Commentary on Psalm 2. Zigaben

Psalm 2

This second Psalm, like the first, lacks a superscription in the Hebrew text; its content is as follows: it foretells the deceitful schemes of those who oppose the Lord and His Christ, followed by the calling of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews.

Ps. 2:1–2. “Wherefore 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 Christ.”
Seeing with prophetic vision their fury and madness, David begins his psalm with sorrow and tears, saying: Alas! Why do they tumult with such madness, raise such alarm, and plot to overthrow all things? By “heathen” are meant the Roman soldiers along with Pilate, and by “people,” the Jewish nation with Annas and Caiaphas. By the name of “kings of the earth” and supreme rulers or princes, Herod and Pilate are indicated, the former being a king and the latter a governor, as recounted with clarification of the text itself in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 4:6, 25–27; cf. Luke 23:1–15; John 18:12–14, 27; Matt. 14:9, 27:2; Mark 6:14, 22, 25–27). The use of “kings” and “rulers” in the plural instead of the singular is explained by the characteristic of the Hebrew language, which permits such usage, or it carries a mystical meaning: with the name of King Herod is joined another king, the devil, the prince of sin, who armed himself against Christ; and with Pilate, the ruler, are joined many rulers, that is, “the principalities and powers of this world’s darkness, the spiritual wickedness in high places,” against which, according to the Apostle, we must wage “battle” (Eph. 2:2, 6:12; John 12:31, 14:30, 16:11). For since Christ, the God-man, possesses two natures, invisible (divine) and visible (human), He had to wage a twofold struggle against invisible and visible enemies. The words “imagine a vain thing” (κενα εμελετησαω – they devise empty things) mean they strive in vain (ματην εσπουδασαν), imagining they could destroy Him who rose and lives forever. These words apply only to the Jews, who, “resting on the law” of the Scriptures (Rom. 2:17), studied them in vain, neither comprehending nor understanding that those very “Scriptures bear witness of Him” (John 5:39). “Against the Lord and against His Christ” means they rebelled, rose up, and conspired no less against the Father than against His Son, whom He appointed King over all nations, giving them to Him as an inheritance, as His Anointed. This battle against the Son also touched the Father. Thus, in this passage, “the Lord” should be understood as God the Father, and “His Christ” as God the Son. For the Father Himself, according to His divine economy, appointed His Son as King over them. If, in the final words of the text, “against His Christ” (αυτου) is read as “against their Christ” (αυτων) in the plural, as found in many Psalter manuscripts, then the meaning expands to encompass not only Jews and Gentiles but even the fallen spirits, as it is said of Him: “that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth” (Phil. 2:9–11).

Ps. 2:3. “Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their yoke from us.”
These words are spoken either from the perspective of the Holy Spirit, commanding the faithful descendants to abandon the idolatry of the Gentiles and the impiety of the Jews, “breaking the bands” of the former’s slavery, by which they were bound, and “casting off the yoke” of the latter, under which they were burdened by the law as an unbearable and deadly weight, and in their place to take upon themselves the “yoke” and “burden” of Christ, which is “good” and “light,” dissolving the weight of the law and the bonds of slavery with love and life-giving power (Matt. 11:30; 1 John 5:3). Or, more fittingly with the context of the passage, they are spoken from the perspective of those who, in rebellion by word and deed, crucified Christ on the cross, casting off the yoke of obedience to the Son and breaking the bands of submission to the Father, with which they were bound by the very law of nature.

Ps. 2:4. “He that dwelleth in the heavens shall laugh at them, and the Lord shall have them in derision.”
Here, the blasphemers are, as it were, halted in their blasphemy by the Father, who dwells in the heavens, and the Lord, the Son, who in His divinity is presented as laughing and mocking them. The language takes on an intensified tone to show and convince them how foolish they were to attempt what is vain and impossible, thinking they could kill the Lord, the source and origin of eternal life (John 3:16, 5:26, 20:31), and that the Gentiles chose demons instead of God, while the Jews settled for a shadow instead of the truth.

Ps. 2:5. “Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath.”
This refers to when the Lord spoke to them, as Christ openly exposed the Jews’ iniquities and announced the calamities that would befall them, repeating with each enumeration of their wrongs and disasters the words: “Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites,” and so forth; and in conclusion, He added: “Therefore the kingdom of God shall be taken from you” (Matt. 21:43, 23).

Ps. 2:5. “And vex them in His sore displeasure.”
Pointing with indignation to their extreme corruption and revealing the destructive consequences they would inevitably face, He brings them into confusion and fear through various perplexing suppositions, as many accepted Him (Christ) as a prophet. Others understand this as the calamitous state that threatened them with siege and enslavement by the Romans. Some refer it to the future judgment, when the Supreme Judge will subject them to severe punishments for their grave sins. The words “wrath” and “sore displeasure” sometimes have identical meanings, but at other times differ in degree, with “sore displeasure” expressing a higher degree of wrath, akin to fury.

Ps. 2:6. “Yet have I been set as King by Him.”
Here the speech is from the person of Christ; for such is the nature of prophecies that both subjects and persons change, as often seen among the prophets, who did not prophesy by their own will but by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, serving as living instruments (2 Pet. 1:21). Christ foretells the kingdom given to Him by the Father as a man, as He testified after His resurrection, saying: “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18).

Ps. 2:6. “Over Sion, His holy mountain, proclaiming the commandment of the Lord.”
By the mountain called Sion is meant all of Judea, and the words of the text take on this meaning: I have been set as King to proclaim the evangelical commandments on the mountain of Sion, that is, in Jerusalem. The “commandment” of the Lord (προσταγμα – rules, instruction, teaching) refers to these very commandments, showing thereby the unity of His will with the will of the Father. “I can of Mine own self do nothing,” He said, preaching the gospel teaching on earth; “as I hear, I judge: and My judgment is just; for I seek not Mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent Me. I have not spoken of Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak. I and My Father are one” (John 5:30, 10:30, 12:49).