Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Psalms 2:4
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
4. He that sitteth in the heavens ] Enthroned in majesty (Psa 123:1), but withal watching and controlling the course of events upon the earth (Psa 11:4; Psa 103:19; Psa 113:4 ff.; Rev 5:13; Rev 6:16).
shall laugh shall have them in derision ] Or, laugheth mocketh at them. Cp. Psa 37:13; Psa 59:8; Pro 1:26. The O.T. uses human language of God without fear of lowering Him to a human level.
the Lord ] This is the reading of 1611, restored by Dr Scrivener. Most editions, and R.V., have the Lord, in accordance with the Massoretic Text, which reads Adonai, not Jehovah. The variation is perhaps significant. God is spoken of as the sovereign ruler of the world, rather than as the covenant God of Israel.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
4 6. The poet-seer draws aside the veil, and bids us look from earth to heaven. There the supreme Ruler of the world sits enthroned in majesty. With sovereign contempt He surveys these petty plottings, and when the moment comes confounds them with a word.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
He that sitteth in the heavens – God, represented as having his home, his seat, his throne in heaven, and thence administering the affairs of the world. This verse commences the second strophe or stanza of the psalm; and this strophe Psa 2:4-6 corresponds with the first Psa 2:1-3 in its structure. The former describes the feelings and purposes of those who would cast off the government of God; this describes the feelings and purposes of God in the same order, for in each case the psalmist describes what is done, and then what is said: the nations rage tumultuously Psa 2:1-2, and then say Psa 2:3, Let us break their bands. God sits calmly in the heavens, smiling on their vain attempts Psa 2:4, and then solemnly declares Psa 2:5-6 that, in spite of all their opposition, he has set his King upon his holy hill of Zion. There is much sublimity in this description. While men rage and are tumultuous in opposing his plans, he sits calm and undisturbed in his own heaven. Compare the notes at the similar place in Isa 18:4.
Shall laugh – Will smile at their vain attempts; will not be disturbed or agitated by their efforts; will go calmly on in the execution of his purposes. Compare as above Isa 18:4. See also Pro 1:26; Psa 37:13; Psa 59:8. This is, of course, to be regarded as spoken after the manner of men, and it means that God will go steadily forward in the accomplishment of his purposes. There is included also the idea that he will look with contempt on their vain and futile efforts.
The Lord shall have them in derision – The same idea is expressed here in a varied form, as is the custom in parallelism in Hebrew poetry. The Hebrew word laag, means properly to stammer; then to speak in a barbarous or foreign tongue; then to mock or deride, by imitating the stammering voice of anyone. Gesenius, Lexicon Here it is spoken of God, and, of course, is not to be understood literally, anymore than when eyes, and hands, and feet are spoken of as pertaining to him. The meaning is, that there is a result in the case, in the Divine Mind, as if he mocked or derided the vain attempts of men; that is, he goes calmly forward in the execution of his own purposes, and he looks upon and regards their efforts as vain, as we do the efforts of others when we mock or deride them. The truth taught in this verse is, that God will carry forward his own plans in spite of all the attempts of men to thwart them. This general truth may lie stated in two forms:
(1) He sits undisturbed and unmoved in heaven while men rage against him, and while they combine to cast off his authority.
(2) He carries forward his own plans in spite of them. This he does:
(a) directly, accomplishing his schemes without regard to their attempts; and
(b) by making their purposes tributary to his own, so making them the instruments in carrying out his own plans. Compare Act 4:28.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Psa 2:4-5
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh . . . and vex them in His sore displeasure.
