New Living Translation
Psalms 2:1
1Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans?
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 are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans? 2The kings of the earth prepare for battle; the rulers plot together against the Lord and against his anointed one. 3“Let us break their chains,” they cry, “and free ourselves from slavery to God.”
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 ground them as fine as dust in the wind. I swept them into the gutter like dirt.
- Psalms 46:6The nations are in chaos, and their kingdoms crumble! God’s voice thunders, and the earth melts!
- Psalms 83:4“Come,” they say, “let us wipe out Israel as a nation. We will destroy the very memory of its existence.”
- Isaiah 8:9“Huddle together, you nations, and be terrified. Listen, all you distant lands. Prepare for battle, but you will be crushed! Yes, prepare for battle, but you will be crushed!
- Luke 18:32He will be handed over to the Romans, and he will be mocked, treated shamefully, and spit upon.
- Acts 4:25you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, ‘Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans?
- Luke 22:1The Festival of Unleavened Bread, which is also called Passover, was approaching.
- Acts 16:22A mob quickly formed against Paul and Silas, and the city officials ordered them stripped and beaten with wooden rods.
- Acts 17:5But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd.
- Acts 19:28At this their anger boiled, and they began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”
- Matthew 21:38“But when the tenant farmers saw his son coming, they said to one another, ‘Here comes the heir to this estate. Come on, let’s kill him and get the estate for ourselves!’
- John 11:49Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about!
- Acts 5:33When they heard this, the high council was furious and decided to kill them.
- Revelation 17:14Together they will go to war against the Lamb, but the Lamb will defeat them because he is Lord of all lords and King of all kings. And his called and chosen and faithful ones will be with him.”
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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