Psalm 2 - verse 7: This day have I begotten you

Continuing this mini-series on Psalm 2, today a look at the verse used at Midnight Mass of Christmas.

7	Vulgate	Dóminus dixit ad me: * fílius meus es tu, ego hódie génui te.
	Sept	διαγγέλλων τὸ πρόσταγμα κυρίου κύριος εἶπεν πρός με υἱός μου εἶ σύ ἐγὼ σήμερον γεγέννηκά σε

Dóminus (the Lord) dixit (he said) ad (to) me: * fílius (the son) meus (my) es (you are) tu (you), ego (I) hódie (today) génui (I have begotten) te (you).

dico, dixi, dictum, ere 3, to say, speak;  to sing;  in the sense of to think, plan, desire; to praise.

filius, ii, m. a son. Of the Son of God;Of the angels; Of men: children, descendants.. ilii alieni, strangers.

hodie, adv.  today.

gigno, genui, genitum, ere 3 to beget. 

DR	The Lord said to me: you are my son, this day I have begotten you.
Brenton	the Lord said to me, Thou art my Son, to-day have I begotten thee.
MD	The Lord hath said to me: Thou art my son, this day have I begotten Thee.
RSV	He said to me, "You are my son, today I have begotten you.
Cover	whereof the Lord hath said unto me, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.
Knox	how he told me, Thou art my son; I have begotten thee this day.
Grail	The Lord said to me: "You are my Son. It is I who have begotten you this day.

This verse is specifically applied to Christ by Scripture in Acts 13:

And we bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus; as also it is written in the second psalm, `Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee.' And as for the fact that he raised him from the dead, no more to return to corruption, he spoke in this way, `I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David.' (32-34)

It is important, though, to interpret this attribution correctly, in line with the thinking of the Church, for verse 7 of Psalm 2 can be applied to the three 'generations' of Christ: the eternal generation of the Son from the Father; the Incarnation, and his re-birth in the Resurrection.

Cassiororus perhaps provides the clearest explanation for its interpretation in relation to the eternal generation of the three Divine persons:

The Father had been able to designate and implant Him as Creator of the world.  By saying this day, He revealed that their majesty was co-external; with God, today has no beginning and is brought to no end.  He was not then, He will not be, but He always abides, always is, and the expression this day means any time you mention.  So in Genesis He bade Moses say of himself: Go and say to the children of Israel, I am who am.  He who is hath sent me to you.  So he wanted eternity to be denoted by the present tense.  This use of present time (‘today’) is acknowledged to be peculiar to the divine Scriptures in this sense of perpetuity.

The second meaning though, reflected in the Churches uses of this verse as the Introit in the Midnight Mass of Christmas, is in relation to the nativity:

Have I begotten thee signifies the nativity, of which Isaiah wrote: Who shall declare his generation?  He is Light from light, Almighty from Almighty, true God from true God, from whom and in whom are all things. (Cassiodorus)

 St Robert Bellarmine adds the third possible interpretation, namely in relation to the Resurrection, a reading taken up by St Aloysius Liguori and mentioned also in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:

...The Psalter gives us the key to prayer in Christ. In the "today" of the Resurrection the Father says: "You are my Son, today I have begotten you. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession." [Ps 2:7-8; cf. Acts 13:33] 

Psalm 2: Quare fremuérunt Gentes

Vulgate	Douay Rheims
Quare fremuérunt Gentes: * et pópuli meditáti sunt inánia?	Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things?
2  Astitérunt reges terræ, et príncipes convenérunt in unum * advérsus Dóminum, et advérsus Christum ejus.	The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord, and against his Christ.
3  Dirumpámus víncula eórum: * et projiciámus a nobis jugum ipsórum.	Let us break their bonds asunder: and let us cast away their yoke from us.
4. Qui hábitat in cælis, irridébit eos: * et Dóminus subsannábit eos.	He that dwells in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them.
5  Tunc loquétur ad eos in ira sua, * et in furóre suo conturbábit eos.	Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and trouble them in his rage.
6  Ego autem constitútus sum Rex ab eo super Sion montem sanctum ejus, * prædicans præcéptum ejus.	But I am appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain, preaching his commandment.
7  Dóminus dixit ad me: * Fílius meus es tu, ego hódie génui te.	The Lord has said to me: You are my son, this day have I begotten you.
8  Póstula a me, et dábo tibi Gentes hereditátem tuam, * et possessiónem tuam términos terræ.	Ask of me, and I will give you the Gentiles for your inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for your possession
9  Reges eos in virga férrea, * et tamquam vas fíguli confrínges eos.	You shall rule them with a rod of iron, and shall break them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
10  Et nunc, reges, intellígite: * erudímini, qui judicátis terram.	And now, O you kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth.
11  Servíte Dómino in timóre: * et exsultáte ei cum   tremóre.	Serve the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling.
12  Apprehéndite disciplínam, nequándo irascátur Dóminus, * et pereátis de via justa.	Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you perish from the just way.
13  Cum exárserit in brevi ira ejus: * beáti omnes qui confídunt in eo.	When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all they that trust in him.

And you can find the next set of notes on the psalm here.

Psalm 2 - verse 6 - Proclamation of Christ the King

From verse 6 onwards the voice of the speaker in Psalm 2 shifts from that of the psalmist to Christ himself.