First a laugh then a smite
The heathen and the people, the kings and the rulers are answered with contempt, they are laughed at and derided; and if this be not enough to change their spirit and their purpose, they will be spoken to in wrath, and vexed in sore displeasure. It is interesting and instructive to remark how creation first laughs at and derides men who oppose it, and how in the next place it avenges the insults that are offered to its laws. When Canute rebuked the waves the sea laughed at him, and the waves had him in derision; had he remained upon the position he had chosen, laughter and derision would have been changed for vengeance and overthrow. Let a man attempt to put down the wind, and the only possible answer is derision; let him attempt to defy the lightning, and he may perish under its stroke. There is but a short distance between the derision of nature and its penal judgments. So every attempt to revile the power of God is contemned, and every insult offered to His holiness is avenged. A very curious process is indicated by these two verses. The laughter is expressive of an eternal law; things are not so constituted that they can be turned about at the pleasure of the wicked, nor is the purpose of the universe so fickle that the wrath of man can affect its fulfilment; great strength can afford to deride; infinite power can best express its own consciousness of almightiness by smiling upon all the hosts which array themselves against it. But this answer of contemptuous laughter must not be the only reply, for contempt can seldom have any moral issue of a really substantial and blessed kind; there must come a time when law must avenge itself upon those who would insult its majesty or mock its power. First, laughter, as a proof of the utter impossibility of injuriously affecting the standards and purposes of God; after laughter must come the judgment, which shows how dangerous it is to trifle with fire, and how awful a thing it is to defy the wrath of righteousness. It is for every man to consider under what particular phase of the Divine regard he is now living. For a period he may be amused, as it were, at certain phases of the opposition of nature, or the awkwardness of life; but let him not suppose that he sees the whole of the case: such opposition and awkwardness may suddenly be displaced by judgment, and vengeance, and destiny irrevocable. (Joseph Parker, D. D.)
The laughter of God
They scoff at us. God laughs at them. Severe Cato thought that laughter did not become the gravity of Roman consuls, and is it attributed to the majesty of heaven . . . Pharaoh imagined that by drowning the Israelite males he had found a way to root their name from the earth, but when at the same time his own daughter in his own court gave princely education to Moses, their deliverer, did not God laugh? Is Dagon put up in his place again? Gods smile shall take off his head and his hands and leave him neither wit to guide nor power to subsist He permitted His temple to be sacked and rifled, the holy vessels to be profaned and caroused in; but did not Gods smile make Belshazzar to tremble? Oh, what are His frowns if His smiles be so terrible? (Thomas Adams.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 4. He that sitteth in the heavens] Whose kingdom ruleth over all, and is above all might and power, human and diabolical. Shall laugh. Words spoken after the manner of men; shall utterly contemn their puny efforts; shall beat down their pride, assuage their malice, and confound their devices.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
He that sitteth, as the Judge upon his tribunal, and as the King of the whole world upon his royal throne; who, without stirring from his place, can with one look or word destroy all his enemies.
In the heavens: this is opposed to their being and reigning upon earth, Psa 2:2, and is mentioned here, as it is in other places of Scripture, as an evidence both of Gods clear and certain knowledge of all things that are done below, as is noted, Psa 11:4, and of his sovereign and irresistible power, as is hence gathered, Psa 115:3. See the preface to the Lords prayer.
Shall laugh, i.e. shall both despise and deride them, and all their crafty devices, which he shall manifest to the world to be ridiculous and contemptible follies. Compare 2Ki 19:21; Psa 37:13.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
4. By a figure whose boldness isonly allowable to an inspired writer, God’s conduct and language inview of this opposition are now related.
He that sitteth in theheavensenthroned in quiet dignities (compare Psa 29:10;Isa 40:22).
shall laughin supremecontempt; their vain rage excites His derision. He is still theLord, literally, “Sovereign,” though they rebel.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh,…. At the rage and tumult of the Heathen; at the vain imaginations of the people; at the opposition of the kings of the earth; at the mad counsel of the rulers, against him and his Messiah; and at their proposal to one another to throw off the yoke and government of them both. This is a periphrasis of God, “who dwells in the heavens”, and sits there enthroned; though he is not included and comprehended in them, but is everywhere; and his being there is mentioned in opposition to the kings of the earth, and the people in it; and to show the vast distance there is between them, and how they are as nothing to him, Isa 40:1 Job 4:18; and how vain and fruitless their attempts must be against him and his Messiah: and his sitting there still and quiet, serene and undisturbed, is opposed to the running to and fro, and the tumultuous and riotous assembling of the Heathen. Laughing is ascribed unto him, according to the language of men, as the Jewish writers speak d, by an anthropopathy; in the same sense as he is said to repent and grieve, Ge 6:6; and expresses his security from all their attempts, Job 5:22; and the contempt he has them in, and the certain punishment of them, and the aggravation of it; who will not only then laugh at them himself, but expose them to the laughter and scorn of others, Pr 1:26;
the Lord shall have them in derision; which is a repetition of the same thing in other words; and is made partly to show the certainty of their disappointment and ruin, and partly to explain who is meant by him that sits in the heavens. The Targum calls him, “the Word of the Lord”; and Alshech interprets it of the Shechinah.
