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 

Mazmur 24:1

Psalm 24 ⁸ 

A psalm of David.

24:1 The Lord owns the earth and all it contains,

the world and all who live in it.

Mazmur 26:7

26:7 to give you thanks, ⁹ 

and to tell about all your amazing deeds. ¹⁰ 

Mazmur 107:24

107:24 They witnessed the acts of the Lord,

his amazing feats on the deep water.

Mazmur 132:5

132:5 until I find a place for the Lord,

a fine dwelling place ¹¹  for the powerful ruler of Jacob.” 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.

[24:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 24. The psalmist affirms the universal kingship of the sovereign creator, reminds his people that only the morally pure are qualified to worship him, and celebrates his splendor as a mighty warrior king.

[26:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “to cause to be heard the sound of thanksgiving.”

[26:7]  ¹⁰ tn The two infinitival forms (both with prefixed preposition -לְ, lamed) give the purpose for his appearance at the altar.

[132:5]  ¹¹ tn The plural form of the noun may indicate degree or quality; David envisions a special dwelling place (see Pss 43:3; 46:4; 84:1).

[132:5]  ¹² tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.”