The book of Psalms plays an important role in revealing the nature and character of the Messiah, both Jewish and Christian interpreters agree on this point. 

Even when Christian and Jewish interpreters agree a Psalm or a verse in the Psalms is messianic, the conclusion they draw often differs, revolving around the nature and character of Messiah.

            For example, using Psalm 110, Jesus asked the Pharisees a question about the nature of Messiah, if messiah is Son of David, why does David call him (Matthew 22;42) Lord?  For the most part, Jewish rabbinical interpreters feel Psalm 110 is messianic, the question is, what it reveals about the Messiah.  

            Some Psalms play a greater role then others; however, within the Psalms we see the dual nature of Messiah.  He is portrayed as both a conquering king and a rejected persecuted servant.  Also important to note, is many of the Psalms have an earlier fulfillment, with a greater fulfillment in the Messiah. Many of the Psalms, which portray Messiah as king and ruler, Jews and Christians find agreement, although the nature of the king might be disagreed upon, the context of Messiah being King is not.  

            The areas in Psalms where Christian and Jewish interpretations find themselves at odds is the portrayal of the “Suffering Servant” aspect of the Messiah.  Here, Jewish writers have a vigorous disagreement with the Christian understanding of Messiah.  

            This contrasting nature of the Psalms and the nature of Messiah is clearly demonstrated in the 2^nd and the 22^nd Psalm.  In the 2^nd Psalm, Messiah is viewes as king of the earth, in the 22^nd we have a man, rejected, scorned and mocked by his people. This same man then leads praises to God in the midst of his brothers. 

Psalm 2

The first question, we need to ask is did the Rabbis apply the 2^nd Psalm to the Messiah? The answer is yes, the Rabbis clearly saw this Psalm as Messianic.  See chart below:

             Without Question, the 2^nd Psalm was applied in a Messianic context to King Messiah. There are various aspects of this application, which are worth discussion.   Jewish and Christian interpreters agree Psalm 2, could have been applied to David, with the greater fulfillment in Messiah. The characteristic of this individual ruling the nations is characteristic of Messiah, who will one day govern the earth, both from Christian and Jewish eschatological perspectives (last things).

            The nature of Messiah presented here has stirred most of the debate.  In the 2^nd Psalm, Messiah is addressed as son, “You are my Son”, in verse 7. The question, what does this term really mean, is the LORD calling the messiah, “Son”?  And what kind of son, metaphorical, physical?  What does this tell us about the nature of the Messiah?   The 2^nd Psalm raises all these questions. 

 Jewish Study Bible comments 

The Jewish Study Bible has the following comments regarding these verses.  

    Verse 7 Adoption language expresses the close kingship between God and the king, and is common in the ancient Near East. Some biblical passages may suggest that some groups in ancient Israel viewed the king as divine; see 45.7 n. The son language here has played a significant role in medieval Jewish-Christian polemic (e.g, the final comment of Radak on this psalm). The decree cited may be 2 Sam. 7.14, where God says to David concerning  his heir; “I will be a father to him, and he shall be a son to Me.”

    10-12 in a rhetorical flourish, God is depicted as speaking directly to the foreign monarchs. A similar depiction of the centrality of God and Zion for all nations is also found in Isa. 2.2-4, but is there in an eschatological setting. 12: As noted, the translation in good faith is uncertain. The Heb word “bar” can also mean “son,” especially in Aramaic, and this has sometimes been connected to the divinely adopted son (“ben”) in v. 7.[4]

 Who is the Son? 

            The question about this verse comes down too, who is the Son? Christians understand the Son to be Messiah who is God incarnated into to the world, in the body of man, through of the virgin Mary, fully God and fully man. Jesus was fully God in Heaven, who took upon Himself humanity, to die for the sins of the world. At the incarnation he became the “The Son” fulfilling the promise made to David (2 Samuel 7:14) in the Psalm 2:7,12 and in 2^nd Samuel. To understand this concept, we see God, manifested in human form, sitting on His throne, surrounded by the angels, speaking to Ezekiel. Here the LORD appears to Ezekiel, as a man.  Jesus is the human manifestation of God’s glory, “the glory of the Lord” in the world, the difference being Jesus was born into the world, to bear the sins of the world, as opposed to appearing in glory to the prophets. (glory of the lord, see Exodus 16:7,10; 24:16,17; 40:34-35; Leviticus 9:6,23;, I Kings 8:11, Isaiah 40:5, Ezekiel 3:12,23, 10:4,18; 43:4,5; 44:4) 

"And in the morning you shall see the glory of the Lord; for He hears your complaints against the Lord. But what are we, that you complain against us?" Exodus 16:7

26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking. 
Ezekiel 1:26-28

 In the Jewish scriptures, the “Glory of the Lord” is the visible manifestation of the LORD, this is exactly who Jesus (Yeshua) was, He was the visible manifestation of LORD in human flesh. This understanding of the nature of the Son is validated in the 2^nd Psalm verse 12, where humanity is told to put their “Trust” in the Son, lest they ‘Perish in the way”.

