The relationship of humankind and nature according to Psalm 8
A TRANSLATOR WALKS INTO A BAR: THE CASE FOR "SON" AS A LEGITIMATE TRANSLATION OF PSALM 2:12
Transcript of A TRANSLATOR WALKS INTO A BAR: THE CASE FOR "SON" AS A LEGITIMATE TRANSLATION OF PSALM 2:12
REFORMED THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
A TRANSLATOR WALKS INTO A BAR:
THE CASE FOR “SON” AS A LEGITIMATE TRANSLATION OF PSALM 2:12
SUBMITED TO DR. RICHARD BELCHER IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF
POETS OT512
BY GARRETT SPITZ
MAY 7, 2015
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I. INTRODUCTION
Jesus indicates that he was written about in the “Law of Moses and the Prophets
and the Psalms” (Luke 22:44).1 Some commentators who have made an effort to apply this
Biblical truth to their exegesis of Old Testament texts have been criticized for trying to find
Jesus under every rock. The criticism is a valid one when it ignores the original human
author’s intended meaning and the immediate historical context of the passage. At the
same time, for those who take Jesus’ words as authoritative and believe in a divine author,
it would make sense for there to be instances in the Old Testament when the initial
meaning of a text was unclear and remained that way until it was ultimately fulfilled at a
later date.
That God reveals himself in a progressive and gradual way is evidenced in the Gospel
of John when more than once John records that the disciples did not understand something
Jesus said until later when he was resurrected or glorified (John 2:22; 12:16). Elsewhere
Peter writes that when the prophets of the Old Testament inquired about the details of the
fulfillment of God’s prophesies that, “it was revealed to them that they were serving not
themselves but you” (1 Pet 1:12). Though they would not fully understand all of God’s
prophesies, greater understanding would come with the Holy Spirit anointed preaching of
the good news after the resurrection.
A nuanced approach is therefore necessary when it comes to applying these
exegetical principles to a text from the Old Testament that appears to refer directly to Jesus
Christ. When you add a high degree of confusion over the original language of that text into
1 Unless otherwise noted, all subsequent Bible quotes will come from the English Standard Version.
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the mix, it makes for a heated debate and such is the case for Ps 2:12. The verse is
interpreted a number of different ways but one of the most common ways it is translated in
English Bibles today is “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his
wrath is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Ps 2:12). The point of
greatest difficulty is the first part of the verse which has also been translated as, “kiss
purity,” “take hold of discipline,” “kiss his feet,” “remove with trembling weapons of iron,”
“worship him and harken to the word,” “cleave to him with trembling,” “men of the grave,”
and “you who forget him who buries.”
On the whole, this is a multifaceted translation problem and all aspects of it cannot
be dealt with in this paper.2 While there is confusion over that which gets translated as
“kiss,” the purpose of this paper is to focus instead on the point of greater debate and that
is the word that gets translated as “son”. Given my limited expertise with the original
language and the complexity of the problem, the focus of this paper will narrow in on the
one word from the Masoretic Text (MT) that has been translated into many English
translations today as “son” in Ps 2:12.
Robert G. Bratcher and William D. Reyburn argue that translating the word as “son”
negatively turns the Hebrew text into a Christian text.3 It is also argued that few scholars
today would support such an impossible translation and that it should be abandoned.4 It is
possible that the desire of some commentators to find Jesus under every rock of the Old
2 This is especially true considering the fact that I have only one semester of Introduction to Biblical Hebrew
under my belt from my undergraduate days, which were over ten years ago. 3 Robert Bratcher and William Reyburn, A Handbook on Psalms (New York: United Bible Society, 1991) 31. 4 Bratcher and Reyburn, Handbook, 31; Alan Robinson, “Deliberate but Misguided Haplography Explains Psalm
2” ZAW 89 (1977) 421-422; A. Cohen, ed., The Psalms (London: Whitefriars, 1974) 7.
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Testament can overly influence their translation and exegesis in ways that lead to
conclusions that should be abandoned. That however is not the case in regard to Ps 2:12.
The purpose of this paper is to argue that the word “son” should continue to be included
among the best possible translation options for Ps 2:12.
