by Greg Kenyon, updated January 17, 2026
II – The First Stanza – Rage against the Messiah – Psalm 2:1-3
III – The Second Stanza – The Lord’s Response – Psalm 2:4-6
IV – The Third Stanza – The King of kings Responds – Ps 2:7-9
Other titles for this stanza include:
The Son Speaks (Boice),
The declaration of the King (BKC),
God’s Declaration of His Son (Mentor Commentary).
Free Offer of the Gospel – A Compassionate Warning (gk)
“I will declare the decree:
The LORD has said to Me,
‘You are My Son,
Today I have begotten You.
Ask of Me, and I will give You
The nations for Your inheritance,
And the ends of the earth for Your possession.
You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.’ ”
The Anointed One Declares
Now, having completed His work, demonstrating His right to be King, enthroned on the holy hill of Zion, on the throne above all thrones, the Lord of lords, King of kings, from His throne, from the holy hill of Zion, the Anointed One speaks. The Lord’s Anointed responds. The very One the nations, people, kings and rulers take counsel together against responds. The reason is given for why the Lord is not thrown off by their rebellion and plotting. For the Lord has set the very One who is being plotted against, the very Son of the God, the only begotten One, in place and given Him the nations, the very ends of the earth as His very own. Those who plot against this Anointed One will be broken in pieces like a rod of iron breaks a potter’s pottery. These is no, there will be no, contest. The Anointed One will win. It shall come to pass.
The anointed one does not boast of His accomplishments. The only first person pronoun, “I”, referring to the Anointed One is at the beginning of the stanza. The rest is an acknowledgement of His Father and what His Father has said to Him. Even in reference to Himself at the beginning of the stanza, the Anointed One does not say “1 am,” or “I did,” but rather “I declare the decree of My Father.” Rather than promoting His own glory, He accepts acknowledges that of His Father.
The Decree
The anointed One speaks not just of something the Lord does. It is the Lord’s decree. It is the decree, the Law, which cannot be broken or changed. It is the way it is. No amount of counsel, raging and plotting will change it. The Anointed one, who nations, people, kings and rulers have taken counsel against, He declares this decree. His anointed body, those who are His body on earth can stand firm and rest in this. It is sure. As, the Lord the has decreed it.
You Are My Begotten Son
This is what the LORD says of the Anointed one. The Anointed one declares it. It is the way it is. Nothing nations, people, kings and rules can do will ever change this truth. The Son is not gloating in this fact. The fact of being the begotten Son of God came with a very great expectation, price and reward. (Note: After my following attempt to understand what begotten means in this passage, I will comment further about the “great expectation, price and reward.”)
Begotten
What does the LORD mean When He refers to the Son as being begotten of Himself? We do not have to go far to learn something of this. The Hebrew word translated begotten is used many other times in the OT, referring to various men having children. Does not — calling the Messiah the begotten Son of God — infer that He, like all other begotten one’s in the Bible, has a beginning? In the text, the LORD does not say, My Son, you were always begotten. Instead it says, “Today I have begotten You.” What does this mean? Especially, in light of the confession of the true church, “that Jesus Christ according to His divine nature is the only begotten Son of God, begotten from eternity, not made, nor created (for then He would be a creature).” (Belgic Confession – Article 10)
The Hebrew word and the Greek word in the Septuagint is also the same as the word used multiple times to refer to fathers having children, like when Abraham begot Isaac. In the NT, comparing the Greek word for “begotten” in quotes of Psalm 2:7, this same Greek word is the same word is used to refer to mankind having children. In one English translation of the Septuagint the term “fathered” is used, like Abraham fathered Isaac, (Lexham), whereas the Tanaka often uses begot in the same context. The Complete Jewish Bible tends to use “fathered” but also uses “begot.” In Psalm 2:7, the Complete Jewish Bible says, “today I became your father.” What are we to make of all this? Does not “today I have begotten You.” suggest that this begotten Son has a beginning, as you and I when fathered have a beginning?
Is there is a tendency to hold the term “begotten” as referring to some extra special relationship between God the Father and God the Son? I wonder if the well known KJV translation of John 3:16, when it refers to “His only begotten Son” plays into this thinking. It is interesting that the Greek for “only begotten Son” in John 3:16 is not the word used elsewhere in the bible for begotten or fathered. Instead, a Greek word is used which my Greek dictionary says means “unique,” which occurs only 9 times in the NT, 5 times translated as “only” and 4 times as “only begotten” and these 4 times it appears that “begotten” is added by the translators. (Looking at multiple other translations of John 3:16 most often it is translated “only Son” and sometimes “unique Son.”) The use of “begotten” in Psalm 2:7 is not the same as what is expressed in John 3:16. So, it appears the use of “begotten” in Psalm 2:7 is of no more importance or uniqueness than to say “born” or “fathered.” So, the questions remains. What does it mean that the Messiah is the Son whom the LORD bore or fathered?” Considering that God the Son, the second person of the triune God, as God, has no beginning and no end, how is it that Jesus is begotten or fathered by God “today” at a point in time? What does this mean for us?
