Psalm 2:1-2

New Catholic Bible

Footnotes

1. Psalm 2:1 Although the surrounding peoples are rising up, the People of God are enthroning a new king; empowered by God’s assistance, he shatters the coalition of their foes. This is the drama evoked in the present psalm, and it recurs more than once in the history of Israel. Thus, this poem found its place in a liturgy for royal consecration, for each king was a “messiah,” that is, a man anointed with the sacred unction in the name of God. But the Prophets and the New Testament enlarged these perspectives. Hence, this ancient text evokes the whole drama of the world. It proclaims the sovereignty of God in the midst of the tumult of peoples and our human rebellions.
   Behind the king of verse 6 can be glimpsed the Messiah (the Christ), a descendant of David and the Son of God, who will save his people (see Isa 9:5-6; Acts 4:25; 13:33; Heb 1:5). There is a premonition of the struggle that will take place at the end of time (see Ezek 38–39; Dan 12), a struggle already begun in the Passion of Jesus and in the persecutions of the Church (see Acts 4:25-28). But the psalm also expresses the hope of a final conversion of all the nations as they at last acknowledge the Lord (see Isa 45; Rev 19:15). God’s plan will be achieved in the glory of the Messianic Kingdom.
2. Psalm 2:2 Anointed One: in Hebrew, Mashiah (whence the word “Messiah”), which in the Greek translation is Christos; it referred originally to the Davidic King but ultimately to Jesus Christ. This phrase has given rise to two titles of Jesus: “Messiah” from the Hebrew and “Christ” from the Greek. In Israel the power of office was bestowed by anointing both on kings (see Jdg 9:8; 1 Sam 9:16; 16:12f) and on high priests (see Lev 8:12; Num 3:3).