II. THE BASIC MESSAGE OF PSALM 2
Before moving any further in the argument it is first necessary to briefly explain the
context of the text in question. Psalm 2 is often coupled with the first psalm as an
introduction to the psalter. While Psalm 1 focuses on an individual living in an evil world,
Psalm 2 instead focuses on God’s community living in a world where they will face evil
opposition.5 More specifically, it focuses on God’s response to this evil by detailing his
installation of a king and it is therefore considered to be a royal psalm.6
While several ideas have been proposed to explain the specific historical situation
that brought the psalm about and no consensus has been reached, it is most helpful to note
the psalm’s likely connection to God’s covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7.7 In that portion of
historical narrative, God reminds David of what he has done for him in the past and what he
will do for him in the future. He will make David’s name and kingdom great. In regard to
David’s offspring God says, “He shall build a house for my name, and I will establish the
throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son” (2 Sam
7:13-14a). This would be most immediately and directly be fulfilled in David’s son, Solomon
5 James Luther Mays, Psalms (Int; Westminster: John Knox, 1994) 44. 6 Gerald Cooke, “The Israelite King as Son of God” ZAW 32 (1961) 205. 7 Richard P. Belcher Jr., The Messiah and the Psalms (Glasgow: Christian Focus, 2012) 123.
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but it ultimately also had broad implications for David’s line as a whole. The application of
sonship to David’s line makes the connection to Psalm 2 clear.
Psalm 2 begins (vv.1-3) by describing the strategic rebellion of the nations against
both God and his anointed king. It goes on (vv.4-6) to describe God’s response of “divine
derision,” warning of coming wrath, and emphatic statement that he has installed his king.8
God’s anointed king then speaks (vv.7-9) and recalls the words that God stated at his
installation where God clearly identifies him as “my Son.” This sonship language refers to a
legal relationship in that the king represents the covenant relationship between God and
the people of Israel.9 The king also recalls how God promised to give him the nations as his
heritage and the ends of the earth as his possession and how as the anointed king he will
rule the nations and be an instrument of judgment.
In the final verses of the psalm (vv. 10-12) the kings of the nations are warned of
coming judgment and are invited to respond with submission. The exact nature and more
precisely the direction of this submission will be significantly impacted by how one
translates verse 12. If the specific word in question is translated as “son,” then the
submission would be directed towards both God and his anointed king. Some of the
alternate translations instead result in the submission being directed towards God
exclusively.10 The direction of the submission as it pertains to the translation of verse 12 will
be addressed more directly later in the paper.
8 Derek Kidner, Psalms 1-72 (TOTC; London: Inter-Varsity, 1973) 51.
9 Belcher, Messiah, 124.
10 Artur Weiser, The Psalms (OTL; Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1962) 115; J. Dyneley Prince “Notes on
Psalm ii. 11-12 and on ‘OREN, Isaiah xliv.14” JBL 1 (1900) 3.
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III. CHALLENGES TO “SON” IN PSALM 2:12
That God refers to his anointed king as “my Son” in Ps 2:7 is not contested. The place
of disagreement and confusion is five verses later where many English Bibles translate
another word as “son.” There are several reasons for the disagreement over the use of the
word “son” in verse 12, the chief of which being that such a translation depends upon the
writer using the Aramaic word for son (bar) instead of the Hebrew word for son (ben),
which he used only a few verses earlier. Opponents of this translation argue that it does not
make sense for the author to use the Hebrew word for “son” and the Aramaic word for
“son” in the same psalm.
If the word was originally intended to be interpreted as the Aramaic bar, then it
would be an example of an aramaism. An aramaism can be defined as a form that is more
common to Aramaic and less common to Hebrew.11 Some reject the “son” translation
because they believe aramaisms to be uncommon in Hebrew literature, especially from a
text written early in the monarchy, which some believe this psalm to be.12 Alan Robinson
speculates that such an aramaism could be “perhaps feasible” if an Aramaic speaking scribe
edited the text at a later date.13
It has also been pointed out that bar lacks a definite article and that the simple “kiss
son” would sound just as awkward to the original readers as it does to English speakers
today.14 Because of this and the earlier use of the Hebrew word for son, Hans-Joachim
11 Ian Young et al., An Introduction to Approaches and Problems (vol 1. of Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts;
London: Equinox, 2008) 208. 12 Peter C. Craigie, Psalms 1-15 (WBC 19; Waco: Word, 1983) 64. 13 Robinson, “Haplography,” 421. 14
Kidner, Psalms, 53.