Let us consider references to Psalm 2:7 in the NT. In Acts 13:33, Paul quotes Psalm 2:7 when speaking to Jews about Jesus the Son of David being sent to them, and the people, who did not know Him or even the voices of the prophets, fulfilled what the prophets said by condemning Jesus to death. Paul says God raised Jesus from the dead as it is written in the second Psalm, “You are My Son, today I have begotten You.” Here, Paul suggests that “Today I have begotten You” refers to God raising Jesus from the dead. Could this begetting be, in some way, like us when we are born again? At the incarnation, Human Jesus was conceived and born both body and soul. Human Jesus died both body and soul. At His resurrection, both body and soul were raised or reborn from the dead.
*****In John 3 Jesus said to Nicodemus, “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” To be born is from the same Greek word as “begotten” in Acts 13:33. Jesus clarifies His statement saying, “unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God,” again using the same Greek verb. And “that which is born of flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.” Jesus speaks of two births. I believe the water birth refers to one physical birth and the Spirit birth one’s conversion.
Hebrews 1:5 also quotes the Second Psalm saying, “For to which of the angels did He ever say: ‘You are My Son, today I have begotten You.” The writer to the Hebrews uses this to show Jesus is better than the angels. Taking the meaning suggested from Acts 13:33, none of the angels were born from the dead. The scriptures tell us, for those angels who rebel against God, that there is no possibility for them to be saved. (Jude 6) Angels who, like Satan, rebelled against God, are as good as dead, with a place reserved for them in the Abyss. (reference) Angels who have not rebelled remain with the living and have no need to be begotten. Jesus, far superior to the angels, is begotten of the Father from the dead. We know the fact that Human Jesus, having lived a perfect life, taking our sin upon Himself, took our deserved punishment, paying the price perfectly and completely, made it right for the Father to receive Human Jesus born back from the dead.
Fully Begotten
The final place Psalm 2:7 is quoted in the NT is in Hebrews 5:5. In this case it is used to demonstrate how Christ took on complete humanness, becoming fully like a man (Philippians 2), but without sin. (Hebrews 4:15). As a complete human, in this sense, He did not glorify Himself by bringing about His first birth. Rather, He humbled Himself, taking the form of a bond servant and coming in the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:7) He did not glorify Himself to accomplish His resurrection (His second birth). Rather He first humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death of the cross. (Philippians 2:8) He did not glorify Himself to become high priest. Instead, this was done by the LORD, who begot Him in the first place (Luke 1, Matt 2) and again at His resurrection. (Psalm 2:6)
It is interesting and most amazing that, although the LORD never said to any of the angles, “I have begotten you,” A careful study of the Greek word for “begotten” show the Lord does refer to His people as His begotten. It is interesting to look at the use of the Greek for begotten in the NT. In Matthew 1:20 then the angle says to Joseph, “do not be afraid to take Mary your wife, for that which is conceived (begotten) in her is of the Holy spirit.” Here, Human Jesus is born the first time. The same word is used of the conception of Jesus in Luke 1:35. The same word in used when Jesus talks of the need to be born again (begotten again) in John 3. Jesus says of Himself, in response to Pilots question, “Are you a king then?…For this cause I was born (begotten) and for this cause I have come into the world,” referring to His birth to God and Mary as being begotten. Even more amazing is Johns use of this word in 1 John (see 1 John 2:29, 3:9, 4:7, 5:1, 4, 18). We, who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ are referred to as begotten of God. When we are born again our soul is begotten of God. At the resurrection we, like Jesus, following Him, will be fully begotten of God not just in soul but then in both soul and body.
To answer my questions, “Does referring to Jesus as the LORD’s begotten Son refer to Him having a beginning?” Yes, although God the Son had no beginning, in time, the Son of Man, with human body and soul, was conceived, meaning Human Jesus had a starting point. “Today” in Psalm 2:7 includes Human Jesus’ conception but, even more so, it refers to His resurrection, subsequent ascension and enthronement as King. The Son, Himself, recognizes this declaration of Him by the LORD in Psalm 2:7, “Today, I have begotten You.” The LORD spoke of this in Psalm 2:6, I have set My King on My holy hill of Zion.
