bar as ―pay homage in good faith‖; but acknowledges in a footnote that the meaning of the Hebrew is
uncertain. Why, then is ―kiss the Son‖ (a reference to the ―Son of God‖ mentioned in verse 7) a more
preferable reading?
When a Jewish boy reaches the age of 13, he becomes Bar Mitzvah, a son of the commandment. However,
ben is the usual Hebrew word for ―son‖, whereas bar is Aramaic. Nevertheless, there are several places in
the Hebrew Scriptures which have bar for ―son‖, where any other reading would not make sense. Most are in
Ezra and Daniel, for example:
―Then the prophet Haggai and Zechariah the son of (bar) Iddo, prophets, prophesied to the Jews who were
in Judah and Jerusalem, in the name of the God of Israel, who was over them. So Zerubbabel the son of
(bar) Shealtiel and Jeshua the son of (bar) Jozadak rose up and began to build the house of God which is in
Jerusalem; and the prophets of God were with them, helping them‖. (Ezra 5:1-2)
―So the elders of the Jews built, and they prospered through the prophesying of Haggai the prophet and
Zechariah the son of (bar) Iddo. And they built and finished it, according to the commandment of the God of
Israel, and according to the command of Cyrus, Darius, and Artaxerxes king of Persia‖. (Ezra 6:14)
However, Ezra also uses the Hebrew ben, just as Psalm 2:7
cf.: ―And whatever they need--young bulls, rams, and lambs for the burnt offerings of the God of heaven,
wheat, salt, wine, and oil, according to the request of the priests who are in Jerusalem--let it be given them
day by day without fail, that they may offer sacrifices of sweet aroma to the God of heaven, and pray for the
life of the king and his sons (benim)‖. (Ezra 6:9-10)
―Whatever is commanded by the God of heaven, let it diligently be done for the house of the God of heaven.
For why should there be wrath against the realm of the king and his sons (benim)?‖ (Ezra 7:23)
It might be argued that the Ezra and Daniel references, being exilic and post-exilic, might employ the
Aramaic bar. But the word is used twice in Proverbs, a much earlier work:
―My son (bar), pay attention to my wisdom; lend your ear to my understanding, that you may preserve
discretion, and your lips may keep knowledge. (Prov 7:1-2)
The words of king Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. What, my son (bar)? and what, the son
(bar) of my womb? and what, the son(bar) of my vows? (Prov 31:1-2)
Proverbs is definitely pre-exilic, as is Psalm 2. As Ezra and Solomon both employ ben and bar, so may David
in Psalm 2. ―Kiss the Son‖ is the best rendering of nashqu bar in Psalm 2. Aramaisms were in use in Israel
long before the exile and, because the psalm is poetry, to use ben in verse 12 would make the verse very
clumsy. Nashqu bar preserves the poetic beauty of the psalm.
Because Psalm 2 is a poem, the translation ―kiss the Son‖ retains the parallel structure (essential to Hebrew
poetry) which would be broken by any other translation:
―YHWH and his Messiah...‖ (verse 2)
―YHWH has said ... you are my Son‖. (verse 7)
―Serve YHWH...(verse 11) Kiss the Son‖. (verse 12)
The context makes sense of the rendering ―kiss the Son‖. In the first three verses of the psalm, the nations
and their kings as well as the rulers of Israel, plot against YHWH and his Messiah, whom YHWH refers to as
―my Son‖ (verse 7). In verse 10, YHWH commands the rulers to be wise, to accept his discipline, to cease
rebelling and to serve YHWH. Not only that, he commands them to ―kiss the Son‖—the Messiah they have
previously rejected.
By reading the psalm in this way, it not only makes more sense of the passage but also makes YHWH‘s way
of salvation plain to us all, Jew and gentile alike.
Why was Yochanan the greatest?
The answer is in Matt 3:13-15: ―Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of
him. But John forbad him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me? And Jesus
answering said unto him, Suffer it to be so now: for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.
Then he suffered him‖.
The reason: the water baptism brought Y‘shua into full ministry. Also in Mark 1:9: ―And it came to pass in
those days, that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized of John in Jordan‖, and YHWH