Jesus as the Psalm 2 Royal Son of God

Psalms 1 & 2 BibleProject Translation

View our full translation of Psalms 1 & 2.

Reflection Questions

• What is significant about the Father reminding Jesus that he is the beloved Son at pivotal moments like his baptism, the Mount of Transfiguration, and the resurrection?

• What does the inclusion of Psalm 2 in the believers’ prayer in Acts 4:23-31 tell us about how they viewed Jesus and their own identity as his followers?

• In the original Greek, Revelation 2:26-28 uses the phrase “shepherd them with a rod of iron,” instead of “break them with a rod of iron,” which we find in Psalm 2:9. What does this difference communicate about how Jesus rules uniquely as King?

Chapter 1: Recap and Setup for the New Testament

Every Scripture passage is like a single mosaic tile or puzzle piece that can be admired on its own, but upon seeing the whole mosaic or finished puzzle, we grasp a deeper level of meaning. We’ve demonstrated this by looking at Psalms 1 and 2 together and also seeing how they hyperlink to other key places in the Hebrew Bible. In this episode, we'll zoom out even further to see how the New Testament interacts with Psalm 2. Jesus and the apostles seldom quote from just one passage from the Hebrew Bible, instead combining multiple passages to make a point. So this is how we can expect them to pull from Psalm 2.

Chapter 2: Psalm 2 in Jesus’ Baptism

In the three synoptic Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we see the same basic scene play out during Jesus' baptism. After Jesus comes up from the water, the heavens open, the Holy Spirit descends in a dove-like form, and then a voice from heaven declares three things: “You are my son,” “the beloved one,” “with you I am well pleased” (Matt. 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22). “You are my son” comes from the anointed king’s speech in Psalm 2:7, “ You are my son today. I have birthed you.”

The divine birthing of a royal son in the ancient Near East simply refers to a king’s appointment. So Psalm 2 at least refers to a king of Israel recalling the day Yahweh appointed him. But given the larger context of the Hebrew Bible, and that no king from David ever lived up to the standards of the David messianic king, we’re left wondering if this Psalm 2 king is someone greater. And that expectation of Psalm 2 is built into the Gospels, which as a whole depict Jesus as the divine Son and Yahweh coming into the world as a person. So as we read this announcement over Jesus in the Gospels, we may wonder what it means for Jesus, the divine Son, to hear these words from Psalm 2 spoken over him. Is the Father appointing Jesus as his Son at this moment? Or is it something that was always true? We have to keep reading to understand.

Chapter 3: Psalm 2 in Jesus’ Transfiguration

In Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we read another story where a voice speaks from heaven with Psalm 2:7 language (Mark 9:2-8; Matt. 17:1-8; Luke 9:28-36). When Jesus and three of his disciples ascend a mountain, Jesus suddenly begins shining like the sun (often called the Transfiguration), and Mark records a voice booming from the sky, “This is my beloved Son; listen to him!” Matthew adds “with whom I am well pleased” in order to link this experience to Jesus' baptism and Isaiah 42. And Luke adds “my chosen one” to hyperlink to the titles for God’s servant in Isaiah 40-55. The diversity of speech illustrates how the Gospel authors are often more interested in the theological meaning of events than the exact details. It also shows how they always reference more than one Hebrew Bible passage at any given time.

The Transfiguration story answers the question we pondered after Jesus' baptism. In the baptism scene, “You are my beloved Son” sounds more like an appointment in the present moment. But here, at his Transfiguration, the Father says, “This is my beloved Son” as a preexistent fact. When combining this language with the image of Jesus shining before Moses and Elijah, we grasp the Gospel authors’ unmistakable claim: Jesus is the presence of Yahweh whom these prophets saw on Mount Sinai.

Both Jesus’ baptism and the Mount of Transfiguration are important commissioning moments in Jesus’ life. The first is just prior to his testing in the wilderness and the start of his ministry, and the second just before he sets his face toward Jerusalem. At both of these commissioning moments, the Father speaks Psalm 2’s words of Sonship over Jesus.

Chapter 4: Psalm 2 in Acts and Romans

In Acts 13:13-41, Paul addresses a crowd in a synagogue, telling Israel’s story and concluding with Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. When he gets to the part about the resurrection, he invokes Yahweh’s words to the anointed king in Psalm 2:7, “You are my son; today I’ve begotten you.” So Jesus’ resurrection is cited as yet another pivotal moment when the Father speaks these commissioning words over Jesus the Son. Both Paul’s speech and Psalm 2 also link to Yahweh’s words to David about a future king from his line (2 Samuel 7:12-17). God will “raise up” David’s descendant and establish his kingdom forever, and Paul links this “raise up” language to Jesus’ resurrection and enthronement as King.

In Romans 1:1-4, Paul further condenses this thinking to say that Jesus is a human, royal seed of David, but he is also the divine Son of God. This reality is made public when God raises him from the dead. Jesus’ early followers believe they share in Jesus’ Psalm 2, royal-son status. And in Acts 4:23-31, when faced with persecution, Peter, John, and others quote Psalm 2 in a prayer, identifying the raging nations with the Jewish and Roman authorities and Jesus and themselves with the anointed Son.

Chapter 5: Psalm 2 in Revelation

Revelation 2:25-29 promises that faithful believers in the church of Thyatira will inherit Jesus’ royal, Psalm 2 identity and will “shepherd” the nations “with a rod of iron.” In Psalm 2:9, the Hebrew word for “break” (as in, “break them with a rod of iron”) is tero‘em, which is from the root ra‘a‘, but can also represent the Hebrew root for “shepherd,” ra‘ah. Interestingly, that word shepherd appears in Revelation 2:27, because that is how Jesus and his followers will uniquely rule the nations.