"Kiss the Son"??? Is there A Real "Son" in Psalms 2?

 

 

I.            Introduction

 

The verse Psalms 2:12 is a significant item in the portfolio of Christian apologists and missionaries.  The rendition of the Hebrew phrase  (nashqu var), which means do homage in purity, as Kiss the Son by Christian translators is designed to line up this psalm by King David with Christian theology and messianic paradigm.

 

The analysis presented in this essay will demonstrate how this so-called "proof text" has been fashioned with a manipulation of Hebrew text from the Hebrew Bible that aims to "retrofit" Christianity into it.  When the Psalm is read in the Hebrew text, or in an accurate translation thereof, the true and entirely different perspective unfolds.

 

II.            Comparison of Jewish and Christian English Translations

 

Side-by-side renditions of Psalms 2 are displayed in Table II-1.  The King James Version (KJV) rendition also shows references to key passages in the New Testament, where the respective portions of this psalm are cross-referenced.  [The references are found in the New American Standard Bible (NASB), but the corresponding passages, quoted below the table, are taken from the KJV.]

 

Table II-1 – Psalms 2

 

1. Acts 4:25(KJV) – Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen

                                rage, and the people imagine vain things?

2. Acts 4:26(KJV) – The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together

                                against the Lord, and against his Christ.

3. Acts 13:33(KJV) - God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised

                                 up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my

                                 Son, this day have I begotten thee.

    Hebrews 1:5(KJV) - For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son,

                                    this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and

                                    he shall be to me a Son?

    Hebrews 5:5(KJV) - So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he

                                    that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.

4. Revelation 2:26(KJV) – And he that overcometh, and keepeth my works unto the end, to

                                          him will I give power over the nations:

5. Revelation 2:27(KJV) – And he shall rule them with a rod of iron; as the vessels of a potter

                                          shall they be broken to shivers: even as I received of my Father.

    Revelation 12:5(KJV) - And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with

                                         a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his

                                         throne.

    Revelation 19:15(KJV) - And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should

                                           smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he

                                           treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty

                                          God.

 

Excepting two revisions from the Hebrew, one obvious and the other subtle, the two translations are reasonably consistent.  The obvious revision occurs at Psalms 2:12, where the two translations disagree on the opening phrase, and where the Christian rendition imputes a heavy dose of Christology into the context of King David's words.  The subtle change is at Psalms 2:7, where the KJV translators have replaced the term "son" with "Son", an action that enhances the Christological appeal of this psalm ("Son" is also used as part of the revision in Psalms 2:12).  In addition, tenses of some verbs were changed, but these do not have a serious impact the context. 

 

III.            Overview of Christian and Jewish Interpretations

 

A.      The Christian Perspective

 

The Christian view of this psalm is based on the claim that David and his kingdom are "types" that foreshadow Jesus and his kingdom, and that the prophecies related to the "first coming" of Jesus refer to David as Jesus' ancestor.  The rendition, in most Christian Bibles, of the opening phrase at Psalms 2:12 establishes a link to the declaration in Psalms 2:6-8 regarding who this "Son" is.

 

Verses 1, 2, 7, 8, and 9 of Psalms 2 are cross-referenced with passages in the New Testament as shown under Table II-1.  These passages in the New Testament identify Jesus as the subject in the corresponding verses being "quoted" from Psalms 2.  Curiously, the New Testament is silent on the opening phrase of Psalms 2:12.  This may very well be due to the fact that, in the form it was known to them, the authors of the New Testament did not consider this part of Psalms 2:12 to have any Christological value.  Yet, excepting the ancient translations, most Christian translations render the opening phrase of Psalms 2:12 as Kiss the Son, an overt attempt to link Jesus into this verse as well.

 

Standard Christian sources, such as the commentaries by Matthew Henry and Jamieson, Fausset, & Brown, provide more detailed verse-by-verse Christian interpretations of Psalms 2, which are beyond the scope of this essay.

