Küsst den Sohn und nicht die Füsse. Textkritische und bibeltheologische Beobachtungen zu Psalm 2,7.11-12a

Abstract

Kiss the Son instead of the Feet. The verses of Psalm 2, 11-12a offer a wide range of possibilities of interpretation and yet this interpretation is vital for the understanding of Psalm 2 and of the beginning of the Book of Psalms. Firstly, this article shows an overview of text variations and different translations from the Hexapla of Origen to actually critical editions of original texts in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. The juxtaposition of these verses clearly shows that the LXX and Vulgata interpret the text freely. They do not translate „kiss the son“ with „kiss the feet“.

Secondly, a detailed study of the Hebrew text focuses on the analysis of the BHS text. Here we find the Aramaic bar (surprisingly not the Hebrew noun ben), instead of the Hebrew word regel. This choice opens up a broad field of interpretation, which Pierre Auffret, Robert L. Cole and many others took to study. This article focuses on a view of the semantic, phonetic and content characteristics of the text and comes to the conclusion that the Aramaic expression bar in v. 12a is an important tie in the artificial building of the whole Psalm 2; yet this very word is a central marker for the constitutive Deuteronomian kingship theme in Psalm 2 and in the whole Book of Psalms.