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Kraus concludes that the word that gets translated as “son” is actually an “unintelligible
aramaism” and that the text is corrupt and requires editing in order to be correctly
interpreted.15
Another argument made is that translating the word as “son” does not make sense
given the context of the psalm. Artur Weiser says that such a translation “scarcely renders a
satisfactory translation given the context.”16 Robinson similarly argues that the idea of
kissing God’s anointed king “is not very satisfactory in the context.”17 Both contest that the
context indicates that the submission should be directed towards God and not towards his
anointed king.
Finally, it has also been pointed out that throughout history there has been
confusion over how this word should be accurately translated. The very early translation of
this text in the Septuagint (LXX) reads as, “lay hold of instruction.”18 Allan K. Jenkins also
notes how Jerome considered the phrase in the MT to be ambiguous and that he opted
against “son” so that “Jews could have no grounds for criticism” but that Erasmus, who
relied heavily upon Jerome’s interpretation, chose to include “son” in his translation
because he wanted to “press every interpretative possibility into the service of Christian
appropriation and contemporary application.”19 Given this and all the other previously
mentioned unique characteristics and challenges surrounding this verse, it is
understandable why there is confusion over how Psalm 2:12 should be translated.
15 Hans-Joachim Kraus, Psalms 1-59 (trans. Hilton C. Oswald; Minneapolis: Fortress, 1993) 124-125. 16 Weiser, Psalms, 115. 17
Robinson, “Haplography”, 422. 18 Marco Treves, “Two Acrostic Poems” VT 15: 1 (1965) 83. 19 Allan K. Jenkins, “Erasmus’ Commentary on Psalm 2,” in Perspectives on Hebrew Scriptures (vol. 2, ed. Ehud
Ben Zvi; Piscataway: Gorgias, 2006) 260.
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IV. THE CASE FOR SON (BAR) IN PSALM 2:12
While there is a good amount of ambiguity over how to translate this verse, there
simply is not enough evidence to dismiss “son” from being a respectable translation. On the
contrary, there is good reason for it to continue to be considered among the best of the
available translations. The reasons for which will be presented here.
Despite definite points of confusion and ambiguity throughout this history of this
verse’s interpretation there have also been many who have translated it as “son” or who
have at least considered it a worthwhile option. As was mentioned in the previous section,
Jerome considered the passage ambiguous and even though he ended up translating the
verse “worship in purity,” he was torn between that and “worship the son.”20 In the 13th
century Rabbi David Kimchi also identified “son” as a possible translation.21 Like Jerome,
Erasmus in the 16th century also struggled with the same tension over the passage except
he decided to include “son” in his translation.22 Not long after that John Calvin commented
on the passage by writing, “Some interpreters expound it, ‘kiss or embrace what is pure,’
which is a strange and rather forced interpretation. For my part, I willingly retain the name
of son, which answers well to a former sentence where it was said, ‘Thou art my Son, this
day have I begotten thee.’”23 Martin Luther interpreted it the same way.24
More recently, even though Franz Delitzsch gets cited by more than one critical
scholar as being the lone supporter of the “kiss the son” translation, both he and J.J.
20
Jenkins, “Erasmus,” 259. 21
David Kimchi, On the First Book of Psalms (Bungay: Richard Clay and Sons, 1919) 17. 22
Jenkins, “Erasmus,” 260. 23 John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms, (trans. J. Anderson; Grand Rapids: WM.B. Eerdmans, 1963)
24-25. 24 Treves, “Acrostic Poems,” 83.
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Steward Perowne made the case for “kiss the son” in their respective commentaries which
were written in the 1880s. In 1920 they were followed by Samuel Mercer, who also came to
the same conclusion.25 Peter Craigie included a compelling defense of “kiss the son” in his
1983 commentary and many other contemporary scholars maintain translations that use
the word “son” to this day.26 Based solely on the weight of how this verse has been
translated throughout history, those opposed to translating it as “son” are the ones who
bear the burden of proof for why it should be translated any other way.