The LORD does not do this, as an earthly monarch. He does not put Jesus on the throne just because Jesus is His son, conceived and born to Him, as Luke reveals. The LORD is holy, without sin and sin has no place in His throne room or on His Holy hill, as seen in Revelation 12 when those angels, who chose to sin in rebellion against the LORD, were cast out of heaven. Nothing stained with sin has a place in heaven. Jesus, although He did not sin, when He chose to take upon Himself the sins of His people, was stained with sin. In this condition, He could have no place in the throne room of God. As important as the earthly birth of Jesus was at establishing the legitimate son-ship of Jesus, it is His resurrection, His coming back from death, having been reborn to life, that earned Human Jesus, the Son of Man, the right to enter the holy throne room of God. His resurrection, being begotten from death to life, proves that His life and crucifixion fully paid the price of sin. It fully defeated the power of death over sin and gives Jesus the right to take His place on the throne, in the throne room of the LORD God.
Satan tried to get Jesus to bypass this necessary step, where Jesus fulfills His place as fully begotten of the Lord. In Matthew 4:9 (and Luke 4) it is recorded that Satan, when Jesus was at a human weak point, showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory and said, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.” At this point in time Jesus, the Son of Man, was not fully begotten, having not yet been crucified and risen again from the dead. If Satan had been able to tempt Jesus into trying to take the ends of the earth apart from the way of the cross, then Jesus would have ended up with a kingdom of people whose sins were not paid for, who could not enter with Him in the the presence to the Holy Lord God. We should praise and thank Jesus that, He found strength yet again in the Word which the Lord God gave to the people of promise after they were brought out of bondage in Egypt (Deuteronomy, 6:13, 10;20). Jesus, the Son of Man, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham, obeyed the command(s) of the Lord. Jesus has gone before you, an example, that you walk in His steps, and sent the Spirit, giving you strength to walk in His Step. Are we striving to obey the command of the the Lord?
Having earned the right to the throne and the right for His people to enter into the presence of God, the LORD can say, “ask of Me.” and that He “will” indeed give His Son what He asks. Because of His resurrection, because He was begotten from the dead, the “will” of the Lord to give His Son what He asks is more than a simple statement. It is the decree of the Lord. A sure thing, no matter what the nations, people, kings and rules or the earth do to try to stop this. [1]
Before taking time to try to understand the meaning of begotten in this passage (Psalm 2), I pointed out that the Lord decreed of His Son, that He is My Begotten Son. Nothing nations, people, kings and rules can do will ever change this truth. The Son is not gloating in this fact. The fact of being the begotten Son of God comes with a very great expectation, price and reward. The LORD says that the begotten Son, Human Jesus, will break and dash in pieces the nations, people, kings, and rules who rage, plot, counsel, together against the LORD’s anointed. No yet complete, this is the LORD’s expectation. An expectation that is not to be simply accomplished. Given the ultimate power of He who sits in the heavens, could He not have simply destroyed and wiped out all who rebel against Him. Certainly, from a power point of view He could have. But doing this would prevent the LORD from being true to His Word. He promises the Son to given Him of the nations all He asks for. And ultimately the LORD promises blessing for all those who put their trust in Him. Such promises have no meaning in the face of the LORD’s justice and holiness unless the price of rebellion is fully paid. As has already been considered, this expectation of the LORD can only be accomplished at the great price, at the very death and destruction of the perfect Human Jesus carrying on Himself the sin of His people. In doing this there is great reward. First, as we have seen the begotten Son of Man was begotten again from the dead, now legitimately able to return to the throne room of God. Second, as we will see He is now legitimately able to bring with Him those of the nations who he has paid for who will come with Him.
The Nations, the Ends of the Earth, the Free Offer of the Gospel
What are we to make of the Lord giving the nations, the ends of the earth to Christ as His inheritance and possession? The nations and the ends of the earth include all people. Other uses of the Hebrew for “inheritance” in the bible, when used pertaining to people, refer to one’s children. Will the LORD give all people of the earth to Jesus as His children? The Hebrew for “possession” is used in the sense of belonging to. Will all the people of the earth belong to Christ? Would it not seem more correct to say the LORD will give Christ “of the nations and people” rather than “the nations and people.”
