Passage
Psalms 2.2
Book: Psalms · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
ASV
- Why do the nations rage, And the peoples meditate a vain thing?
2. The kings of the earth set themselves, And the rulers take counsel together, Against Jehovah, and against his anointed, saying,
- Let us break their bonds asunder, And cast away their cords from us. 4. He that sitteth in the heavens will laugh: The Lord will have them in derision. (Psalms 2:1-4, ASV)
WEB
- Why do the nations rage, and the peoples plot a vain thing?
2. The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers take counsel together, against Yahweh, and against his Anointed, saying,
- “Let’s break their bonds apart, and cast their cords from us.” 4. He who sits in the heavens will laugh. The Lord will have them in derision. (Psalms 2:1-4, WEB)
KJV
- Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? rage: or, tumultuously assemble imagine: Heb. meditate
2. The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the LORD, and against his anointed, saying,
- Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us. 4. He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh: the Lord shall have them in derision. (Psalms 2:1-4, KJV)
YLT
- Why have nations tumultuously assembled? And do peoples meditate vanity?
2. Station themselves do kings of the earth, And princes have been united together, Against Jehovah, and against His Messiah:
- 'Let us draw off Their cords, And cast from us Their thick bands.' 4. He who is sitting in the heavens doth laugh, The Lord doth mock at them. (Psalms 2:1-4, YLT)
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Setting
- Speaker: TBD
- Audience: TBD
- Location: TBD
- Time period: TBD
Theological reading
Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.
Key words
Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.
- H4899 - mashiach, mashiach, Strong's H4899
- H3068 - YHWH, YHWH, Strong's H3068
Quoted in
Concepts:
Lexicon:
Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.