A Son of Allah is not found in Psalm 2

In the Qur’an, Jesus is referred to in ninety three verses within fifteen different chapters. Jesus is mentioned by name twenty-five times in the Qur’an as “son of Mary” or “Messiah Jesus, son of Mary”. Jesus is not mentioned by name in the Hebrew Bible.

Islam agrees with Christianity that Jesus was born to a virgin, was sinless, performed miracles, and was superior to most other prophets. Yet, Islam teaches that Jesus was no more than a prophet. Islam denies the central teaching and belief of Christianity by denying Jesus’ divinity, crucifixion, and resurrection.

The Qur’an states: 2:136 “We believe in Allah, and the revelation given to us, and to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob, and the (12) Tribes, and that given to Moses and Jesus, and that given to (all) prophets from their Lord: We make no difference between one and another of them”

A central difference between Judaism and Christianity is the Christian belief in Jesus of Nazareth as both a messiah and “the only begotten” son of God. Muslims believe that Jesus was a messiah, but they firmly disbelief that Jesus is or was in any way a son of God.

Qur’an 4:163 states: “We have sent thee inspiration, as We sent it to Noah and the Messengers after him: we sent inspiration to Abraham, Isma’il, Isaac, Jacob and the Tribes, to Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, and Solomon, and to David We gave the Psalms.” David’s Psalm #2 provides the evidence.

Prof. Marc Zvi Brettler and Prof. Amy-Jill Levine point out that Jews not only deny that Jesus was the messiah, but, more fundamentally, view the very concept of a divine “son of God” as contradicting a core principle of monotheism.

“To support their claim, early followers of Jesus claimed Psalm 2:7, where YHWH addresses his “anointed” (mashiach) with: “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” By extension, they found in the rest of the psalm predictions of the opposition Jesus and his followers would face as well as the ultimate defeat of Jesus’s enemies.

Jewish interpreters, of course, read the verse, and the whole psalm differently.

What was the original context of Psalm 2 which is a royal psalm that focuses on YHWH’s support of Judah’s king against his enemies: Psalm 2:1 asks: “Why do the nations conspire, and the peoples plot in vain? 2:2 The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against YHWH and his anointed. (NRSV with adjustments).”

The first two verses set the foreign kings against YHWH’s משׁיח, “anointed one,” a term that means the king who was anointed with oil upon coronation. The reference is to the king of Judah (and not the king of Northern) Israel), as verse 6 indicates by its geographical specification:
Psalm 2:6 “I have set my king on Zion, my holy hill.”

Using military imagery, the psalmist expresses his confidence in the Davidic king’s victory: Psalm 2:9 “You shall break them with a rod of iron, and smash them in pieces like a potter’s vessel.” Subsequent verses (10–12) warn foreign kings to be prudent, serve YHWH, and pay homage.

The psalm’s real-life setting, was the coronation of a new king (and maybe the king’’s yearly anniversary). This context is suggested not only by the term מְשִׁיחוֹ, “His anointed one” (v. 2), which calls attention to the act of anointing a king, but also by the oracle’s reference to the “day” on which the change to the king’s status is conferred: Psalm 2:7 “I will tell of the decree of YHWH: He said to me, “You are my son; today I have begotten you.” (on the king’’s yearly anniversary day)

Prophet David’s Psalm 2 is speaking metaphorically. Much biblical language about YHWH is metaphorical: He is; king, shepherd, warrior, etc. An instructive example of such a metaphorical depiction is YHWH’s self-description in Isaiah 42:14 as a woman in childbirth: “I have kept silent far too long, kept still and restrained Myself; now I will scream like a woman in labor, I will pant and I will gasp.”

Prophet Isaiah is not asserting that YHWH is anatomically female, and experiences real childbirth pain. Instead, the verse expresses graphically how YHWH’s coming actions will suddenly but inexorably burst forth. Similarly, Psalm 2 expresses the boundless paternal support the Davidic king should expect from his God by having YHWH refer to him metaphorically as His son.

This interpretation fits with two intertwined biblical metaphors: YHWH is the father of Israel, and Israel is the son of YHWH. Although this father/son metaphorical relationship is not as common in the Hebrew Bible as it is in early Judaism and Christianity, it appears in texts such as: Exodus 4:22 Thus says YHWH: “Israel is My first-born son.” And Deuteronomy 32:6 “Is not He the Father who created you, fashioned you and made you endure!”

Thus, Psalm 2 utilizing the same father-son metaphor elsewhere used in reference to Israel to describe the intimate relationship between the Davidic king and Judah’s God. The Qur’an states: 4:171 “O People of the Book! Commit no excesses in your religion: Nor say of Allah anything but the truth.

“Christ Jesus the son of Mary was (only) a messenger of Allah, and His Word, which He bestowed on Mary, and a spirit proceeding from Him: so believe in Allah and His messengers. Say not “Trinity”: desist: it will be better for you: for Allah is one Allah: Glory be to Him: (far exalted is He) above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on earth.”

Most Reform Jewish Rabbis would agree with this view of Jesus.