the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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King James Version
Psalms 2:1
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Why do the nations rageAnd the peoples meditate on a vain thing?
Why are the nations in an uproar And the peoples devising a vain thing?
Why do the Heathen so furiously rage together? and why do the people imagine a vayne thing?
Why are the nations in tumultuous agitation, and [why] do the peoples meditate a vain thing?
Acts 4:23-31">[xr] Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?
Why have the nations raged and the peoples are meditating on vanity?
Why are the nations so angry? Why are the people making such foolish plans?
Why do the nations rage, And the peoples plot a vain thing?
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vaine thing?
Why do the Heithe grudge? why do the people ymagyn vayne thinges?
Why the big noise, nations? Why the mean plots, peoples? Earth-leaders push for position, Demagogues and delegates meet for summit talks, The God-deniers, the Messiah-defiers: "Let's get free of God! Cast loose from Messiah!" Heaven-throned God breaks out laughing. At first he's amused at their presumption; Then he gets good and angry. Furiously, he shuts them up: "Don't you know there's a King in Zion? A coronation banquet Is spread for him on the holy summit."
Why do the nations rage, And the peoples meditate a vain thing?
Why are the nations so violently moved, and why are the thoughts of the people so foolish?
Why do the nations rage, And the peoples meditate a vain thing?
Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing?
Why do the nations rebel? Why are the countries devising plots that will fail?
Why do the nations plot, and why do their people make useless plans?
Why are the nations in an uproar, the peoples grumbling in vain?
Why doe the heathen rage, & the people murmure in vaine?
WHY do the Gentiles rage and the peoples imagine vain things?
Why are the nations in an uproar [in turmoil against God], And why do the people devise a vain and hopeless plot?
Why do the nations rage, And the peoples plot a vain thing?
Why are the nations in an uproar? And why do the peoples mutter in vain?
Why are the nations so angry? Why do they waste their time with futile plans?
Why are the nations so shaken up and the people planning foolish things?
Wherefore did the heathen rage, and the nations imagine vain things?
Why do the nations rage, and the peoples imagine a vain thing?
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?
Wherefore have nations assembled in tumult? Or should, peoples, mutter an empty thing?
Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things?
Why are nations in tumult, and countries plotting in vain?
Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
Why are the nations restless And the peoples plotting in vain?
Why are the nations so angry? Why are the people making useless plans?
Why do the nations plan rebellion? Why do people make their useless plots?
Why do the nations rebel and the peoples plot in vain?
Whi gnastiden with teeth hethene men; and puplis thouyten veyn thingis?
Why have nations tumultuously assembled? And do peoples meditate vanity?
Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain?
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
am 2963, bc 1042
Why: Psalms 18:42, Psalms 46:6, Psalms 83:4-8, Isaiah 8:9, Luke 18:32, Acts 4:25
rage: or, tumultuously assemble, Luke 22:1, Luke 22:2, Luke 22:5, Luke 22:22, Luke 22:23, Acts 16:22, Acts 17:5, Acts 17:6, Acts 19:28-32
people: Matthew 21:38, John 11:49, John 11:50, Acts 5:33, Revelation 17:14
imagine: Heb. meditate
Reciprocal: Genesis 11:6 - imagined Numbers 23:25 - General Numbers 24:19 - Of Jacob Joshua 1:18 - that doth rebel Joshua 9:2 - gathered Joshua 11:1 - he sent 2 Samuel 3:8 - do show 2 Samuel 5:17 - But when 2 Samuel 10:15 - gathered 2 Samuel 22:44 - delivered 1 Kings 12:16 - now see 2 Kings 19:28 - thy rage 1 Chronicles 14:8 - all the Philistines 1 Chronicles 19:16 - and drew 2 Chronicles 10:16 - David 2 Chronicles 13:8 - the kingdom Ezra 4:5 - hired Nehemiah 4:8 - all Psalms 4:2 - love Psalms 9:5 - rebuked Psalms 9:19 - let the Psalms 21:11 - imagined Psalms 28:4 - and Psalms 33:10 - The Lord Psalms 45:5 - sharp Psalms 56:6 - gather Psalms 57:9 - General Psalms 62:4 - consult Psalms 65:7 - tumult Psalms 74:23 - tumult Psalms 83:2 - lo Psalms 89:23 - plague Psalms 93:3 - the floods lift Psalms 94:21 - gather Psalms 102:8 - mad Psalms 119:23 - Princes Psalms 139:20 - thine Psalms 140:2 - imagine Isaiah 8:10 - counsel Isaiah 10:27 - because Isaiah 33:11 - conceive Isaiah 37:29 - rage Isaiah 45:24 - and all Isaiah 54:17 - weapon Jeremiah 31:22 - A woman Ezekiel 11:2 - General Ezekiel 38:7 - General Hosea 7:15 - imagine Nahum 1:9 - do Matthew 2:6 - a Governor Matthew 10:18 - be Matthew 20:18 - and the Matthew 26:3 - assembled Matthew 27:62 - the chief priests Matthew 28:12 - General Mark 11:27 - the chief Mark 14:1 - chief Mark 14:43 - and with Mark 15:31 - also Luke 1:51 - he hath scattered Luke 6:11 - they Luke 19:14 - General Luke 20:14 - the heir Luke 20:43 - General Luke 22:66 - elders Luke 24:44 - in the psalms John 7:19 - Why Acts 2:36 - that same Acts 4:17 - that it Acts 5:17 - the high Acts 14:5 - when Acts 23:12 - certain 1 Corinthians 2:6 - of the 1 Corinthians 3:20 - that 2 Peter 2:10 - despise Revelation 11:18 - the nations
Cross-References
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens,
And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.