That being stated, the case should not be built on the history of this verse’s
translation alone. The other challenges remain to be addressed, the first of which is the
apparent oddity of an Aramaic word in a Hebrew psalm. For someone with little exposure to
Hebrew literature it would be very understandable to see the inclusion of an Aramaic loan
word as a little odd. It is important to note however that such aramaisms are fairly common
in Hebrew literature. The very same Aramaic word (bar) is translated as “son” in Prov 31:2.
These aramaisms are so common that Ian Young considers bar in verse 12 to be one of
three aramaisms present in Psalm 2.27
It has still been argued however that such aramaisms would have not been common
at the early date when Psalm 2 was written. Firstly, it should be noted that there is very
little certainty when psalm 2 was written so the alleged early date should not lead us to
25 Samuel A. B. Mercer, “Kiss the Son - Psalm 2:12,” ATR 2:4 (1920) 324-25. 26 Samuel Terrien, The Psalms (Grand Rapids: W.m.B. Eerdmans, 2003) 86; Allen P. Ross, Commentary on the
Psalms, (vol. 1; Grand Rapids: Kregel, 2011) 25; James Montgomery Boice, Psalms (Grand Rapids: Bakerbooks, 1994) 364; Ian Young et al., A Survey of Scholarship, a New Synthesis and a Comprehensive Bibliography (vol 2. of Linguistic Dating of Biblical Texts; London: Equinox, 2008) 52; George Gunn, “Psalm 2 and the Reign of the Messiah,” BSac 169 (2012) 427; Craigie, Psalms, 64. 27 Ian Young et al., Survey, 52; Barnabas Lindars, “Is Psalm ii an Acrostic Poem,” VT 17 (1967) 60–67. Banabus
Linders argues that there are at least two aramaisms in Psalm 2.
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abandon bar as a possible aramaism.28 For the sake of argument however, let’s
momentarily assume that we did know that it was written early in the monarchy. Even still,
that does not make it any less likely that bar would have been used as an aramaism. Young
writes, “Scholars in previous generations often concluded that Aramaic or Aramaic-like
features in certain psalms were a sure indication of a late date of composition. However,
many now recognize that aramaisms in and of themselves are essentially devoid of
chronological implications.”29 Essentially, we should not conclude any apparent conflict
based on the potential dating of this psalm and it having aramaisms in it. In fact, it is now
known that Aramaic was widely used in Syria-Palestine as early as the ninth century B.C.
and therefore it would be reasonable to think that it could have been used as an aramaism
in Psalm 2 even if it were written early in the monarchy.30
The question of why the author would use an aramaism still remains. Why would
they use the Aramaic word for “son” in verse 12 when the Hebrew word was sufficient just
a few verses earlier? The explanation for this is rooted in the context of each verse. In verse
7 the anointed king is recalling the words of God directed to him at his installation. The God
of the Israelites is speaking to an Israelite and therefore uses a Hebrew word. In verse 12
however, the psalmist is addressing the kings of the foreign nations, admonishing them to
submit. It is believed that the writer deliberately used the Aramaic word bar in order to
“dramatize his poetic intent.”31 It has also been pointed out that another reason why bar
28
Craigie, Psalms, 64. 29
Young, Survey, 50. 30
Craigie, Psalms, 64. 31
Craigie, Psalms 64.
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may have been chosen was to avoid the dissonance that would have occurred if the Hebrew
word for “son” were used in the verse, which would have resulted in ben pen.32
In regards to the broader meaning of the psalm, commentators agree that the end
of the psalm (vv.10-12) is a warning and invitation for the kings of the nations to submit to
God. They disagree however as to the exact direction of this submission. Some believe that
the submission should solely be to God and therefore reject the translation of “son” in verse
12 for contextual reasons. However, when you examine the psalm in its entirety, it makes a
great deal of sense for the submission to be directed towards both God and his anointed
king. By the submission being directed towards both God and his anointed, it creates an
appropriate parallel to the rebellion against both God and his anointed that is detailed in
the psalms earliest verses (vv. 1-3). Notice the italicized parallels below.
vv. 2 vv. 10-12a The kings of the earth set themselves, and
the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord
and against his Anointed…
Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.