d Kimchi, Aben Ezra, & R. Sol. Ben Melech in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Above the scene of this wild tumult of battle and imperious arrogance the psalmist in this six line strophe beholds Jahve, and in spirit hears His voice of thunder against the rebels. In contrast to earthly rulers and events Jahve is called : He is enthroned above them in unapproachable majesty and ever-abiding glory; He is called as He who controls whatever takes place below with absolute power according to the plan His wisdom has devised, which brooks no hindrance in execution. The futt. describe not what He will do, but what He does continually (cf. Isa 18:4.). also belongs, according to Psa 59:9; Psa 37:13, to ( which is more usual in the post-pentateuchal language = ). He laughs at the defiant ones, for between them and Him there is an infinite distance; He derides them by allowing the boundless stupidity of the infinitely little one to come to a climax and then He thrusts him down to the earth undeceived. This climax, the extreme limit of the divine forbearance, is determined by the , as in Deu 29:19, cf. Psa 14:5; 36:13, which is a “then” referring to the future and pointing towards the crisis which then supervenes. Then He begins at once to utter the actual language of His wrath to his foes and confounds them in the heat of His anger, disconcerts them utterly, both outwardly and in spirit. , Arab. bhl , cogn. , means originally to let loose, let go, then in Hebrew sometimes, externally, to overthrow, sometimes, of the mind, to confound and disconcert.
Psa 2:5-6 Psa 2:5 is like a peal of thunder (cf. Isa 10:33); , Psa 2:5, like the lightning’s destructive flash. And as the first strophe closed with the words of the rebels, so this second closes with Jahve’s own words. With begins an adverbial clause like Gen 15:2; Gen 18:13; Psa 50:17. The suppressed principal clause (cf. Isa 3:14; Ew. 341, c) is easily supplied: ye are revolting, whilst notwithstanding I…. With He opposes His irresistible will to their vain undertaking. It has been shown by Bttcher, that we must not translate “I have anointed” (Targ., Symm.). , Arab. nsk , certainly means to pour out, but not to pour upon, and the meaning of pouring wide and firm (of casting metal, libation, anointing) then, as in , , goes over into the meaning of setting firmly in any place ( fundere into fundare , constituere , as lxx, Syr., Jer., and Luther translate), so that consequently the word for prince cannot be compared with , but with .
(Note: Even the Jalkut on the Psalms, 620, wavers in the explanation of between I have anointed him, (after Dan 10:3), (I have cast him (after Exo 32:4 and freq.), and I have made him great (after Mic 5:4). Aquila, by rendering it (from = ), adds a fourth possible rendering. A fifth is to purify, consecrate (Hitz.), which does not exist, for the Arabic nasaka obtains this meaning from the primary signification of cleansing by flooding with water (e.g., washing away the briny elements of a field). Also in Pro 8:23 means I am cast = placed.)
