Psalms 2:12

Arm yourselves with purity Arm yourselves with purity of the heart. Some explain נשקו as garnimont in Old French, equipping. (This is from the verb, garnir. Garnimont means to provide, as in Gen. 41:40). Menachem (p. 179) interprets it as an expression of desire, as (in Gen. 3:16): “Your longing (תשוקתך) shall be for your husband.”

lest He become angry Heb. יאנף, lest He become angry.

and you perish in the way Like the matter that is stated (above 1:16): “but the way of the wicked shall perish.”

for in a moment His wrath will be kindled For in a short moment His wrath will suddenly be kindled against them, and at that time, the praises of all those who take refuge in Him will be discerned, the praises of all who take refuge in Him.

Kiss the son (נַשְּׁקוּ־בַר - nashku var): Behold, "Serve Ad-nai" [from v. 11] corresponds to [the rebellion] "against Ad-nai" [in v. 2]. And "Kiss the son" [nashku var] corresponds to [the rebellion] "against His anointed" [in v. 2].

And behold, the interpretation of bar is "son," as in (Proverbs 31:2): "What, my son (beri), and what, O son (bar) of my womb?" And so it is written [in verse 7], "You are My son (b'ni atah)." And the custom of nations in the world is to place their hands under the hand of the king (like the brothers of Solomon [showing submission, cf. (I Chronicles 29:24)]), or [for] the servant [to place his hand] under the thigh of his master [for an oath, cf. (Genesis 24:2)], or to kiss the king. And this custom [of kissing the ruler] exists until today in the land of India.

Lest He be angered (פֶּן־יֶאֱנַף - pen ye'enaf): [The pronoun "He"] refers back to HaShem [God] mentioned in the previous verse ("Serve Ad-nai"). Even if the antecedent is distant, [this occurs elsewhere], like [in (Exodus 15:12)] "the earth swallowed them" – ["them"] does not refer back to the [immediately preceding] phrase "Who is like You among the gods?" [v. 11] but rather to [the more distant] "[the] enemy said" [v. 9].¹ And similarly [in (Exodus 40:17-19), the fulfillment of actions] "and they erected the Tabernacle" [refers back to commands given much earlier].

And some say (v'yesh omrim): That nashku is from the root neshek (נֶשֶׁק - arms, weaponry). And the meaning [would be]: Arm yourselves (nashku) with purity (var). And behold, bar [would then mean "pure"], like [in (Psalm 24:4)] "pure (b'rei) of heart." [However, Ibn Ezra notes grammatical issues:] It properly should have been [the noun] bor (בֹּר - purity), or [the phrase would be] "equip (tiknu) the purity (ha-bor)" or "[take up] the weapon/vessel (k'li) of purity (ha-bor)."

Kiss the son: – as (in the verse) “and he kissed all his brethren” (Gen. 45:15). And (the word) בר is the same as בן; and so “What, my son (בני)? ”; and “what, O son (בר) of my womb?” (Prov. 31:2). Or it may be interpreted by “the pure (ברי) of heart” (Ps. 73:1). If its meaning is “son,” this will be its interpretation: Kiss this son whom God has called “son,” as He says (above): Thou art My son. And the command is Kiss, because it is the custom for a servant to kiss the hand of the master. And if its meaning is “pure,” its interpretation is, “What have I to do with you, for I am pure in heart and there is no wickedness in me that ye should come and fight against me? Your duty is to kiss me and to confess that I am king by the command of God.” And בר may also be fittingly interpreted from (the verse) “Choose (ברו) you a man for you” (1 Sam. 17:8), upon the analogy of “Saul the chosen of the Lord” (2 Sam. 21:6).

lest He be angry: – If ye turn not speedily from your evil ways God will be angry with you.

and ye perish in the way, For His wrath will soon be kindled: – Soon, because ye continue in your wickedness, His anger will burn upon you, as if to say, If ye do not quickly repent. And the interpretation of and ye perish in the way is as (in the verse) “and the way of the wicked shall perish” (Ps. 1:6). And behold the way perishes and they are perishing because of their way which is perishing, as “an oak fading as to its leaves” (Is. 1:30). Because the leaves are fading the oak is called a fading one. And so, “the torn of clothes” (2 Sam. 13:31(2)), and elsewhere, for the clothes are torn and not they (i.e. the wearers), and they are called torn because of their clothes which are torn. And so (Jer. 41:5), “Shaven as to their beards and rent of clothes” and other similar instances. And he says:

Happy are all they that put their trust in Him: – as I am this day, because I have put my trust in Him, and am saved by Him while ye perish; but if ye trust in Him they shall likewise say of you, “Happy are ye!”

And there are some who interpret this Psalm of Gog and Magog, and the anointed one is King Messiah: and so our teachers of blessed memory have interpreted (Babli, Berakhoth 7b). And the Psalm can be explained in this way, but the better is that David uttered it concerning himself, as we have interpreted.