Serve the Lord with fear… Kiss the Son…
When these sections are compared, a consistent pattern can be seen between the rebellion
at the beginning of the psalm and the submission at its end. As one reads verses 10-12a,
they would recognize the repeated pattern from earlier in the psalm and anticipate a
reference to God’s anointed king after “kiss,” which is exactly where we find the Aramaic
word bar. To not have a reference to God’s anointed king in verse 12 would break the
pattern set in verse 2.
32 Franz Delitzsch, Psalms (trans. F. Bolton, vol. 5 in Commentary on the Old Testament in Ten Volumes; Grand
Rapids: Wm.B. Eerdmans, 1986) 97-98.
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Furthermore, when you take into account God’s emphatic declaration that he has
set his king on Zion in the center of the psalm, these parallels at the beginning and end of
the psalm make even more sense as evidence for the reasonable nature of the “son”
translation. Weiser critically argues that the anointed king is not being referred to in verse
12 and also that in the final verses there is “no further mention of the king of Zion, not even
a single word.”33 While the word that gets translated as “son” is likely the last explicit
reference to the anointed king of Zion in the psalm, the final verses most definitely continue
to refer to his role in judgment.
During his installation God tells the anointed king, “You shall break (or rule) them
with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel” (Ps 2:9) and then at the
end of the psalm the psalmist writes, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the
way, for his wrath is quickly kindled” (Ps 2:12a). The consistent focus of the entire psalm is
not exclusively on God but instead it is on both God and his anointed king who will be an
instrument of God’s rule and judgment. The beginning of the psalm details the opposition
to both of them, the middle of the psalm details God’s installation of the king and
emphasizes the king’s role as ruler and judge, and the psalm then concludes with the
warning and invitation to submit to both God and his anointed king. Of all the possible
translations, the “son” translation makes the most sense given the psalms overall context.
Additional light can be shed on this issue by examining how Psalm 2 has been
referenced in the New Testament. While there are numerous allusions to Psalm 2 in the
New Testament, there are also several explicit quotations. In Acts 4 after Peter and John are
33
Weiser, Psalms, 115.
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released from custody the believers together declare how through the mouth of David the
Holy Spirit said, “Why did the Gentiles rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the
earth set themselves, and the rulers were gathered together, against the Lord and against
his Anointed” (Acts 4:25b-26). They go on to indicate that Psalm 2 was fulfilled when both
Herod and Pontius Pilate opposed God’s holy servant Jesus. Later in Acts while Paul is at
Antioch, he gives a speech in which he says that God’s promises have been fulfilled in Jesus
and as an example he says, “as also it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son, today
I have begotten you’” (Acts 13:33b). The author of Hebrews also quotes this same verse
from Psalm 2 to demonstrate how Jesus is superior to angels and how he did not appoint
himself but was appointed by God the Father (Heb 1:5; 5:5). Ps 2:9 is also quoted three
times in Revelation in reference to Jesus’ authority to rule and judge the nations (Rev 2:27;
12:5; 19:15).
These usages of Psalm 2 in the New Testament indicate that while the original
author’s intended meaning of the psalm was to refer to the earthly king of Israel, the
broader and fuller meaning of the psalm intended by the divine author was ultimately to
refer typologically to the divine Son of God who would fulfill Psalm 2 in a way that no
earthly ruler ever could. Jaime A. Grant points out that the sharp distinction between the
king described in Psalm 2 and the actual king of Israel or the lack thereof during certain
times of Israel’s history would result in a degree of “eschatological expectation” for a king
still to come.34 While the psalm refers directly to the king of Israel as God’s son in the sense
that he represents the divine, it also presents the son-king as a symbol that will come to
34
Jaime A. Grant, “The Psalms and the King,” in Interpreting the Psalms (ed. David Firth and Philip S. Johnston; Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2005) 112.
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fruition at some future point in history.35 Since the psalm was intended by God to point
towards Jesus as God the Son in this typological way, it seems reasonable that the word in
question in verse 12 could be appropriately translated as “son” in the sense that it keeps it
consistent not only with its own immediate surrounding context of the psalm but also with
the broader Biblical context of how Psalm 2 is interpreted in the New Testament.
