Psalms 2:5
in Psalms 2Then He rebukes them in His anger, and terrifies them in His fury:
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Then will he speak unto them in his wrath, And vex them in his sore displeasure:
KJV
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath, and vex them in his sore displeasure.
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This verse in Psalms 2
Commentary
14 notes on this verseThese are words of destruction that are pronounced in anger. Moreover, the evils that God had said he was going to inflict, he promises that he will withdraw if the listeners will become penitent. God in his anger spoke through Jonah to the Ninevites, and since they repented in ash and sackcloth, they endured nothing of those things about which they had heard. Actually, God knew beforehand when he sent Jonah that they were going to repent if he sent Jonah for their deliverance. Right now he also is speaking deliverance to those sinners who are in his wrath.
This site's exposition
The One enthroned in heaven laughs
on Psalms 2:4-6
Heaven's answer to the council of kings is laughter, and then a taunt. Spurgeon marked the order of verses 4 and 5, that God laughs before He speaks, and His speech is rebuke and fury. Verse 6 is God's own word, His King installed on Zion.
This site's exposition
Then He rebukes them in His anger
The colon at the end of verse 5 points ahead. The rebuke spoken in anger is the sentence of verse 6. Terrifies translates bahal, the verb Exodus 15:15 uses for the chiefs of Edom dismayed after the crossing of the sea.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"Then He shall speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure" [Psalm 2:5]. For showing more clearly how He will "speak unto them," he added, He will "vex them;" so that "in His wrath," is, "in His sore displeasure." But by the "wrath and sore displeasure" of the Lord God must not be understood any mental perturbation; but the might whereby He most justly avenges, by the subjection of all creation to His service. For that is to be observed and remembered which is written in the Wisdom of Solomon, "But You, Lord of power, judgest with tranquillity, and with great favour orders us." [Wisdom 12:18] The "wrath" of God then is an emotion which is produced in the soul which knows the law of God, when it sees this same law transgressed by the sinner. For by this emotion of righteous souls many things are avenged. Although the "wrath" of God can be well understood of that darkening of the mind, which overtakes those who transgress the law of God.
God judges without getting upset, and he causes distress for others while maintaining his affection for them. He does not become enraged when some emotion rises within him against the wicked, but he withholds from them the influence of his grace. Since the blessed Godhead, …
The Medieval Church1 voice
Then when he says, "He who dwells," the suppression of those plotting against the kingdom of David is set forth. And concerning this he does two things. First, it is shown how they are suppressed by the Lord. Second, how by his Christ, at "But …
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath,.... Or, "and he shall speak to them"; so Noldius: that is, the Lord that sits in the heavens, and laughs, and has the Heathen, the people, the kings and rulers in derision, shall not only silently despise their furious and concerted opposition to him and his Messiah, but shall at last speak out unto them, not in his word, but in his providences; and not in love, as to his own people, when he chastises them, but in great wrath, inflicting severe and just punishment.
Promises made to Christ, ver. 7-9. Counsel given to all, to submit to him, ver. 10-12.
quarantine:anchor (2026-07-29) — cites-ver-10-anchored-1-6
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Though God despises them as impotent, yet he does not therefore wink at them, but is justly displeased with them as impudent and impious, and will make the most daring sinners to know that he is so and to tremble before him. (1.) Their sin is a provocation to him.
The Nineteenth Century5 voices
After he has laughed he shall speak; he needs not smite; the breath of his lips is enough. At the moment when their power is at its height, and their fury most violent, then shall his Word go forth against them. And what is it that he says?—it is a very galling sentence— "Yet, " says he, "despite your malice, despite your tumultuous gatherings, despite the wisdom of your counsels, despite the craft of your lawgivers, 'yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion'." Is not that a grand exclamation!
