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Psalm 2:11-12 |
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| 11. "Serve
the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are they that put their trust in him." |
Non-Messianic Jewish Biblical position as written by Thames Goldman: |
Psalm 2:11-12. This passage is cited often by Christians seeking to prove the Trinity. In the King James Bible, it reads, "Serve the L-rd with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." The Christian will contend that the instruction to kiss the Son and the blessing on all who put their trust in him must mean that God has a Son Who is equal with Him in divinity. The problem is that the verse is mistranslated. The word rendered "the Son" is "bar". In Hebrew, the word means "pure" and is correctly translated in Psalm 24 ("clean hands and a pure heart"). The Hebrew word for "son" is "ben". Confusion results from the fact that the word does mean "son" in Aramaic; but there is no Aramaic in any of the Psalms. In fact, verse 2:7, just a few verses before this passage, reads, "I will declare the decree: the L-rd hath said unto me, Thou art my Son [beni]; this day have I begotten thee", proving that the word "ben" was known and used by the composer of Psalm 2. Verses 11 and 12 should read, "Serve the L-rd with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Desire what is pure, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." This rendering makes it clear that the pronouns in verse 12 all refer to the L-rd, with no hint of a Trinity. A further point bears mentioning regarding verse 7. It is quoted in the New Testament in Hebrews 1:1-5, which reads, "G-d, who in sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. 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?" There is something wrong with the author's citation of Psalm 2:7 here, and most Christians read this passage of Hebrews without even seeing it. The problem is that, even if modern Christianity is right about the Trinity, the Father should not be saying to Jesus, "This day have I begotten thee", because Jesus is supposed to have been eternally begotten of the Father. Nor can it be held that Psalm 2:7 is speaking about the birth of Jesus, as even the King James confirms that the verse is in the past tense ("the L-rd hath said unto me, Thou art my son etc."). And what of the end of the passage I just quoted, which reads, "And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son"? This quote is from 2 Samuel 7:12-15, where Nathan the prophet quotes G-d telling King David, "And when thy days be fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, which shall proceed out of thy bowels, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build an house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. I will be his father, and he shall be my son. If he commit iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men, and with the stripes of the children of men; but my mercy shall not depart away from him, as I took it from Saul, whom I put away before thee." This cannot possibly refer to Jesus. Why would G-d worry about Jesus committing iniquity? Why would Jesus need mercy, that G-d should have to promise David that His mercy would never depart from Jesus? Rather, the passage must refer to David's son Solomon. Indeed, Solomon himself thus interpreted the passage, telling King Hiram of Tyre, "And, behold, I purpose to build an house unto the name of the L-rd my G-d, as the L-rd spake unto David my father, saying, Thy son, whom I will set upon thy throne in thy room, he shall build an house unto my name." Yet the author of Hebrews insists that the passage from 2 Samuel somehow refers to Jesus. Nor can it be held that the prophecy has two fulfillments, because nothing in the context of 2 Samuel 7 even hints of a second fulfillment. (And even if there were a second fulfillment, the aforementioned problems with referring the passage to Jesus would still remain.) |
Messianic Biblical position as written by Shalach Ministries: |
Psalm 2:11-12. There should be no confusion as to the understanding of these passages. Let the Scriptural text speak for itself from Hebrew word meanings. As you have written, "Serve the L-rd with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Desire what is pure, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him." It should be noted that the Hebrew word for "kiss" is nashaq {naw-shak'}which means "to put together, kiss", while the word "bar" means "pure". Therefore, when the LORD instructed mankind to serve Him with fear and rejoice with trembling, He also said to submit to He of pureness lest He be angry. Jesus was well noted for His pureness in all things. What must not be overlooked in this Psalm is verse 2:7. "I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son [beni]; this day have I begotten thee." "This Day" depicts the day of appointed time in which Yeshua would take upon Himself the form of human flesh. Yeshua was not known in past eternity as the "Only Begotten Son". He was known as the "Word of God". "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the father,) full of grace as of truth" (St. John 1:1,14). With regard to Exodus 4:22-23, "And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: And I say unto thee, Let my son go, that he may serve me: and if thou refuse to let him go, behold, I will slay thy son, even thy firstborn." Here the LORD declared to Pharaoh that Israel was His "firstborn" which in Hebrew is "b@kowr" {bek-ore'} and means (firstborn, firstling). Thus, God used national Israel as His metaphoric firstborn son in relation to Pharaoh and his firstborn son. Pharaoh would understand such an analogy because he was called the son of Ra, or beloved of his god. However, Psalm 2:7, "... this day have I begotten thee" denotes actual parenthood. The Hebrew word for "begotten" is yalad {yaw-lad'} and means (to bear, bring forth, beget, gender, travail). In this sense the word is used as bringing forth biological and genetic seed or offspring of one's self. Hence, the Messiah. While it is clearly recognized that Israel is considered God's firstborn son, they are in no way denoted as His "Only Begotten Son". It is also accepted that Hosea 11:1, "When Israel was a child, then I loved him and called my son out of Egypt," does refer to God leading Israel out of Egypt through Moses, but also refers to Matthew 2:15, "And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying , Out of Egypt have I called my son." Thus, it becomes clear that the Word of God made flesh is God, and the Father of the only begotten is God also. Thus, they are two distinct entities, each of which has His own characteristics and personality, but yet one in unity and purpose. We must remember that God's plan for man was predestined before the foundation of the world. Jesus came to earth in the likeness of man and emptied Himself of His former deity and was tempted of Satan just as all mankind is tempted (not as a God but as a man). Apostle Paul stated, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities: but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). While in His earthly body Jesus received power to perform His Father's will and overcome sin from the Holy Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit is the third member of the Trinity. You may ask what Biblical evidence is there for a Triune Godhead? In its simplest form the "Trinity" means, "For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one" (I John 5:7). Also see the commentary on The Trinity. If Yeshua as a human being was not capable of
expressing His own free-will, then Satan would not have tried to tempt
Him on three different occasions (St. Matthew 4:1-11). Make no
mistake, the only sin that Jesus ever knew was when He was dying on the
cross for the sins of the world. Yet, He remained perfect
(St. Matthew 27:46). Yeshua had to tested as a man in order to
redeem all mankind. "For even hereunto were ye called:
because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye
should follow his steps: Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his
mouth: Who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he
threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously:
Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we,
being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye
were healed" (I Peter 2:21-24). |
The Bible teaches that there is a Divine Godhead (Trinity) and it
is
