New English Translation
Psalms 2:1
1Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail?
Psalms 2:1 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
- New International Version (NIV)Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain?
- English Standard Version (ESV)Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- New King James Version (NKJV)Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?
Context of Psalms 2:1
Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail? 2The kings of the earth form a united front; the rulers collaborate against the Lord and his anointed king. 3They say, “Let’s tear off the shackles they’ve put on us! Let’s free ourselves from their ropes!”
Read all of Psalms 2Psalms 2:1 word by word
לָ֭מָּה רָגְשׁ֣וּ גוֹיִ֑ם וּ֝לְאֻמִּ֗ים יֶהְגּוּ־רִֽיק׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Psalms 2:1
- Psalms 18:42I grind them as fine windblown dust; I beat them underfoot like clay in the streets.
- Psalms 46:6Nations are in uproar, kingdoms are overthrown. God gives a shout, the earth dissolves.
- Psalms 83:4They say, “Come on, let’s annihilate them so they are no longer a nation! Then the name of Israel will be remembered no more.”
- Isaiah 8:9You will be broken, O nations; you will be shattered! Pay attention, all you distant lands of the earth! Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered! Get ready for battle, and you will be shattered!
- Luke 18:32For he will be handed over to the Gentiles; he will be mocked, mistreated, and spat on.
- Acts 4:25who said by the Holy Spirit through your servant David our forefather, ‘Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot foolish things?
- Luke 22:1Now the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which is called the Passover, was approaching.
- Acts 16:22The crowd joined the attack against them, and the magistrates tore the clothes off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be beaten with rods.
- Acts 17:5But the Jews became jealous, and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace, they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. They attacked Jason’s house, trying to find Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly.
- Acts 19:28When they heard this they became enraged and began to shout, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
- Matthew 21:38But when the tenants saw the son, they said to themselves, ‘This is the heir. Come, let’s kill him and get his inheritance!’
- John 11:49Then one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said, “You know nothing at all!
- Acts 5:33Now when they heard this, they became furious and wanted to execute them.
- Revelation 17:14They will make war with the Lamb, but the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those accompanying the Lamb are the called, chosen, and faithful.”
Commentaries on Psalms 2:1
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 1Why do the heathen rage - It has been supposed that David composed this Psalm after he had taken Jerusalem from the Jebusites, and made it the head of the kingdom; 2 Samuel 5:7-9. The Philistines, hearing this, encamped in the valley of Rephaim, nigh to Jerusalem, and Josephus, Antiq. lib. 7: c. 4, says that all Syria, Phoenicia, and the other circumjacent warlike people, united their armies to those of the Philistines, in order to destroy David before he…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 1Why do the heathen rage - “Why do nations make a noise?” Prof. Alexander. The word “heathen” here - גוים gôyim - means properly “nations,” with out respect, so far as the word is concerned, to the character of the nations. It was applied by the Hebrews to the surrounding nations, or to all other people than their own; and as those nations were in fact pagans, or idolators, the word came to have this signification. Nehemiah 5:8; Jeremiah 31:10; Ezekiel…Read the comment
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 1Threatenings against the enemies of Christ's kingdom. (1-6) Promise to Christ as the Head of this kingdom. (7-9) Counsel to all, to espouse its interests. (10-12) Verses 1-6 We are here told who would appear as adversaries to Christ. As this world is the kingdom of Satan, unconverted men, of every rank, party, and character, are stirred up by him to oppose the cause of God. But the rulers of the earth generally have been most active. The truths and…Read the comment
- Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 1plot: The Hebrew verb translated as "meditates" in Psalm 1:2 suggests opposing the Lord through speech (Isaiah 59:13) or thought (Psalm 38:12; Proverbs 24:2).Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1-121. Why do the heathen, &c.--Beholding, in prophetic vision, the peoples and nations, as if in a tumultuous assembly, raging with a fury like the raging of the sea, designing to resist God's government, the writer breaks forth into an exclamation in which are mingled surprise at their folly, and indignation at their rebellion. heathen--nations generally, not as opposed to Jews. the people--or, literally, "peoples," or races of men.Read the comment
Topics related to Psalms 2:1
In the dictionaries
Commentaries on Psalms 2
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
- Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
- Tyndale Open Study Notes
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
- Rashi on Tanakh
- Calvin’s Commentaries
- Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
- John Wesley’s Notes
- The Treasury of David
- Darby Translation Notes
- Geneva Bible Translation Notes
- Kingcomments
- Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
- Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
- Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
- Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
- Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
- EGW Writings
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