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
Then shall he speak--His righteous indignation as well as contempt is roused. For God to speak is for Him to act, for what He resolves He will do (Ge 1:3;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
After he has laughed he shall speak; he needs not smite; the breath of his lips is enough. At the moment when their power is at its height, and their fury most violent, then shall his Word go forth against them. And what is it that he says?—it is a very galling sentence— "Yet, " says he, "despite your malice, despite your tumultuous gatherings, despite the wisdom of your counsels, despite the craft of your lawgivers, 'yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion'." Is not that a grand exclamation! He has already done that which the enemy seeks to prevent. While they are proposing, he has disposed the matter. Jehovah's will is done, and man's will frets and raves in vain. God's Anointed is appointed, and shall not be disappointed. Look back through all the ages of infidelity, hearken to the high and hard things which men have spoken against the Most High, listen to the rolling thunder of earth's volleys against the Majesty of heaven, and then think that God is saying all the while, "Yet have I set my kimg upon my holy hill of Zion." Yet Jesus reigns, yet he sees the travail of his soul, and "his unsuffering kingdom yet shall come" when he shall take unto himself his great power, and reign from the river unto the ends of the earth. Even now he reigns in Zion, and our glad lips sound forth the praises of the Prince of Peace. Greater conflicts may here be foretold, but we may be confident that victory will be given to our Lord and King. Glorious triumphs are yet to come; hasten them, we pray thee, O Lord! It is Zion's glory and joy that her King is in her, guarding her from foes, and filling her with good things. Jesus sits upon the throne of grace, and the throne of power in the midst of his church. In him is Zion's best safeguard; let her citizens be glad in him.
Then shall he speak unto them in his wrath - He did so to the Jews who rejected the Gospel, and vexed and ruined them by the Roman armies; he did so with the opposing Roman emperors, destroying all the contending factions, till he brought the empire under the dominion of one, and him he converted to Christianity viz., Constantine the Great.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Then shall he speak unto them - That is, this seeming indifference and unconcern will not last forever. He will not always look calmly on, nor will he suffer them to accomplish their purposes without interposing. When he has shown how he regards their schemes - how impotent they are, how much they are really the objects of derision, considered as an attempt to cast off his authority - he will interpose and declare his own purposes - his determination to establish his king on the hill of Zion.
The words behind it
6 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אָ֤ז | ʾaz | then | H227 → | 141 times |
| יְדַבֵּ֣ר | yedaber | he speaks | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֵלֵ֣ימוֹ | ʾeleimov | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְאַפּ֑וֹ | veapo | in anger his | H639 → | 276 times |
| וּֽבַחֲרוֹנ֥וֹ | uvacharono | and in fury his | H2740 → | 41 times |
| יְבַהֲלֵֽמוֹ׃ | yevahalemov | he terrifies them | H926 → | 39 times |
אָ֤זthen
ʾazH227 →141 times
יְדַבֵּ֣רhe speaks
yedaberH1696 →1141 times
אֵלֵ֣ימוֹto them
ʾeleimovH413 →5510 times
בְאַפּ֑וֹin anger his
veapoH639 →276 times
וּֽבַחֲרוֹנ֥וֹand in fury his
uvacharonoH2740 →41 times
יְבַהֲלֵֽמוֹ׃he terrifies them
yevahalemovH926 →39 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Isaiah 11:4but with righteousness He will judge the poor, and with equity He will decide for the lowly of the earth. He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth and slay the…
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8
And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will slay with the breath of His mouth and annihilate by the majesty of His arrival.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 19:15
And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath…
- Malachi 4:6
And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”
- 2 Thessalonians 2:8
Through
Revelation 19:15And from His mouth proceeds a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath…
it leads to
- Isaiah 63:2–6
Why are Your clothes red, and Your garments like one who treads the winepress?
- Revelation 1:16
He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
- Revelation 2:27
He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like pottery—just as I have received authority from My Father.
- Psalms 2:9
You will break them with an iron scepter; You will shatter them like pottery.”
- Isaiah 63:2–6
Through
Psalms 21:9You will place them in a fiery furnace at the time of Your appearing. In His wrath the LORD will engulf them, and the fire will consume them.
it leads to
- Malachi 4:1
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of…
- Malachi 4:1
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Psalms

This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on the Book of Psalms; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 2; Cassiodorus, EXPLANATION OF THE PSALMS 2:6; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of Psalms; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, SELECTIONS FROM THE PSALMS 2:5 and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.
