Psaltaren 2:4

Svenska Bibel

Han som bor i himmelen ler, HERREN bespottar dem.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

He that: Psalms 11:4, Psalms 68:33, Psalms 115:3, Isaiah 40:22, Isaiah 57:15, Isaiah 66:1

shall laugh: Psalms 37:13, Psalms 53:5, Psalms 59:8, 2 Kings 19:21, Proverbs 1:26

Reciprocal: Genesis 11:7 - confound Esther 6:4 - to speak Psalms 103:19 - prepared Psalms 123:1 - O thou Isaiah 7:7 - General Jeremiah 48:26 - and he also Matthew 21:41 - He will Luke 19:15 - having Acts 5:23 - The prison Romans 15:12 - and he

Gill's Notes on the Bible

He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh,.... At the rage and tumult of the Heathen; at the vain imaginations of the people; at the opposition of the kings of the earth; at the mad counsel of the rulers, against him and his Messiah; and at their proposal to one another to throw off the yoke and government of them both. This is a periphrasis of God, "who dwells in the heavens", and sits there enthroned; though he is not included and comprehended in them, but is everywhere; and his being there is mentioned in opposition to the kings of the earth, and the people in it; and to show the vast distance there is between them, and how they are as nothing to him, Isaiah 40:1 Job 4:18; and how vain and fruitless their attempts must be against him and his Messiah: and his sitting there still and quiet, serene and undisturbed, is opposed to the running to and fro, and the tumultuous and riotous assembling of the Heathen. Laughing is ascribed unto him, according to the language of men, as the Jewish writers speak d, by an anthropopathy; in the same sense as he is said to repent and grieve, Genesis 6:6; and expresses his security from all their attempts, Job 5:22; and the contempt he has them in, and the certain punishment of them, and the aggravation of it; who will not only then laugh at them himself, but expose them to the laughter and scorn of others, Proverbs 1:26;

the Lord shall have them in derision; which is a repetition of the same thing in other words; and is made partly to show the certainty of their disappointment and ruin, and partly to explain who is meant by him that sits in the heavens. The Targum calls him, "the Word of the Lord"; and Alshech interprets it of the Shechinah.

d Kimchi, Aben Ezra, & R. Sol. Ben Melech in loc.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He that sitteth in the heavens - God, represented as having his home, his seat, his throne in heaven, and thence administering the affairs of the world. This verse commences the second strophe or stanza of the psalm; and this strophe Psalms 2:4-6 corresponds with the first Psalms 2:1-3 in its structure. The former describes the feelings and purposes of those who would cast off the government of God; this describes the feelings and purposes of God in the same order, for in each case the psalmist describes what is done, and then what is said: the nations rage tumultuously Psalms 2:1-2, and then say Psalms 2:3, “Let us break their bands.” God sits calmly in the heavens, smiling on their vain attempts Psalms 2:4, and then solemnly declares Psalms 2:5-6 that, in spite of all their opposition, he “has set his King upon his holy hill of Zion.” There is much sublimity in this description. While men rage and are tumultuous in opposing his plans, he sits calm and undisturbed in his own heaven. Compare the notes at the similar place in Isaiah 18:4.

Shall laugh - Will smile at their vain attempts; will not be disturbed or agitated by their efforts; will go calmly on in the execution of his purposes. Compare as above Isaiah 18:4. See also Proverbs 1:26; Psalms 37:13; Psalms 59:8. This is, of course, to be regarded as spoken after the manner of men, and it means that God will go steadily forward in the accomplishment of his purposes. There is included also the idea that he will look with contempt on their vain and futile efforts.

The Lord shall have them in derision - The same idea is expressed here in a varied form, as is the custom in parallelism in Hebrew poetry. The Hebrew word לעג lâ‛ag, means properly to stammer; then to speak in a barbarous or foreign tongue; then to mock or deride, by imitating the stammering voice of anyone. Gesenius, Lexicon Here it is spoken of God, and, of course, is not to be understood literally, anymore than when eyes, and hands, and feet are spoken of as pertaining to him. The meaning is, that there is a result in the case, in the Divine Mind, as if he mocked or derided the vain attempts of men; that is, he goes calmly forward in the execution of his own purposes, and he looks upon and regards their efforts as vain, as we do the efforts of others when we mock or deride them. The truth taught in this verse is, that God will carry forward his own plans in spite of all the attempts of men to thwart them. This general truth may lie stated in two forms:

(1) He sits undisturbed and unmoved in heaven while men rage against him, and while they combine to cast off his authority.

(2) He carries forward his own plans in spite of them. This he does:

(a) directly, accomplishing his schemes without regard to their attempts; and

(b) by making their purposes tributary to his own, so making them the instruments in carrying out his own plans. Compare Acts 4:28.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 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.