             The Jewish understanding is the Messiah called “son”, is figurative, not that the “Son” is God, but only an exalted man, the Son of David, on whom the Lord bestows the kingdom.  For this reason, verse 12 becomes central to the discussion of the 2^nd Psalm. Verse 12, instructs the reader to action, is the instruction about the “Son” or something else?

            In the final verse, the reader is told to “Kiss the Son” (NKJV) and “Put their trust in Him”, leading  to the Jewish objection.

 Objection 1:  Psalm 2:12 “Kiss the Son” is translated incorrectly in order to justify the Christian doctrine Jesus is the “Son of God”!

 Answer to Objection 1:  Reading the Rabbinical commentaries, we can see, the 2^nd Psalm is clearly understood as messianic, both by Christian and Jewish interpreters.  Along with the messianic nature of the 2^nd Psalm, the Messiah is also called “Son” in both the Hebrew and Aramaic languages. Using the Hebrew word, !b Ben in verse 7 and the Aramaic rb Bar in verse 12.  

             The subject of this Psalm is the LORD and His anointed (His Messiah) (xyXm Mashiyach) in verse 2, and how the nations (ywg Gowy) are in conflict with them.  The nations, forced to submit to the rule of the Messiah, resist the LORD’s will, God in heaven laughs at the nations who reject His rule.  The LORD then declares He will yet set His king over Mt. Zion (Jerusalem), declaring to King Messiah, “You are My Son”.

 6 "Yet I have set My King On My holy hill of Zion." 7 "I will declare the decree: The Lord has said to Me, 'You are My Son, Today I have begotten You. 8 Ask of Me, and I will give You The nations for Your inheritance, And the ends of the earth for Your possession. 9 You shall break them with a rod of iron; You shall dash them to pieces like a potter's vessel.' "
Psalm 2:6-9

             The nations will be subjected to the LORD and His anointed (Messiah); the Messiah’s power over the nations will be complete.  Like the power to smash a vessel of pottery, the Messiah will have power over the nations.  This context is important for the reader to understand the meaning of the 12^th verse.
            In the 12^th verse, we read,( qXn Nashaq (Kiss) rb Bar (Son)) “Kiss  the son” (bar being the Aramaic form) some translations have chosen to read bar as var meaning purity and nashaq as yearn instead of kiss, “ yearning for purity”, rather then the literal rendering.  Their argument being there is no room for an Aramaic word, in the Psalms, therefore it must be read as var rather then bar.  Dr. Michael Brown comments on this conflict in volume 3, of his series, “Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus”,

 Abraham Ibn Ezra, possibly the most exacting of the medieval Jewish commentators and a man with no sympathy for Christian interpretations of the Tanakh, understood bar to mean “son’ with reference to Proverbs 31:2.  Other Jewish scholars—some traditional and some not—have also interpreted the text in similar terms, including A.B. Ehrlich, A. Sh. Hartom (in his fairly traditional Psalms commentary, where “son” is mentioned as a possibility),….There is also an interesting mystical interpretation provided in the Zohar that equates bar with the son of God: “You are the good shepherd: of you it is said, “Kiss the son” You are great here below, the teacher of Israel, the Lord of the serving angels, the son of the Most High, the son of the Holy One, may His name be praised and His Holy Spirit [Shekhinah] [5]

             Therefore, the word bar translated son is not a “Christian” creation, but an issue, which is even debated within Judaism itself.   The Syriac Peshitta understood bar as “son”: other ancient versions (Greek , Aramaic, Latin) understood the meaning to be “purity”, “chastity”, “discipline”, “pure”, “unmixed”, (reading the Hebrew as either bar or bor)[6].

 Psalm 22

             In contrast to the 2^nd Psalm, the 22^nd Psalm, pictures an individual who suffers. Who is this suffering person in the 22^nd Psalm?   According to the Jewish Study Bible, this psalm of David is read on Purim and is viewed by Jewish tradition as David lamenting over the future exile of his people in the book of Esther.[7]  Christian interpreters see the 22^nd Psalm as looking forward to the Messiah, who would fulfill its words by “Suffering” for the sins of the people in accordance with Isaiah 52:13-53:12 and Daniel 9:26.

