What Does Psalm 2:6 Mean in the King James?
Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The Hebrew word for “set” also carries the sense “pour out,” picturing the king’s authority as appointed and given form on ground already set apart.
THE MEANING
God’s king is established on ground marked for God’s purpose. The verse presents this authority as already appointed, even when the surrounding powers resist it.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that opposition can make an authority appointed by God unreal.
THE ROOT
נָסַכְתִּי
nasakhti
GROWS FROM
נסך
n-s-k
To pour out; in this verse, to install or establish.
The root’s “pour out” sense gives “set” a vivid dimension: the king’s place takes shape through an appointment that comes from beyond him. English “set” can sound like simple placement; the Hebrew also carries the image of something poured into form.
ALSO GROWS
nesekh: A libation, or poured offering.
נֵסֶךְ
This related word preserves the root’s sense of pouring out, echoing the deliberate character of the king’s appointment.
masekhah: A cast image or molten image.
מַסֵּכָה
The same root can describe metal poured into a form; here its sense of establishing gives the king’s appointment a settled shape.
קָדְשִׁי
qodshi
GROWS FROM
קדש
q-d-sh
To set apart, reserve for a distinct purpose.
“holy” in this verse is qodshi. The hill is not merely described as sacred; it is marked off for God’s purpose. Together, the two roots show a king established upon a place already set apart.
ALSO GROWS
qodesh: Set-apartness; what is reserved for a sacred purpose.
קֹדֶשׁ
It reveals the underlying quality named by “holy”: belonging to a distinct purpose.
miqdash: Sanctuary, a set-apart place.
מִקְדָּשׁ
This related word makes the root’s sense spatial: what is set apart can become a place of dwelling and encounter.
THE PATTERN
God establishes authority and sets it upon a foundation marked for God’s purpose.
I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.THE THREAD
I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.“Set up” here uses the same Hebrew root, נסך, as “set” in Psalm 2:6. Its range of pouring out and establishing links both verses through the image of an appointment given form.
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