Psalm 2:2-9

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:2

Against his anointed - משיחיה על al Meshichiah , "Against his Messiah." - Chaldee. But as this signifies the anointed person, it may refer first to David, as it does secondly to Christ. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:3

Let us break their bands - These are the words of the confederate heathen powers; and here, as Bishop Horne well remarks, "we may see the ground of opposition; namely, the unwillingness of rebellious nature to submit to the obligations of Divine laws, which cross the interests, and lay a restraint on the desires of men. Corrupt affections are the most inveterate enemies of Christ, and their language is, We will not have this man to reign over us. Doctrines would be readily believed if they... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:4

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. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:5

Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath - He did so to the Jews who rejected the Gospel, and vexed and ruined them by the Roman armies; he did so with the opposing Roman emperors, destroying all the contending factions, till he brought the empire under the dominion of one, and him he converted to Christianity viz., Constantine the Great. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:6

I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion - Here the Gospel shall be first preached; here the kingdom of Christ shall be founded; and from hence shall the doctrine of the Lord go out into all the earth. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:7

I will declare the decree - These words are supposed to have been spoken by the Messiah. I will declare to the world the decree, the purpose of God to redeem them by my blood, and to sanctify them by my Spirit. My death shall prove that the required atonement has been made; my resurrection shall prove that this atonement has been accepted. Thou art my Son - Made man, born of a woman by the creative energy of the Holy Ghost, that thou mightest feel and suffer for man, and be the... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:8

Ask of me, and I shall give thee - Here a second branch of Christ's office as Savior of the world is referred to; viz., his mediatorial office. Having died as an atoning sacrifice, and risen again from the dead, he was now to make intercession for mankind; and in virtue and on account of what he had done and suffered, he was, at his request, to have the nations for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession. He was to become supreme Lord in the mediatorial... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:9

Thou shalt break them with a rod of iron - This may refer to the Jewish nation, whose final rejection of the Gospel was foreseen, and in whose place the Gentiles or heathen were brought into the Church of Christ. They were dispossessed of their land, their city was razed to its foundations, their temple was burnt with fire, and upwards of a million of themselves were slaughtered by the Romans! So heavily did the iron rod of God's judgments fall upon them for their obstinate unbelief. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:3

Verse 3 3.Let us break, etc. This is a prosopopoeia, (25) in which the prophet introduces his-enemies as speaking; and he employs this figure the better to express their ungodly and traitorous design. Not that they openly avowed themselves rebels against God, (for they rather covered their rebellion under every possible pretext, and presumptuously boasted of having God on their side;) but since they were fully determined, by all means, fair or foul, to drive David from the throne, whatever they... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:4

Verse 4 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... read more

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:2

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:3

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:4

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:5

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:6

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:7

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:8

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:9

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:3

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Psalms 2:4

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