 

B.     The Jewish Perspective

 

King David, the author of Psalms 2, is saying here that, no matter how powerful the force, nothing can thwart G-d's will.  The Jewish Sages, both ancient and modern, do not agree on whether the subject of this psalm is the Messiah or a former king and, if a former king, they disagree on the identity of this king.  The great Sage RASHI (Rabbi Shlomo Ben Yitzchak [1040-1105 C.E.]) comments:

 

"Our Rabbis expound it as relating to king Messiah; but according to its plain meaning it is proper to interpret it in connection with David, in the light of the statement: 'And when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David; and David heard of it, and went down to the fortress.' (2 Sam 5:17)."

 

In the plain meaning, this psalm describes a plot against one of G-d's anointed kings, which could very well be King David, its author.  A simple outline of the Psalm clarifies this.

 

§         Verses 1-3 – Kings plan to revolt against G-d by an attack on his anointed

§         Verses 4-6 – G-d ridicules the plot, chastises and scares the schemers

§         Verses 7-9 – The king relates G-d's promise of his triumph over the schemers

§         Verses 10-12 – The king urges the schemers to embrace G-d's ways & choices

 

The author of Acts attempts to link Psalms 2:1-2 to Jesus in Acts 4:25-26.  Yet, as other psalms indicate, it is King David, who is this anointed king:

 

Psalm 89:21-22[20-21][1] – (21) I found David My servant; I anointed him with My holy oil. (22) With whom My hand will be established; even My arm will strengthen him.

 

And, as was already noted by RASHI, the Hebrew Bible records situations in which foreign kings and rulers took counsel (plotted) against King David:

 

2 Samuel 5:17 - And when the Philistines heard that David was anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to seek David; and David heard [of it], and David went down to the fortress.

 

2 Samuel 8:3 - David defeated Hadadezer, the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to extend his dominion to the Euphrates River.

 

Other verses in this psalm further illustrate that David was speaking on his own behalf:

 

Psalms 2:7 – I will tell of the decree; The L-rd said to me, "You are My son [ (b^eni)]; this day have I begotten you."

 

The New Testament "quotes" this verse as if G-d were speaking to Jesus (Acts 13:33), the likely motivation for the KJV translators to have changed "son" to "Son" at this verse.  King David is the "son" here, a figurative characterization similar to the way G-d referred to Solomon as his "son" in His promise to David concerning the establishment of his everlasting dynasty (2 Sam 7:12-16):

 

2 Samuel 7:14 - I will be to him a father, and he shall be to Me a son; so that when he goes astray I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with afflictions of human beings.

 

And this figurative language is found elsewhere in the Book of Psalms:

 

Psalms 89:20-21,27-28[19-20,26-27] – (20) Then You spoke in a vision to Your pious ones, and said, "I placed help upon a hero; I have raised a chosen one from the people.  (21) I found David My servant; I anointed him with My holy oil."

(27) "He will call to Me, 'You are my Father, my G-d, and the Rock of my salvation.'  (28) Also I will make him a firstborn, highest of the kings of the earth."

 

Verse 8 further indicates that David spoke of himself:

 

Psalms 2:8 – "Ask of Me, and I shall make nations your inheritance; and the ends of the earth [I shall make] your possession."

 

The Hebrew Bible records that, after many wars, this promise to David was indeed fulfilled:

 

2 Samuel 7:1,9 – (1) And it came to pass, when the king sat in his house, and the L-rd had given him rest from all his enemies around.

(9) And I was with you wherever you went, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I have made for you a great name, like the name of the great ones who are on the earth.

 

1 Chronicles 14:17 - And the fame of David went forth throughout all the lands; and the L-rd placed the fear of him upon all the nations.

 

The focus of this essay is verse 12:

 

Psalm 2:12 - Do homage in purity [ (nashqu var)], lest He become scornful and you perish in the way, for in a flash His anger will kindle; happy are all who take refuge in Him.

 

The outline provided above indicates this verse to be a continuation of the theme King David started in verse 11 where, in addressing the (Gentile) kings and judges of the earth, he exhorts them to follow the righteous path and rejoice, rather than continue to be wicked and suffer the consequences.