The Targum rightly inserts ( et praefeci eum ) after ( unxi ), for the place of the anointing is not . History makes no mention of a king of Israel being anointed on Zion. Zion is mentioned as the royal seat of the Anointed One; there he is installed, that He may reign there, and rule from thence, Psa 110:2. It is the hill of the city of David (2Sa 5:7, 2Sa 5:9; 1Ki 8:1) including Moriah, that is intended. That hill of holiness, i.e., holy hill, which is the resting-place of the divine presence and therefore excels all the heights of the earth, is assigned to Him as the seat of His throne.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
After David has told us of the tumult and commotions, the counsels and pride, the preparation and resources the strength and efforts of his enemies, in opposition to all these he places the power of God alone, which he concludes would be brought to bear against them, from their attempting to frustrate his decree. And, as a little before, by terming them kings of the earth, he expressed their feeble and perishable condition; so now, by the lofty title of He that dwelleth in heaven, he extols the power of God, as if he had said, that power remains intact and unimpaired, whatever men may attempt against it. Let them exalt themselves as they may, they shall never be able to reach to heaven; yea, while they think to confound heaven and earth together, they resemble so many grasshoppers, and the Lord, meanwhile, undisturbed beholds from on high their infatuated evolutions. And David ascribes laughter to God on two accounts; first, to teach us that he does not stand in need of great armies to repress the rebellion of wicked men, as if this were an arduous and difficult matter, but, on the contrary, could do this as often as he pleases with the most perfect ease. In the second place, he would have us to understand that when God permits the reign of his Son to be troubled, he does not cease from interfering because he is employed elsewhere, or unable to afford assistance, or because he is neglectful of the honor of his Son; but he purposely delays the inflictions of his wrath to the proper time, namely, until he has exposed their infatuated rage to general derision. Let us, therefore, assure ourselves that if God does not immediately stretch forth his hand against the ungodly, it is now his time of laughter; and although, in the meantime, we ought to weep, yet let us assuage the bitterness of our grief, yea, and wipe away our tears, with this reflection, that God does not connive at the wickedness of his enemies, as if from indolence or feebleness, but because for the time he would confront their insolence with quiet contempt. By the adverb then, he points to the fit time for exercising judgment, as if he had said, after the Lord shall have for a time apparently taken no notice of the malpractices of those who oppose the rule of his Son, he will suddenly change his course, and show that he retards nothing with greater abhorrence than such presumption.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(4) He that sitteth.Here the psalm, with a sublimity truly Hebrew, turns from the wild confusion on earth to the spectacle of God looking down with mingled scorn and wrath on the fruitless attempts of the heathen against His chosen people.
Laugh.We speak of the irony of events ; the Hebrew ascribes irony to God, who controls events.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
4. Laugh derision A bold anthropomorphism, here signifying not only exultation, but the infinite ease with which God shall render abortive all their plans, which in Psa 2:1 are called “vain,” nothing. See Psa 37:13; Psa 52:6
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
God Will Laugh At Man’s Folly.
Psa 2:4-6
‘He who sits in the heavens will laugh,
The Lord will have them in derision,
Then will he speak to them in his wrath,
And vex them in his sore displeasure (‘fiery wrath’).
“Yet have I set my king,
Upon my holy hill of Zion”.’
The picture of derision is not to be taken literally. It is men who deride their enemies, not God. The point is that YHWH is being depicted as the great Overlord, who is not afraid of His enemies and can afford to laugh at their feeble attempts to overthrow Him. He does not draw back before their vehemence against Him. Rather He can, as it were, laugh because of the futility of what they are doing, and carry out His purposes without any hindrance from man. None can prevent His will.
‘‘He who sits in the heavens.’ He is enthroned in majesty (Psa 123:1), aware of, and controlling, all that goes on on earth (Psa 11:4; Psa 103:19; Psa 113:4-6; Rev 5:13; Rev 6:16). And He can only laugh at their folly (Psa 37:13; Psa 59:8; Pro 1:26). They are as nothing before Him (Isa 40:17).
David was confident that YHWH was on his side. In the face of this how foolish were those who took up arms against him, only to meet defeat. And later how foolish were those who took up arms against God’s greater Anointed One. For what they did was also folly and could only in the end result in their defeat and ruin. And it is just as foolish today.
‘Then will He speak to them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.’ God is angry at those who rebel against His anointed. It was so and it is so today. And when YHWH speaks, powerful results follow (Isa 55:11). YHWH spoke to the enemies of David by the size of his victories and the punishment that followed. But He spoke to those who attacked His Son in an even severer way by destroying Jerusalem and the Temple and by scattering them throughout the world (Luk 21:24), and by many other means. Empires tottered and fell. And there will be greater judgment yet to come for all who reject Him still. God is still angry at those who reject Jesus, His Anointed.