It does not say that the Lord will give all people to Christ as His inheritance and possession. It says, ask and I will give. Thus, if Christ asked for every person of the world, then the Lord would give them to Christ. For the Lord says ask and I will give. This is a testimony from the LORD of the infinite size of what begotten-Jesus accomplished through His life and then crucifixion, and then thoroughly testified of when begotten again at His resurrection. So infinitely great and complete was the work of Jesus that it is sufficient to cover the sins of every person in the entire world, no matter how much they sinned. If He asks, based on the size of His accomplished work, the LORD could not withhold any from Christ. The nations and the ends of the earth would be given, if asked for. Some call this the sufficiency of Christ’s work.
This is in keeping with what some call the free offer of the Gospel as expressed in passages like Joel 2:32, Mar 16:16, John 3:16, John 10:9, Acts 2:21, Acts 16:31, Rom 10:13, which teach that all those who believe in and call upon Jesus Christ shall be saved. Christ’s death and resurrection are able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through Jesus. (Hebrews 7:25)
What the Scriptures teach is true. The work of Christ is sufficient to do all this and it will, but Christ will not ask of the LORD to be given every person of every nation. Christ will never ask the LORD to deny who He is. He will never ask the LORD to deny His holiness. As we learned in The Revelation of Jesus Christ chapter 12, all that was sinful was cast out of heaven, So, Christ’s having taken on the stain of sin, could only be enthroned in heaven after having completely paid the full penalty required for sin. This is because Holy God cannot accept sin or sinfulness into His presence. Thus, Jesus will never ask the Lord to give Him those who remain in their sin. Such are those who do not have Love for the LORD God, who do not desire to sin no more. If Christ asked for those people who are content to continue to sin, He would bring hearts bent on sin into the presence of the Lord. Christ would never do this to His Father. His love for His Father is so great!
This is in keeping with scriptures like Psalm 1:4-6, along with many other scriptures, which say the ungodly shall not be saved. Although the work of Christ is great enough or sufficient to save every person of every nation, He will not do so. Some will be lost as declared in the verses of Psalm 2 which follow, as well as many other scriptures.
A Compassionate Warning – Shattered in Pieces
Not all will call on the name of the Lord. Not all will believe and be saved. These people, Christ will not ask for as His inheritance and possession. Yet, even those, who do not desire to come to Christ, who do not acknowledge the truth that Christ, the fully begotten Son of God, has been set up as King of kings and Lord of lords, they will acknowledged Him as King of kings and bow the knee to Him. Over these Christ will still be Lord. As Scriptures like Isaiah 45:23, Romans 14:11 and Philippians 2:9-11 teach, that of all Nations, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, every knee shall bow. In the end ,no person will not bow before Christ. Those who will not bow as servants, will not be accepted as heirs. Theirs will be a bowing in fear and dread that they can no longer deny the absolute authority and power of the King, being faced with the undeniable Truth that it is impossible to caste off His cords and that they will now pay the price for not willingly bowing before this gracious King.
Christ will rule all. To those who do not want His rule, it will become to them as being ruled with a rod of Iron. Even though they think they are powerful enough and able to break free of the bonds of the Lord (Ps 2:3) they will find, before the awesome power of Christ the King, that they are mere clay. The vessels of their lives which seem so beautiful in their own eyes will be dashed in pieces like pottery stuck with an iron rod. We find this same description of Christ in Revelation 12:5 and Revelation 19:15. Those who do not want to be ruled will be ruled, not with gentleness but with a rod of iron.
Jesus speaks of this in a parable in Luke 19 where there were citizens who hated the master and said, “we will not have this man to reign over us.” In due time, when the master returned he said, “bring here those enemies of mine, who did not want me to reign over them, and slay them. (Luke 19:14, 27) In the day of days, at the end of this heaven and earth, all will be Judged by Christ, “each on according to his works…. As prophesied by John in the Revelation of Jesus Christ, “anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire.” (Revelation 20:13-15) The new heaven and new earth ,which will replace this one, “there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.” (Revelation 21:1, 27)
Compassionate Warning
Some will object saying, “How could Christ who is merciful and full of compassion (Ps 111:1) ever act in such a horrid way?” Given the Holiness of God, into whose presence no sin and rebellion can come, apart from whose presence ultimately nothing good will be found, how could merciful and compassionate Christ not speak this greatest of warning to those whose take counsel together against the Lord and His anointed having not responded to the wonder of Christ. Unlike the wise men who saw His star in the east and came to worship Him, they are like Herod, willing to stop at nothing to destroy Christ. (Matthew 2) To remain in rebellion against the Lord will lead to their perishing. It will lead to ultimate banishment, from the presence of the the Lord and all things good, to a place of darkness where there is continual weeping and gnashing of teeth. A most compassionate thing for Christ to do is to warn them of the folly of their ways. Such is Christ’s love and patience and unwillingness that any should perish (2 Peter 3:9) that he warns the nations over and over, giving time for those in rebellion against Him to come to repentance.