 

Another interpretation offered by the Jewish Sages has this verse pointing back to verse 7, where the "son" mentioned in verse 7 is a reference to King David, and its message is that acknowledging with sincerity of heart King David as G-d's anointed avoids incurring His wrath.

 

The Jewish messianic interpretation of Psalms 2 runs along parallel lines, since David's name is commonly used in the Hebrew Bible as a metaphoric reference to the promised King/Messiah (e.g., Jer 30:9; Ezek 34:23-24, 37:24-25; Hos 3:5).

 

IV.            A Linguistic Analysis of Psalms 2:12

 

The phrase in question,  (nashqu var) consists of two component terms, the verb  (nashqu) and the noun  (var).  The verb  (nashqu) is conjugated in the 2^nd-person, plural, imperative of the root verb  (nashaq), which is applied on 35 occasions in the Hebrew Bible in several meanings, depending on the particular verb stem, and the context within the respective passage.  The most common contextual application of this verb is [to] kiss (e.g., Gen 27:27), from which the noun  (n^eshiqah), a kiss, is derived.  The other applications are: [to] unite or [to] desire (e.g., Ps 85:11[10]; correctly translated in the KJV), and to knock against or to touch (e.g., Ezek 3:13; correctly translated in the KJV).  In some cases, this verb is applied in the context of [to] arm oneself with a weapon (e.g., Ps 78:9; correctly translated in the KJV), from this context the noun  (nesheq), arms/weapons, is derived.  The rendition in the KJV, and in most other Christian translations, of the term  (nashqu) at Psalms 2:12 as the 2^nd-person, plural, imperative, kiss, becomes problematic when combined with the way in which the next term is translated in these Bibles. 

 

The root of  (var), the second component in the phrase  (nashqu var), is the noun  (bar), which is rendered here as  (var) for grammatical reasons[2].  The Hebrew noun  [also ] (bar) occurs in the Hebrew Bible 22 times with two distinct meanings.  Its most common application is as grain (15x; e.g., Gen 41:35,49), the other is as pure or clean or choice [as in select, superior, top quality] (7x; e.g., Job 11:4).  The correct translation of  (var) is pure or clean, or purity or cleanliness, and it is even possible that King David used it here as a metaphor for the Torah.  The KJV and most other Christian translations render this as the Son, claiming that  (var), as an alternate form of  (bar), is the Aramaic word for son.  However, the serious linguistic issues that plague this claim invalidate it:

 

§         No Aramaic words are used in the Book of Psalms.  The Aramaic language was not the spoken vernacular until the time of the Babylonian exile, i.e., in the sixth century B.C.E., long after the Psalms were composed and recorded by King David and others.

 

§         Even if  (bar) were an Aramaic term (which it could be, but not in the Book of Psalms), it is not the term for son, but for the possessive form, son of …, where the rest of this expression must be provided in the phrase itself.  For example, in the Aramaic portion of the Book of Daniel appears the expression  (k^evar enash), like a son of man (Dan 7:13).  In the very next chapter, after the language switches back to the Hebrew, appears the Hebrew equivalent [without the preposition  (k^e), like],  (ben-adam), son of man.  The Aramaic word for son is  (b^era), and not  (bar).  The Hebrew term for son is  (ben), used by King David at Psalms 2:7 in the conjugated form  (b^eni), my son.

 

§         Lastly, even if  (bar) were Aramaic, and even if it meant son (neither of which is the case here), the definite article  (ha), the, is absent from the phrase  (nashqu var).  This had to be added by the Christian translators in order to "harmonize" their rendition, i.e., in order to give their translation both proper (English) grammatical sense and the desired Christological message.

 

A word study on the Hebrew (not Aramaic!) term  (bar) helps illustrate the problem with the KJV rendition.  There are two instances of  (u'var), where  (u', pronounced as ooh) is a variant[3] of the preposition  (v^e), and, a grammatical requirement    The analysis is shown in Table IV-1, where the item of interest is located at the top of the list.

 

Table IV-1 – The Hebrew word / (bar) in the Hebrew Bible and its renditions in the KJV