Mazmur 2:1

Psalm 2 ¹ 

2:1 Why ²  do the nations rebel? ³ 

Why ⁴  are the countries ⁵  devising ⁶  plots that will fail? ⁷ 

Yesaya 32:6

32:6 For a fool speaks disgraceful things; ⁸ 

his mind plans out sinful deeds. ⁹ 

He commits godless deeds ¹⁰ 

and says misleading things about the Lord;

he gives the hungry nothing to satisfy their appetite ¹¹ 

and gives the thirsty nothing to drink. ¹² 

[2:1]  ¹ sn Psalm 2. In this royal psalm the author asserts the special status of the divinely chosen Davidic king and warns the nations and their rulers to submit to the authority of God and his chosen vice-regent.

[2:1]  ² tn The question is rhetorical. Rather than seeking information, the psalmist expresses his outrage that the nations would have the audacity to rebel against God and his chosen king.

[2:1]  ³ tn The Hebrew verb רָגַשׁ (ragash) occurs only here. In Dan 6:6, 11, 15 the Aramaic cognate verb describes several officials acting as a group. A Hebrew nominal derivative is used in Ps 55:14 of a crowd of people in the temple.

[2:1]  ⁴ tn The interrogative לָמָּה (lamah, “why?”) is understood by ellipsis in the second line.

[2:1]  ⁵ tn Or “peoples” (so many English versions).

[2:1]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew imperfect form describes the rebellion as underway. The verb הָגָה (hagah), which means “to recite quietly, meditate,” here has the metonymic nuance “devise, plan, plot” (see Ps 38:12; Prov 24:2).

[2:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “devising emptiness.” The noun רִיק (riq, “emptiness”) may characterize their behavior as “worthless, morally bankrupt” but more likely refers to the outcome of their plots (i.e., failure). As the rest of the psalm emphasizes, their rebellion will fail.

[32:6]  ⁸ tn Or “foolishness,” in a moral-ethical sense. See 9:17.

[32:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “and his heart commits sin”; KJV, ASV “his heart will work iniquity”; NASB “inclines toward wickedness.”

[32:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in order to do [or “so that he does”] what is godless [or “defiled”].”

[32:6]  ¹¹ tn Heb “so that he leaves empty the appetite [or “desire”] of the hungry.”

[32:6]  ¹² tn Heb “and the drink of the thirsty he causes to fail.”