Psalm 2:12 “Kiss the Son.” A missionary mistranslation?
Channel: Galen Currah
Date: 2016-07-04

Psalm 2:12 “Kiss the Son.” A missionary mistranslation?
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‎ עִבְד֣וּ אֶת־יְהוָ֣ה בְּיִרְאָ֑ה וְ֜גִ֗ילוּ בִּרְעָדָֽה׃ שְּׁקוּ־בַ֡ר
‎פֶּן־יֶאֱנַ֤ף׀ וְתֹ֬אבְדוּ דֶ֗רֶךְ כִּֽי־יִבְעַ֣ר כִּמְעַ֣ט אַפּ֑וֹ אַ֜שְׁרֵ֗י כָּל־ח֥וֹסֵי בֽוֹ׃

The received text of the Tanach, Psalm 2:11-12 reads, “Serve the LORD in awe; tremble with fright, pay homage in good faith, lest He be angered, and your way be doomed in the mere flash of His anger.”  

Some Jewish apologists accuse Christians of having adulterated, altered or amended verse 12a in an attempt to introduce extraneous, Trinitarianism. Indeed, instead of “pay homage in good faith” traditional Christian translations of Psalm 2:12a do read, “Kiss the Son…,” providing alternative translations in a note.  
The Hebrew text of 2:12a reads, ‎נַשְּׁקוּ־בַר [naʃqu_baɾ], which has no clear translation. Some Rabbis make bold assertions to the effect that these words must mean, “Arm [yourselves with] purity.”

Lexicons  list two homonyms of נשְּׁק [nʃq]. I. to kiss, which requires a direct object; and II. 1. to put oneself in an order, accommodate oneself, which takes no direct object; 2. to arm oneself.
If the verb [nʃq] means to kiss, then it implies an act of obeisance or of submission; otherwise it calls for leaders to obey orders, as in Genesis 41:40 (“by your command shall all my people be directed” ). To arm oneself seems inappropriate to the context of Psalm 2.

Lexicons  list four homonyms of בַר [baɾ]. 1. son [Aramaic noun]; 2. pure or empty [adjective]; 3. grain; and 4. open country.
Since Aramaic words rarely occur in the Psalms, and since the Hebrew term for son בֵּן [bɛn] occurs in verse 7 (“You are My son” ), the translation “son” seems unlikely for [baɾ] in verse 12. Nor do pure (an adjective), grain or open country suit the grammar or the context.
So, what to do with [baɾ]?
Some surmise that the ancient text, which had no vowels or diacritical marks, originally read בו [bn] and that an ancient scribe copied it as בר [br] mistaking a poorly-written, paleographic nun “n” for a paleographic resh “ɾ”.
Paleographic nun [n].  Paleographic resh [ɾ] 
However, there remains neither manuscript nor tradition to this effect, and one would expect the text to have read הבו [ha-bɛn], “the son”.

Some scholars  propose to emend the text to delete [baɾ] or [naʃqu_baɾ], suggesting that one or both of these words was accidently inserted by an ancient scribe through dittography, that is, “reduplication of letters or syllables in writing, printing, etc., usually through error.” 
In this case, verse 12 would begin, “Lest He be angered.” However, there remains neither manuscript nor tradition to this effect. Unfortunately, there is no known paleographic Hebrew manuscript that contains the second Psalm.

The Septuagint, the fourth century BCE, Greek translation of the Tanakh, translates Psalm 2:12 by δράξασθε παιδείας, μήποτε ὀργισθῇ κύριος…  (“Lay hold of discipline [or correction] , lest the LORD be angered…”). 
This seems to imply that there were one or more Hebrew words at the start of verse 12, with little indication of what those words may have been, unless the translators interpreted [naʃqu] within the semantic breadth of παιδεία.

Awaiting further documentary and linguistic discoveries or insight, it seems reasonable to presume a scribal error that resulted in two extra words at the start of Psalm 2:12 in the Hebrew received text. This seems consistent with the exhortative character of verse 11, to which verse 12 serves as an explanatory clause, in which the words [naʃqu_baɾ] seem redundant.
Thus, we propose as a rendering of Psalm 2:11-12, “Serve the LORD in awe; tremble with fright, lest He be angered, and your way be doomed in the mere flash of His anger.”

In view of the tenuous nature of attempts of rendering Psalm 2:12a, those of Christians, of Jews and of Atheists can, for the present, be considered legitimate attempts to deal with a difficult text. For now, accusations, vilification, authoritative pronouncements and arbitrary definition of words prove more about human bias than about the Psalm itself.
Nevertheless, Psalm 2 portrays strong messianic imagery of worldwide domination under someone called “son,” who is or will be Yahweh’s anointed king.