V. THE ALTERNATIVES TO “SON” IN PSALM 2:12
Since the primary objective of this paper is to argue for the continued acceptance of
“son” as one of the most viable options for translation of Ps 2:12, it is necessary to briefly
examine the alternative options as well as their respective shortcomings. Those who reject
bar as an aramaism, must find some other way to make sense of the text. One of the most
common solutions is to treat the word bar as the Hebrew word which means pure, which
results in English translations like “kiss sincerely,” “offer pure homage,” and “pay homage in
purity.”36 However it is also argued that “pure” cannot be used as an adverb here.37
The LXX’s translation (“lay hold of instruction”) has been dismissed as a translation
that “cannot be extracted from the Hebrew text.”38 Another common alternative
translation is “kiss his feet.”39 This translation is based on the assumption that the MT is
corrupt and that the solution is to amend it by exchanging the last two words of verse 11
35
Belcher, Messiah, 128. 36
Charles Augustus Briggs and Emilie Grace Briggs, The Book of Psalms (vol.1, ICC; Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1976) 17; R. Raymond Apple, “David Kimchi’s Response to Christianity in his Psalm commentary,” Australian Association of Jewish Studies Conference, 15 February 2010, < http://www.oztorah.com/2010/02/david-kimchis-response-to-christianity-in-his-psalm-commentary/> (7 May 2015); J.J. Steward Perowne, The Book of Psalms (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1966) 120; Cohen, The Psalms, 7; Kidner, Psalms, 52; Kimchi, Psalms, 17; Jerome as cited in Jenkins, “Erasmus,” 259. 37
Delitzsch, Psalms, 97-98; Prince, “Notes,” 2. 38
Kidner, Psalms, 52. 39
Weiser, Psalms, 109; Kraus, Psalms 1-59, 125.
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with the first two words of verse 12. But this has been dismissed as a “precarious
conjecture.”40 Alan Robinson’s translation “and remove with trembling weapons of iron” is
based on the assumption of a corrupt text as well and he believes that the mistake was
caused by a case of misguided haplography on the part of a scribe. “Worship him and
harken to the word” is yet another proposal that relies on the text being corrupt in the
sense that it requires that a scribe failed to copy some words.41 The translation “cleave to
him with trembling” simply dismisses bar as an unintended example of dittography.42 The
translations “men of the grave” from Mitchell Dahood and “you who forget him who
buries” from William Holladay rely upon a complicated rearranging of the text as well as the
revocalization of certain words and the incorporation of insights from the Ugaritic
language.43
VI. CONCLUSION
While the alternative translations for “son” in Ps 2:12 are not out of the question,
some of them require a significant amount of speculation and an unfortunate degree of
gymnastics with the original text and therefore cannot be held to with a high degree of
exegetical certainty. Of the proposed alternative translations, the one that requires the
least amount of speculation and fits the overall context of the psalm the best are those that
translate bar as pure. The majority of translators throughout history have either translated
it this way or as “son”. Several have been on the fence between the two options. As J.J.
Steward Perowne concludes:
40
Kidner, Psalms, 52. 41 Treves, “Acrostic Poems,” 83. 42
Prince, “Notes,” 3. 43
Craigie, Psalms, 64.
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We must therefore either render (with the Syr.) “do homage to the Son,” or (with Jerome) “proffer pure homage, worship in purity.” Both translations are admissible. Nor does it seem very important which we adopt, though the interpretation of this clause has sometimes been debated, as if the Messianic character of the Psalm depended upon it. But that must be determined by the general scope of the Psalm, not by a single phrase; not to mention that verses 6-7 are quite as emphatic as verse 12.44
Psalm 2 is a powerful psalm that was intended to give hope to God’s people throughout
time. The exegetical danger of trying to find Jesus under every rock of the Old Testament is
a valid one but as has been demonstrated, this psalm’s typological reference to Christ is not
dependent on how verse 12 is translated. The psalm can therefore continue to provide
hope for God’s people today using any of the proposed alternative translations. That being
said, just because we do not need to read “son” in verse 12 in order to grasp God’s power
and the significance of his anointed king, it does not mean that we should so easily dismiss
the translation either.
Ps 2:12 has rightfully been called a crux; a puzzling or difficult problem, and an
unsolved question. I do not propose that translating bar as “son” is the silver bullet that will
untie the Gordian knot. I only propose that there is enough evidence for it and enough
problems with the alternative translations for it to continue to be considered among our
best options.
44
Perowne, Psalms, 120.