“Yet have I set my king, upon my holy hill of Zion” These were the triumphant words of YHWH as He spoke in response to the words of His enemies in Psa 2:3. He acknowledged David as His anointed, and declared that he was YHWH’s king, YHWH’s earthly representative, established on YHWH’s holy hill. Thus they should submit to him. And when the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant of YHWH were established on Mount Zion in Jerusalem, making it ‘His holy hill’, David was king there on his throne. And he could boast in the certainty of his success, because YHWH, the Creator, the God of all the earth, had set him there.
‘Zion’ was the name appertaining to the original mountain on which Jerusalem was built (2Sa 5:7), and, as a result of the introduction of the Tabernacle, it was brought into the orbit of Israel’s religion as a holy place.
This was not David’s coronation psalm. While it had in mind that he was the anointed of YHWH and adopted by Him as His son, it probably followed the vision presented by Nathan (2 Samuel 7) while looking back to his coronation. The more he thought on what God had said through Nathan the more he exulted. And when he heard of plots among his subjects this was the result.
But the greater Anointed One would also be established as king on Mount Zion, when He rode triumphantly up the holy hill of Zion, as prophesied by the prophets (Zec 9:9; compare Mic 5:5), overturned the tables of the money changers, drove the cattle out of the Temple and commanded the removal of the birds, claiming the Temple for His Father (see Mar 11:1-11; Mar 11:15-17 and parallels). Then when after His resurrection God tore the veil of the temple from end to end and the earth shook (Mat 27:51), it was God declaring that He had set His King on the holy hill of Zion, the heavenly Zion (see 1Pe 2:6; Rev 14:1) and that the way into His presence was open through Him (Heb 10:19-20) . And today His Anointed One is seated in the heavenly Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb 12:22; Heb 12:24; Gal 4:26), and from there He exercises His kingship (Heb 1:3; Luk 22:69) and calls all to come under the Kingly Rule of God. But still men reject His call.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
God Will Laugh At Man’s Folly And Exalt His Anointed.
‘He who sits in the heavens will laugh,
The Lord will have them in derision,
Then will he speak to them in his wrath,
And vex them in his sore displeasure (‘fiery wrath’).
“Yet have I set my king,
Upon my holy hill of Zion”.’
But God will laugh at the folly of man in thinking that they can dismiss Him. For in spite of their opposition as so vividly described above He will yet set His King upon His holy hill of Zion. It is true that when the King presented Himself in Mar 11:1-18 and parallels, He was rejected by all but a few, and once they had crucified Him they thought that they were rid of Him, but it was He Who had the last laugh, for He rose again from the dead, was enthroned and acclaimed in Heaven (e.g. Act 2:36; Act 7:56; Eph 1:19-21; Revelation 5), and came down at Pentecost in wind and fire in order to establish His claim to Kingly Rule (Act 2:1-3; compare Mat 28:18-20), the Holy Spirit bearing Him witness (Act 2:4). On that very holy hill of Zion that God had promised His Kingly Rule was manifested. The Kingly Rule of God had come with power (Mar 9:1).
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Psa 2:4. He that sitteth, &c. Or, He that dwelleth. This is spoken of God, (after the manner of men,) to denote his utter contempt of the opposition of his enemies; the perfect ease with which he was able to disappoint all their measures, and crush them for their impiety and folly; together with his absolute security that his counsels should stand, and his measures be finally accomplished; as men laugh at, and hold in utter contempt, those whose malice and power they know to be utterly vain and impotent. The introducing God as thus laughing at and deriding his enemies, is in the true spirit of poetry, and with the utmost propriety and dignity. The whole description is grand: Jehovah is he who is seated in the heavens, far beyond the effects of their rage and malice: from thence he sees their secret counsels, confederate armies, and united obstinate endeavours to oppose what he had solemnly decreed.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
What is here said of the sovereignty of Jehovah, of sitting in the heavens, of speaking in his wrath, of laughing, and the like, is intended to convey, by expressions of this nature, is best adapted to our comprehension, how impossible it is for the wicked opposers of God’s holy will, either to escape his knowledge, to counteract his designs, or to avert his judgments. Sweet consideration to the humble believer, both to support him under his fears, as if he was overlooked and forgotten, when the enemy seems to triumph; and to give him the firmest confidence, that as Jesus knows all his path, so he beholds all his conflicts with the enemies of his salvation, and will assuredly in his own time, which is always the best time, deliver him out of all his troubles.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Psa 2:4 He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision.