And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.
The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold;
And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.
For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Why do the Heathen rage,.... Or "the nations"; which some understand of the Jews, who are so called, Genesis 17:5; because of their various tribes; and of their rage against the Messiah there have been many instances; as when they gnashed upon him with their teeth, and at several times took up stones to stone him, and cried out in a most furious and wrathful manner, crucify him, crucify him, Luke 4:28; though it is best to interpret it of the Gentiles, as the apostles seem to do in Acts 4:27. The Hebrew word translated "rage" is by one Jewish writer z explained by
חברו, "associate" or "meet together"; and which is often the sense of the word in the Syriac and Chaldee languages, in which it is more used; and another a says, that it is expressive of "gathering together, and of a multitude"; it intends a tumultuous gathering together, as is that of a mob, with great confusion and noise b; and so the Gentiles, the Roman soldiers, gathered together, even multitudes of them, and came out with Judas at the head of them, with swords and staves, to apprehend Christ and bring him to the chief priests and elders, Matthew 26:47; these assembled together in Pilate's hall, when Christ was condemned to be crucified, and insulted him in a most rude and shocking manner, Matthew 26:2; and many are the instances of the Gentiles rising in mobs, and appearing in riotous assemblies, making tumults and uproars against the apostles to oppose them, and the spread of the Gospel by them; to which they were sometimes instigated by the unbelieving Jews, and sometimes by their own worldly interest; see Acts 13:50, to which may be added, as instances of this tumult and rage, the violent persecutions both of the Pagan emperors and of the Papists, which last are called Gentiles as well as the other; for this respects the kingdom of Christ, or the Gospel dispensations, from the beginning to the end;
and the people imagine a vain thing? by "the people" are meant the people of Israel, who were once God's peculiar people, and who were distinguished by him with peculiar favours above all others, and in whom this prophecy has been remarkably fulfilled; they imagine it and meditated a vain thing when they thought the Messiah would be a temporal King, and set up a kingdom, on earth in great worldly splendour and glory, and rejected Jesus, the true Messiah, because he did not answer to these their carnal imaginations; they meditated a vain thing when they sought to take away the good name and reputation of Christ, by fixing opprobrious names and injurious charges upon him, for Wisdom has been justified of her children, Matthew 11:19; and so they did when they meditated his death, with those vain hopes that he should die and his name perish, and should lie down in the grave and never rise more, Psalms 41:5; for he not only rose from the dead, but his name was more famous after his death than before; they imagined a vain thing when they took so much precaution to prevent the disciples stealing his body out of the sepulchre, and giving out that he was risen from the dead, and more especially when he was risen, to hire the soldiers to tell a lie in order to stifle and discredit the report of it; they meditated vain things when they attempted to oppose the apostles, and hinder the preaching of the Gospel by them, which they often did, as the Acts of the Apostles testify; and it was after one of these attempts that the apostles, in their address to God, made use of this very passage of Scripture, Acts 4:2; and they still meditate a vain thing in that they imagine Jesus of Nazareth is not the Messiah, and that the Messiah is not yet come; and in that they are expecting and looking for him. Now the Psalmist, or the Holy Ghost by him, asks "why" all this? what should move the Gentiles and the Jews to so much rage, tumult, and opposition against an holy and innocent person, and who went about doing good as he did? what end they could have in it, or serve by it? and how they could expect to succeed? what would all their rage and not, and vain imagination, signify? it is strongly suggested hereby that it would all be in vain and to no purpose, as well as what follows.