6	V/R	Ego autem constitútus sum rex ab eo super sion montem sanctum ejus, * prædicans præcéptum ejus
	OR	ego autem constitutus sum rex ab eo super Sion montem sanctum eius praedicans praeceptum Domini
	NV	Ego autem constitui regem meum super Sion, montem sanctum meum! ”. Praedicabo decretum eius.
	JH	ego autem orditus sum regem meum  super Sion montem sanctum suum adnuntiabo Dei praeceptum .
		ἐγὼ δὲ κατεστάθην βασιλεὺς ὑ{P'} αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ Σιων ὄρος τὸ ἅγιον αὐτοῦ

Ego (I, emphasis) autem (but) constitútus sum (I have been appointed) rex (king) ab (by) eo (him) super (over) sion montem (mountain) sanctum (holy) ejus (his), prædicans (preaching) præcéptum (the precept) ejus (his)

autem, adversative conj., but, on the contrary, however.

constituo, stitui, stultum, ere 3 to set, place, put, appoint; make, create.;build, found; to devise, design ;to fix, appoint, mark out.

rex, regis, m. a king, ruler

super, with, on, upon, for, because of.

mons, montis, m., a mountain

sanctus, a, um, adj., holy.  

praedico, avi, atum, are, to proclaim, declare, announce, preach.

praeceptum, i, n. a law, commandment, precept, ordinance

DR	But I am appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain, preaching his commandment.
Brenton	But I have been made king by him on Sion his holy mountain, declaring the ordinance of the Lord:
MD	But I am appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain, preaching his commandment.
RSV	I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill." I will tell of the decree of the LORD
Cover	Yet have I set my King upon my holy hill of Sion. I will preach the law,
Knox	Here, on mount Sion, my sanctuary, I enthrone a king of my own choice. Mine to proclaim the Lord’s edict;
Grail	"It is I who have set up my king on Zion, my holy mountain."(I will announce the decree of the Lord:)

Christ the king

Christ's kingship, the fourth century commentator Theodoret points out, by virtue of his divinity is eternal, and not appointed by anyone.  

But as Incarnate Son, he has been appointed by the Father to rule the world: 

 …In fact he rules not only over Mount Sion but over all things visible and invisible and over all creation.  But on Mount Sion and in Judea he propounded his divine teachings to those who attended; those who accepted it derived streams flowing into the whole world through their obedience to his divine precepts: Go forth, he says, make disciples of all nations.  Now the verse I have been established as king by him is expressed in human fashion: as God he possesses his kingship by nature, as human being he receives it by election…

Mt Sion is the Church

Sion, the holy mountain has a wide variety of meanings in Scripture, including signifying the Church and heaven.  In this case, though, the Fathers argue that it clearly means the Church.  St Augustine, for example, instructs that:

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.  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.  

Preaching the Gospel

The final phrase of the verse, teaching the commandments or law of the Lord, is generally interpreted as referring to the Gospel.

Psalm 2: Quare fremuérunt Gentes

Vulgate	Douay Rheims
Quare fremuérunt Gentes: * et pópuli meditáti sunt inánia?	Why have the Gentiles raged, and the people devised vain things?
2  Astitérunt reges terræ, et príncipes convenérunt in unum * advérsus Dóminum, et advérsus Christum ejus.	The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes met together, against the Lord, and against his Christ.
3  Dirumpámus víncula eórum: * et projiciámus a nobis jugum ipsórum.	Let us break their bonds asunder: and let us cast away their yoke from us.
4. Qui hábitat in cælis, irridébit eos: * et Dóminus subsannábit eos.	He that dwells in heaven shall laugh at them: and the Lord shall deride them.
5  Tunc loquétur ad eos in ira sua, * et in furóre suo conturbábit eos.	Then shall he speak to them in his anger, and troubled them in his rage.
6  Ego autem constitútus sum Rex ab eo super Sion montem sanctum ejus, * prædicans præcéptum ejus.	But I am appointed king by him over Sion, his holy mountain, preaching his commandment.
7  Dóminus dixit ad me: * Fílius meus es tu, ego hódie génui te.	The Lord has said to me: You are my son, this day have I begotten you.
8  Póstula a me, et dábo tibi Gentes hereditátem tuam, * et possessiónem tuam términos terræ.	Ask of me, and I will give you the Gentiles for your inheritance, and the utmost parts of the earth for your possession
9  Reges eos in virga férrea, * et tamquam vas fíguli confrínges eos.	You shall rule them with a rod of iron, and shall break them in pieces like a potter's vessel.
10  Et nunc, reges, intellígite: * erudímini, qui judicátis terram.	And now, O you kings, understand: receive instruction, you that judge the earth.
11  Servíte Dómino in timóre: * et exsultáte ei cum   tremóre.	Serve the Lord with fear: and rejoice unto him with trembling.
12  Apprehéndite disciplínam, nequándo irascátur Dóminus, * et pereátis de via justa.	Embrace discipline, lest at any time the Lord be angry, and you perish from the just way.
13  Cum exárserit in brevi ira ejus: * beáti omnes qui confídunt in eo.	When his wrath shall be kindled in a short time, blessed are all they that trust in him.

And you can find the next set of notes on this psalm here.