The idea that these actions of Christ are “horrid.” is founded on a wrong understanding of sin and rebellion against the Lord. Those who understand the true horribleness of sin, will see these actions of Christ in a different light. In the letter to the church at Thyatira in The Revelation of Jesus Christ, all the church members fall into one of two group. Those who have known the depths of Satan and those who have not. Those who have not known the depths of Satan are those who Christ will ask His Father for. Those who know the depths of Satan, Christ shall rule with a rod of iron and they shall be dashed in pieces like the potter’s vessels. (Revelation 2:24-27) There is no middle ground. Knowing the depth of Satan cannot refer simply to knowing sin for “all have sinned.” (Romans 3:23) To know the depths of Satan, refers to those who refuse to repent of their sin. They will be cast into great tribulation “unless they repent of their deeds.” (Revelation 2:22) These will be “dashed in pieces.”
While considering Revelation 2:24-28, it is interesting to note that this passage acknowledges what we learned when considering “the Lord’s Anointed” in the first stanza. (Ps 2:2) That the true church, the body of Christ is the Anointed tabernacle. In Psalm 2:9 we focus primarily on Christ, the anointed, ruling the nations with a rod of iron and dashing them in peaces like a potter’s vessel. In Revelation 2:26-27, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, victorious (Revelation 1:12-16) says , as He instructs John to write, “I will give power over the nations — He shall rule them with a rod of iron; they shall be dashed in pieces like the potter’s vessels.” Christ will give power to the people of the true church of Christ, His body, through who He will do this.
There are also some references in the OT to the potter’s vessel being broken in pieces including Isaiah 30:14, Jeremiah 19:11, and Daniel 2:44. When a finished dried piece of pottery is smashed into pieces it is usually beyond repair, never to be rebuilt as these passages suggest. There are other references to the potter crushing the pot he is working on and starting again but these vessels are yet clay which can still be worked. The OT references included indicate the pottery is smashed never to be repaired again. Here is a picture of the urgency of turning to serving the Lord and submitting to Christ before one is hardened and un-mold-able. To remain stubbornly rebellious to the end will not end well.
[1] Note: The English translations of the Belgic confession in Articles 10 and 11 place significant emphasis on the Jesus Christ being “begotten from eternity, not made or created,” and the Holy Spirit being “neither made, created, nor begotten, but only proceeds.” What did the authors of the Belgic Confession mean? Are we to insert the Hebrew and Greek meaning used in Psalm 2:7, Acts 2:33 and Hebrews 1:5, the same meaning and word use in Hebrew and Greed to refer to us human people being begotten of our earthly fathers? Or are we to use the meaning of the Greek in John 3:16 and John 1:14, 18. From what I can find, this Greek word, (monogenes, G339) is only used in the Bible in these three verses. monogenes is from two Geed words, monos (G3441) + ginomai (G1096). Monos is used multiple times in the NT always with the sense of “only,” “one,” or “alone.” I cannot find Ginomai used elsewhere in the NT. My Geek dictionary gives it the sense of “to become” We can say the sense in these three verses involves “uniqueness” or “only oneness.”
[G3439 occures – Luke 7:12, 8:42, 9:38, John 1:18, John 3:16, Hebrews 11:17, 1 John 4:9)
Considering which of these meaning is intended in “begotten” in these articles of the Belgic Confession, the first meaning where Jesus is from His Father, as we see imaged in Mankind, where each of us is begotten of his father, who is begotten of his father, who is begotten of his father, all the way back to being begotten of Adam, such that, apart from being born again, or begotten again, we are never really separate from Adam, as seen in our sharing in Adam’s original sin. Similarly, Jesus is begotten of His Father, and, although a distinct person, is/has never been separated from His Father. So, the first meaning of begotten can make sense in the use of begotten in articles 10 and 11 of the Belgic Confession.
Interestingly, the second meaning can also fit. For Jesus has along with His Father has always been (to become) of His Father and is the only one who is like this. In “being of” or “becoming of” His Father, Jesus is the only One. In this, He is unique. God the Father has always been and, as Jesus told Moses, Jesus too always has been, His name being “I am.”
Having considered this, my first thought that “begotten” may not be a good word for the Belgic Confession to use, has grown to find “begotten from eternity” as defined by Scripture speaks the truth. and thinking deeply about what this means leaves one with amazement at the truth of the relationship between the Father and the Son.