The Scripture behind the Scripture
Thou Art My Son
Psalm 2:7, a royal coronation word, declares Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. The New Testament applies it to Jesus in Acts 13:33, Hebrews 1:5, and Hebrews 5:5, tying it especially to his resurrection and enthronement.
“I will declare the decree: the LORD hath said unto me, Thou art my Son; this day have I begotten thee.”Psalm 2:7
“God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee.”Acts 13:33
“For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, and he shall be to me a Son?”Hebrews 1:5
“So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; but he that said unto him, Thou art my Son, to day have I begotten thee.”Hebrews 5:5
In its own place
In its own place. Psalm 2 is a royal psalm, most likely used at the coronation of a Davidic king in Jerusalem. It opens with the nations raging and plotting against the Lord and his anointed, then shifts to God installing his king on Zion, his holy hill. The pivotal line is the king reciting the divine decree spoken to him, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. In the ancient Near East a king could be called God's son in an adoptive, covenantal sense, and Israel understood this through the promise to David that God would be a father to David's heir. This day have I begotten thee refers to the day of accession, when the king was publicly declared God's chosen son and given the nations as his inheritance. The psalm is not originally about a divine begetting in eternity, but about the enthronement of the anointed one and God's pledge to establish his rule against all rebellion. It ends with a warning to the kings of the earth to serve the Lord and kiss the Son. In its own setting it is a confident, even defiant, declaration of God's commitment to his king and kingdom.
Where the New Testament takes it up
This is a direct quotation, applied to the resurrection and enthronement of Jesus. In Acts 13:33 Paul preaches that God fulfilled the promise to the fathers by raising up Jesus, and he cites Psalm 2:7 as spoken of that raising up. The phrase this day have I begotten thee is read as the day God vindicated his Son, most naturally his resurrection, when Jesus was publicly declared to be the Son with power. Hebrews 1:5 uses the same verse to prove the Son's superiority over the angels, since God never said to any angel Thou art my Son. Hebrews 5:5 uses it again to show that Christ did not exalt himself to the high priesthood but was appointed by the Father who spoke these words. The apostles follow the Greek text closely, and the wording is stable between the Hebrew and Septuagint here. What is striking is that they read a coronation psalm as reaching its true meaning only in Jesus. Every earlier Davidic king was a partial and failing son. The New Testament sees that the decree finally lands fully on the risen Christ, God's Son in a unique sense, whose enthronement is not local and temporary but cosmic and everlasting. The this day is the great day of his vindication.
How it points to Christ
How it points to Christ. The New Testament reads Psalm 2 as the coronation of the true King. The nations that raged against the Lord's anointed did exactly that at the cross, as the early church prayed in Acts 4, gathering Herod and Pilate and the peoples against Jesus. Yet God answered by raising and enthroning his Son, giving him the nations for his inheritance just as the psalm promised. The title Son here is not merely adoptive as with earlier kings, for the wider New Testament confesses Jesus as the eternal Son who became flesh. The resurrection did not make him Son but declared and installed him openly as the Son who reigns. So the psalm's warning to kiss the Son becomes an invitation to submit gladly to Christ, in whom alone is refuge, for blessed are all they that put their trust in him.
Questions people ask
Does this day have I begotten thee mean Jesus had a beginning?
No. Read with the rest of the New Testament, this refers to his public installation as reigning Son, especially at the resurrection, not to an origin of his existence. Hebrews elsewhere affirms the Son's eternity. The begetting language marks enthronement and vindication.
Was Psalm 2 originally about the Messiah?
It was first a coronation psalm for a Davidic king, rooted in God's covenant with David. Because every such king fell short, its full weight came to rest on Jesus, the true Son and King the psalm anticipated.