Ver. 4. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh at them ] Videt, ridet. He seeth and smileth, he looketh and laugheth, at these giants. He sitteth in heaven, far above their reach; neither doth he much trouble himself about the matter. No more should we; but trust in him, and know that there is a council in heaven that will dash the mould of all contrary counsels upon earth; as the stone cut out of the mountain did the four great monarchies, Dan 2:34 . See an instance hereof in latter times. Luther, that heroic reformer, was excommunicated by the pope, proscribed by the emperor, hated and cursed all Christendom over almost, yet he prospered, and the work of Christ went on in his hands. And when the Elector of Saxony, his only patron, was much afraid what would become of him, and of the business of religion, Luther out of his Patmos (as he called it), where he lay hid, writeth him a rousing letter, wherein is read this among many other brave passages: Sciat celsitudo tua et nihil dubitet longe aliter in coelo quam Noribergae de hoc negotio conclusum est, Let your Highness rest well assured of this, that things are far otherwise carried and concluded in heaven, than they are at the Imperial Diet held at Norinberg. After this, in the year of grace 1526, there conspired against the gospel, and the professors thereof, the emperor and his prisoner in Spain, the French king, the princes also and bishops in Germany, stirred up by the pope. The French king was set at liberty, upon the condition that he join with the emperor to root out Lutheranism, that is, true religion. This was the agreement, but God broke it; for the French king was no sooner home but he made a league with the pope and the Venetians against the emperor. The pope excuseth his falling off from Caesar by a petulant and malapert epistle. Caesar, by another letter, lay open to the world the pope’s perfidy, exhorting him to peace, and concluding that they had more need to unite their forces for the extirpation of Lutheran heresy. By this means the Church had a happy halcyon, while these great ones were out, and at it.
The Lord shall have them in derision
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Psa 2:4-6
4He who sits in the heavens laughs,
The Lord scoffs at them.
5Then He will speak to them in His anger
And terrify them in His fury, saying,
6But as for Me, I have installed My King
Upon Zion, My holy mountain.
Psa 2:4-6 This describes YHWH’s thoughts and actions in response to the nations’ uproar. This is anthropomorphic language.
1. sits
2. laughs (cf. Psa 59:8; Pro 1:26)
3. scoffs
4. speaks in anger
Can fallen, corporate humanity resist YHWH’s will (i.e., Genesis 10-11)? No!
SPECIAL TOPIC: GOD DESCRIBED AS A HUMAN (anthropomorphic language)
Psa 2:4 sits in the heavens This refers to the place of God’s throne, where He reigns! For heavens see Special Topic below.
SPECIAL TOPIC: HEAVEN
SPECIAL TOPIC: THE HEAVENS AND THE THIRD HEAVEN
laughs The verb (BDB 965, KB 1315, Qal imperfect ) is a literary way of denoting YHWH’s sovereignty. THE UBS Handbook (p. 26) has an insightful comment. In Psa 1:1scoffers’ are people who make fun of God; here it is God who mocks the pagan rulers.
Lord Psa 1:4 a and 4b are parallel, so the Deity referred to is YHWH (cf. Psa 2:2 c). Here the word is not YHWH but Adon the Hebrew word for owner, husband, lord. See SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY .
Psa 2:6 YHWH, in contradistinction to the idols who cannot see, hear, or act, installed (lit. consecrated, BDB 651, KB 703, Qal perfect) His King! Israel’s King acted as YHWH’s representative.
