38. 1. {y} T. Bab. Succah, fol. 52. 1. & Bereshit Rabba, s. 44. fol. 38. 4.

Cross References 15

  • 1. Revelation 2:26
  • 2. S Job 22:26; Matthew 21:38
  • 3. Psalms 22:27; Psalms 67:7
  • 4. S Genesis 49:10; Revelation 12:5
  • 5. S Exodus 15:6; Psalms 89:23
  • 6. Isaiah 30:14; Jeremiah 19:10; Revelation 2:27*; Revelation 19:15
  • 7. Proverbs 27:11
  • 8. Psalms 141:6; Proverbs 8:15; Amos 2:3
  • 9. Psalms 103:11
  • 10. Psalms 9:2; Psalms 35:9; Psalms 104:34; Isaiah 61:10; Hebrews 12:28
  • 11. S 1 Chronicles 16:30; Psalms 119:119-120
  • 12. ver 7; John 5:23
  • 13. S Deuteronomy 9:8; Revelation 6:16
  • 14. Psalms 84:12
  • 15. Psalms 5:11; Psalms 34:8; Psalms 64:10; Romans 9:33

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Or "will rule them with an iron scepter" (see Septuagint and Syriac)
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