z Aben Ezra in loc. a R. Sol. Ben Melech in Ioc. b רגשו "congregrant se turmatim", Vatablus; "eum tumultu", Munster, Tigurine version.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Why 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 23:30; Ezekiel 30:11; compare אדם 'âdâm, Jeremiah 32:20. The word Gentile among the Hebrews (Greek, ἔθνος ethnos expressed the same thing. Matthew 4:15; Matthew 6:32; Matthew 10:5, Matthew 10:18; Matthew 12:21, et soepe. The word rendered “rage” - רגשׁ râgash - means to make a noise or tumult, and would be expressive of violent commotion or agitation. It occurs in the Hebrew Scriptures only in this place, though the corresponding Chaldee word - רגשׁ regash is found in Daniel 6:6, Daniel 6:11, Daniel 6:15 - rendered in Daniel 6:6, “assembled together,” in the margin “came tumultuously,” - and in Daniel 6:11, Daniel 6:15, rendered “assembled.” The psalmist here sees the nations in violent agitation or commotion, as if under high excitement, engaged in accomplishing some purpose - rushing on to secure something, or to prevent something. The image of a mob, or of a tumultuous unregulated assemblage, would probably convey the idea of the psalmist. The word itself does not enable us to determine how extensive this agitation would be, but it is evidently implied that it would be a somewhat general movement; a movement in which more than one nation or people would participate. The matter in hand was something that affected the nations generally, and which would produce violent agitation among them.
And the people - לאמים Le'umiym. A word expressing substantially the same idea, that of people, or nations, and referring here to the same thing as the word rendered “heathen” - according to the laws of Hebrew parallelism in poetry. It is the people here that are seen in violent agitation: the conduct of the rulers, as associated with them, is referred to in the next verse.
Imagine - Our word “imagine” does not precisely express the idea here. We mean by it, “to form a notion or idea in the mind; to fancy.” Webster. The Hebrew word, הגה hâgâh, is the same which, in Psalms 1:2, is rendered “meditate.” See the notes at that verse. It means here that the mind is engaged in deliberating on it; that it plans, devises, or forms a purpose; - in other words, the persons referred to are thinking about some purpose which is here called a vain purpose; they are meditating some project which excites deep thought, but which cannot be effectual.
A vain thing - That is, which will prove to be a vain thing, or a thing which they cannot accomplish. It cannot mean that they were engaged in forming plans which they supposed would be vain - for no persons would form such plans; but that they were engaged in designs which the result would show to be unsuccessful. The reference here is to the agitation among the nations in respect to the divine purpose to set up the Messiah as king over the world, and to the opposition which this would create among the nations of the earth. See the notes at Psalms 2:2. An ample fulfillment of this occurred in the opposition to him when he came in the flesh, and in the resistance everywhere made since his death to his reign upon the earth. Nothing has produced more agitation in the world (compare Acts 17:6), and nothing still excites more determined resistance. The truths taught in this verse are:
(1) that sinners are opposed - even so much as to produce violent agitation of mind, and a fixed and determined purpose - to the plans and decrees of God, especially with respect to the reign of the Messiah; and
(2) that their plans to resist this will be vain and ineffectual; wisely as their schemes may seem to be laid, and determined as they themselves are in regard to their execution, yet they must find them vain.
What is implied here of the particular plans against the Messiah, is true of all the purposes of sinners, when they array themselves against the government of God.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
PSALM II
This Psalm treats of the opposition raised, both by Jew and
Gentile, against the kingdom of Christ, 1-3.
Christ's victory, and the confusion of his enemies, 4-6.
The promulgation of the Gospel after his resurrection, 7-9.
A call to all the potentates and judges of the earth to accept
it, because of the destruction that shall fall on those who
reject it, 10-12.
NOTES ON PSALM II
Verse Psalms 2:1. Why 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. vii. 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 had strengthened himself in the kingdom. David, having consulted the Lord, 2 Samuel 5:17-19, gave them battle, and totally overthrew the whole of his enemies. In the first place, therefore, we may suppose that this Psalm was written to celebrate the taking of Jerusalem, and the overthrow of all the kings and chiefs of the neighbouring nations. In the second place we find from the use made of this Psalm by the apostles, Acts 4:27, that David typified Jesus Christ; and that the Psalm celebrates the victories of the Gospel over the Philistine Jews, and all the confederate power of the heathen governors of the Roman empire.
The heathen, גוים goyim, the nations; those who are commonly called the Gentiles.
Rage, רגשו rageshu, the gnashing of teeth, and tumultuously rushing together, of those indignant and cruel people, are well expressed by the sound as well as the meaning of the original word. A vain thing. Vain indeed to prevent the spread of the Gospel in the world. To prevent Jesus Christ, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, from having the empire of his own earth. So vain were their endeavours that every effort only tended to open and enlarge the way for the all-conquering sway of the sceptre of righteousness.