Notice the use of the personal pronoun, Me, My (twice). YHWH is personally present and active in the world, and especially with His covenant people.
Zion, My holy mountain These both refer to Mount Moriah, the hill in Jerusalem on which the temple was built. Originally Zion referred to the hill on which the Jebusite fortress was built (i.e., Jerusalem encompassed seven hills). David conquered it and built his palace on this hill. Later it came to be a way to designate the entire city of Jerusalem.
SPECIAL TOPIC: MORIAH, SALEM, JEBUS, JERUSALEM, ZION
Fuente: You Can Understand the Bible: Study Guide Commentary Series by Bob Utley
laugh. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia. App-6.
The LORD*. Primitive text was Jehovah. Altered by the Sopherim to Adonai. See App-32.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Psalm 2:4-5
Psa 2:4-5
“He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh:
The Lord will have them in derision.
Then will he speak unto them in his wrath,
And vex them in his sore displeasure.”
The alternate reading for “vex” in our version is “trouble.” Has this come to pass? Indeed it has! In my lifetime, a mighty nation, the Union of Socialist Soviet Republics, the U.S.S.R., in effect declared war upon God and his Anointed; but God has indeed spoken unto that nation in His wrath!
E.M. Zerr:
Psa 2:4. Laugh and derision are practically the same in meaning. The thought is that God will look upon his enemies with contempt. He will regard their attempts at overthrowing his counsel as of too little consequence to deserve serious attention.
Psa 2:5. God will look with contempt upon the doings of his enemies, yet that will not end the matter. They will be made to feel the sting of his wrath finally.
Fuente: Old and New Testaments Restoration Commentary
He that: Psa 11:4, Psa 68:33, Psa 115:3, Isa 40:22, Isa 57:15, Isa 66:1
shall laugh: Psa 37:13, Psa 53:5, Psa 59:8, 2Ki 19:21, Pro 1:26
Reciprocal: Gen 11:7 – confound Est 6:4 – to speak Psa 103:19 – prepared Psa 123:1 – O thou Isa 7:7 – General Jer 48:26 – and he also Mat 21:41 – He will Luk 19:15 – having Act 5:23 – The prison Rom 15:12 – and he
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Psa 2:4. He that sitteth in the heavens As the judge upon his tribunal, weighing the actions of men, and as the king of the whole earth upon his royal throne; who, without moving from his place, can with one word or look destroy all his enemies. His sitting (or dwelling, as Dr. Waterland renders , josheb, here) in the heavens is opposed to their being and reigning on the earth, (Psa 2:2,) and is mentioned here, as in other places of Scripture, as an evidence both of Gods clear and certain knowledge of all things that are done below, and of his sovereign and irresistible power. Shall laugh Shall despise them and all their crafty devices. This is spoken of God, says Dr. Dodd, after the manner of men, to denote his utter contempt of the opposition of his enemies; the perfect ease with which he was able to disappoint all their measures, and crush them for their impiety and folly; together with his absolute security, that his counsels should stand and his measures be finally accomplished; as men laugh at, and hold in utter contempt, those whose malice and power they know to be utterly vain and impotent. The introducing God as thus laughing at, and deriding his enemies, is in the true spirit of poetry, and with the utmost propriety and dignity. The whole description is grand: Jehovah is he who is seated in the heavens, far beyond the effects of their rage and malice: from thence he sees their secret counsels, confederate armies, and united obstinate endeavours to oppose what he had solemnly decreed.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
2. The Lord’s resolution 2:4-6
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
David envisioned God as ruler over all, sitting on His royal throne in heaven, not at all threatened or worried about the plan of the nations, but laughing at its futility. The figure of God sitting on His throne is a common personification that the psalmists used (cf. Psa 9:11; Psa 22:3; Psa 29:10; Psa 55:19; Psa 102:12; Psa 113:5; Isa 6:1; Eze 1:26; Rev 4:2; Rev 5:1). This is the only place in Scripture where the writer described God as laughing.