Psalms 2:6
in Psalms 2“I have installed My King on Zion, upon My holy mountain.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Yet I have set my king Upon my holy hill of Zion.
KJV
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
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This verse in Psalms 2
Commentary
15 notes on this verseThe first four verses are spoken by a prophet or an angel wondering why human rashness had risen up against the Son of God. From the fifth verse, though, the Lord himself responds, exhorting the Gentiles and all the people from the Jews who are going to believe in him, so that they may loosen the binding chains and cast off the heavy burden of the law that their own ancestors were unable to carry, so they may follow him whose yoke is easy, and burden light.
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
I have installed My King on Zion
Installed translates nasak, a verb for pouring out an offering or casting metal. Franz Delitzsch read it as setting the King firmly on Zion, His holy mountain. This King is the Anointed One of verse 2.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"Yet am I set by Him as King upon Sion, His holy hill, preaching His decree" [Psalm 2:6]. This is clearly spoken in the Person of the very Lord our Saviour Christ. But if Sion signify, as some interpret, beholding, we must not understand it of anything rather than of the Church, where daily is the desire raised of beholding the bright glory of God, according to that of the Apostle, "but we with open face beholding the glory of the Lord." [2 Corinthians 3:18] Therefore the meaning of this is, Yet I am set by Him as King over His holy Church; which for its eminence and stability He calls a mountain. "Yet I am set by Him as King." I, that is, whose "bands" they were meditating "to break asunder," and whose "yoke" to "cast away." "Preaching His decree." Who does not see the meaning of this, seeing it is daily practised?
[This] verse … is expressed in human fashion: as God he possesses his kingship by nature, as human he receives it by election.
Truly, God did not establish the Word as King at that time, whose power did not just begin at a point but who was and always is powerful, who as in his nature had power to create whatever he wished; so also in his nature …
The Medieval Church1 voice
There follows next the showing of how they are suppressed by his Christ, when he says, "But I." Now the people, the nations, and the princes rose up against the Christ of David. First, therefore, he shows how Christ relates to the people. Second, how …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Zion strictly taken, was an hill on the north part of Jerusalem, where there was a strong fort, called the city of David, but in a more large sense it is put for the city of Jerusalem, for the temple of Jerusalem, built upon the hill of Moriah, which was either a part of mount Sion, or adjoining to it; for the church of the Jews, and for the Christian church.
7 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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
Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion.
(4.) Being called to this honour, he was confirmed in it; high places (we say) are slippery places, but Christ, being raised, is fixed: " I have set him, I have settled him." (5.) He is set upon Zion, the hill of God's holiness, a type of the gospel church, for on that the temple was built, for the sake of which the whole mount was called holy.
The Nineteenth Century4 voices
I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion - Here the Gospel shall be first preached; here the kingdom of Christ shall be founded; and from hence shall the doctrine of the Lord go out into all the earth.
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!
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.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
Yet have I set my king - The word “yet” is merely the translation of the conjunction “and.” It is rendered in the Vulgate “but ...autem;” and so in the Septuagint, δέ de. It would be better rendered perhaps by the usual word “and:” “And I have set or constituted my king,” etc. This is properly to be regarded as the expression of God himself; as what he says in reply to their declared purposes Psa 2:3, and as what is referred to in Psa 2:5. The meaning is, he would speak to them in his anger, and say, “In spite of all your purposes and all your opposition, I have set my king on the hill of Zion.” That is, they had their plans and God had his; they meant to cast off his authority, and to prevent his purpose to set up the Messiah as king; he resolved, on the contrary, to carry out his purposes, and he would do it. The word rendered set - נסך nâsak - means, literally, to pour, to pour out, as in making a libation to the Deity, Exo 30:9; Hos 9:4; Isa 30:1; then, to pour out oil in anointing a king or priest, and hence, to consecrate, to inaugurate, etc. See Jos 13:21; Psa 83:11; Mic 5:5. The idea here is, that he had solemnly inaugurated or constituted the Messiah as king; that is, that he had formed the purpose to do it, and he therefore speaks as if it were already done. The words “my King” refer, of course, to the anointed One, the Messiah, Psa 2:2. It is not simply a king, or the king, but “my king,” meaning that he derived his appointment from God, and that he was placed there to execute his purposes. This indicates the very near relation which the anointed One sustains to him who had appointed him, and prepares us for what is said in the subsequent verse, where he is called His Son. Upon my holy hill of Zion - Zion was the southern hill in the city of Jerusalem. See the notes at Isa 1:8. It was the highest of the hills on which the city was built. […]
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַ֭אֲנִי | vaani | and I | H589 → | 874 times |
| נָסַ֣כְתִּי | nasakhti | I have installed | H5258 → | |
| מַלְכִּ֑י | malki | king my | H4428 → | 2525 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| צִ֝יּ֗וֹן | tziyon | Zion | H6726 → | 154 times |
| הַר־ | har- | [the] mountain of | H2022 → | 546 times |
| קָדְשִֽׁי׃ | kodshi | holiness my | H6944 → | 469 times |
וַ֭אֲנִיand I
vaaniH589 →874 times
נָסַ֣כְתִּיI have installed
nasakhtiH5258 →
מַלְכִּ֑יking my
malkiH4428 →2525 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
צִ֝יּ֗וֹןZion
tziyonH6726 →154 times
הַר־[the] mountain of
har-H2022 →546 times
קָדְשִֽׁי׃holiness my
kodshiH6944 →469 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
Matthew 28:18Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
it leads to
- John 3:35
The Father loves the Son and has placed all things in His hands.
- 1 Peter 3:22
who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.
- Matthew 11:27
All things have been entrusted to Me by My Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses…
- Ephesians 1:20–22
which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms,
- Hebrews 2:8
and placed everything under his feet.” When God subjected all things to him, He left nothing outside of his control. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
- John 3:35
Through
Psalms 45:6Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
it leads to
- Hebrews 1:8–9
But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
- Hebrews 1:8–9
Through
Ephesians 1:22And God put everything under His feet and made Him head over everything for the church,
it leads to
- Colossians 1:18
And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.
- Colossians 1:18
Through
Revelation 14:1Then I looked and saw the Lamb standing on Mount Zion, and with Him 144,000 who had His name and His Father’s name written on their foreheads.
it leads to
- Joel 2:32
And everyone who calls on the name of the LORD will be saved; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be deliverance, as the LORD has promised, among the remnant called by…
- Joel 2:32
Where this verse is studied
By subject
Kingdom of God35 verses
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About Psalms
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 14 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, Exposition on Psalm 2; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David; Charles Spurgeon, The Treasury of David, Vol. 1; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Psalms; Jerome, BRIEF COMMENTARY ON PSALM 2; 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; Theodore of Mopsuestia, COMMENTARY ON PSALMS 2:6; Theodoret of Cyrus, COMMENTARY ON THE PSALMS 2:7 and Thomas Aquinas, Exposition on the Psalms of David.