Psalms 2:6–9
God installs his king on Zion and calls him his son
Study it word by word6“But I have installed my king on Zion, my holy mountain.”
7I will recount the statute: YHWH said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.
8Ask of me, and I will give nations as your inheritance, and as your possession the ends of the earth.
9You will break them with a rod of iron; like a vessel of a potter you will dash them to pieces.”
In its context
4He who sits in the heavens laughs; Adonai mocks them.
5Then he will speak to them in his anger, and with his burning wrath he will dismay them:
…
10And now, kings, be prudent; accept correction, judges of the earth.
11Serve YHWH with fear, and be jubilant with trembling.
Its words in the original
- נָסַכְתִּיnasachti· pour out
Pour out a liquid as an offering; also cast metal, and install a king.
- מַלְכִּmalki· king
King: the ruler of a city, a people or a kingdom.
- צִיּוֹןtsiyon· Zion
Zion: the fortified hill of Jerusalem that David took from the Jebusites; later the name is used for all Jerusalem and for the temple mount.
- הַרhar· mountain, hill country
Mountain, hill; hill country.
- קָדְשִׁkadshi· holiness, holy place
Holiness: what is set apart for God. Also a holy place or a holy thing; "the holy of holies" is the most holy place.
- אֲסַפְּרָהasapra· count, tell
Count (numbers) and also tell (relate, recount). From here comes the word for "scribe".
- חֹקchok· statute, allotted portion
What is fixed: an allotted portion, a rule, a statute; a limit.
- יְהוָהyehva· YHWH
The personal name of the God of Israel, written in Hebrew with four letters, Y-H-W-H, without vowels. Out of reverence Jews stopped pronouncing it and read "Adonai" (Lord), so many Bibles put "the LORD" or "Jehovah". This translation keeps the four letters. The name is related to the verb "to be" (Exodus 3:14-15). He is not a god other than Elohim: "YHWH Elohim" is the same Creator God, called by his name.
- אָמַרamar· say
Say, speak. The most common verb for bringing in what someone says; sometimes "think" (say to oneself) or "command".
- בְּנִbeni· son
Son. In the plural it can include sons and daughters, and also grandsons and descendants. "Son of..." also says what group someone belongs to ("sons of Israel" = Israelites).
- יּוֹםyom· day
Day: the hours of light, or a whole day from one evening to the next. Also an indefinite time or age ("in the day that...", "in those days").
- יְלִדְתִּיyelidti· bear, father
Give birth, bear children; said of the father, "father" or "beget". In some forms, help at a birth (midwife) or be born.
- שְׁאַלsheal· ask
Ask, inquire; request.
- אֶתְּנָהetna· give, put, set
Give, in a very wide sense: hand over, put, place, grant, allow, make something be.
- גוֹיִםgoyim· nation
Nation, a people with its land. In the plural, "the nations": all the peoples of the world, and especially those who are not Israel.
- נַחֲלָתֶnachalate· inheritance
Inheritance: the share each son receives; the land that falls to a family or tribe.
- אֲחֻזָּתְachuzat· possession
Possession: land that someone holds as his own.
- אַפְסֵיafse· end; only
End, limit; as an adverb, "only," "however."
- אָרֶץarets· earth, land
The earth, in two senses: the whole world in contrast with the heavens, or a particular country or region ("the land of Egypt").
- תְּרֹעֵteroe· do evil, harm
Do evil, cause harm; be bad, be displeasing ("it was evil in his eyes").
- שֵׁבֶטshevet· rod, scepter, tribe
Rod, staff; a king's scepter; also tribe.
- בַּרְזֶלbarzel· iron
Iron; an iron tool.
- כְלִיcheli· vessel, article
Object, article: anything made to be used (vessels, jewelry, tools, weapons, baggage).
- יוֹצֵרyotser· form
Form, shape, like a potter who molds clay; figuratively, plan, purpose. As a noun, "potter".
- תְּנַפְּצֵtenaptse· scatter, spread
Spread out, scatter over a territory; also shatter.