 The scene according to Christian interpretation is of Messiah on the cross, “Suffering” rejection and death for the sins of humanity. According to the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus cried out the first lines of the 22^nd before his death.

 46 And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, "Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?" that is, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" Matthew 27:46

 Objection 1: The 22^nd Psalm speaks about the past suffering of David or the nation not about the Messiah.

 Reply to Objection 1: The 22^nd Psalm has had various interpretations within Judaism, including messianic, as well as David and the nation of Israel.

             Rashi applies the 22^nd Psalm to the Jewish nation, giving it a prophetic national application.  While other Jewish writers have even applied this to the Son of David, the Messiah (not the Jesus of the New Testament).  The 8^th century midrash, Pesikta Rabbati, uses the words of the 22^nd Psalm, applying them to the suffering Messiah.  According to the midrash, David looking forward to the suffering of his son (The Messiah) the son of David, says, My strength is dried like a potsherd (Psalm 22;16).  Dr. Brown quotes from this Midrash,

 During the seven-year period preceding the coming of the son of David, iron beams will be brought low and loaded upon his neck until the Messiah’s body is bent low.  Then he will cry and weep, and his voice will rise to the very height of heaven, and he will say o God; Master of the universe, how much can my strength endure? How much can my spirit endure? How much my breath  before it ceases? How much can my limbs suffer? Am I not flesh and blood?

 It was because of the ordeal of the son of David that David wept, saying My strength is dried up like a potsherd (Ps. 22;16). During the ordeal of the son of David, the Holy One, blessed be He, will say to him; Ephraim, My true Messiah, long ago, ever since the six days of creation, thou didst take this ordeal upon thyself. At this moment, thy pain is like my pain.

 It is taught, moreover, that in the month of Nisan the Patriarchs will arise and say to the Messiah; Ephraim, our true Messiah, even though we are thy forebears, thou art greater than we because thou didst suffer for the iniquities of our children, and terrible ordeals befell thee….

For the sake of Israel thou didst become a laughingstock and a derision among the nations of the earth; and thou didst sit in darkness, in thick darkness, and thine eyes saw no light, and thy skin cleaved to they bones, and thy body was as dry as a piece of wood; and thine eyes grew dim from fasting, and thy strength was dried up like a potsherd—all these afflictions on account of the  iniquities of our children.

 Ephraim is a darling son to Me…My heart yearneth for him, in mercy I will have mercy upon him, saith the Lord (Jer. 31:20). Why does the verse speak twice of mercy;  In mercy I will have mercy upon him? One mercy refers to the time when he ill be shut up in prison, a time when the nations of the world will gnash their teeth at him every day, wink they eyes at one another in derision of him, nod their heads at him contempt, open wide their lips to guffaw, as is said All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head (Ps. 22;8); My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my throat; and thou layest me in the dust of death ( Ps. 22;16). Moreover, they will roar over him like lions, as is said they open wide their mouth against me, as a ravening and roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is become like wax; it is melted in mine inmost parts (Ps. 22;14-15)[8]

             Here we see, in the 8^th century, Rabbis saw the 22^nd Psalm apply in a prophetic sense to the suffering of the Messiah.  Understanding this as fulfilled by a person is the best literal reading of the verse.  To interpret this as referring to the nation of Israel, is creating symbolism where the literal reading is clearly seen.

            Regarding David, the events in David’s life in some ways match the events of the 22^nd Psalm, especially when David was pursued and rejected by his own son, however the events directly match the life of Jesus who was a “Son of David”, who was pierced, rejected and mocked by the nation in His suffering.

  The 22^nd Psalm also corresponds to the image of the “Suffering Righteous Servant” of Isaiah 52:13:53:12, who suffers rejection, is despised, pierced and killed.  His death is for the sins of the people, the same servant is exalted extolled.  In the 22^nd Psalm, the rejected individual in this Psalm declares God’s glory to his brethren, picturing the victorious “Suffering Servant”, matching Isaiah 53 picture.

      22 I will declare Your name to My brethren; In the midst of the assembly I will praise You.      Psalm 22:22

 Psalm 22;16[17]

 Objection 2: Psalm 22 does not speak of death by crucifixion, the King James writers changed the words of verses 16[17] to say “Piercing” the sufferer’s hands and feet, while the Hebrew text says, “Like a lion they are at my hands and feet.”

 Reply to Objection 2:   First, the verses regarding the piercing are not quoted by New Testament writers, Secondly, the translation of pierced is backed up the Septugint and the Dead Sea Scrolls. So the translation problem here is not only a Christian problem its also a Jewish problem.

            Jewish interpreters claim the Christians have misinterpreted Psalm 22:16 [17] because in the Masoretic text the verse reads ka’ari followed by my hand and my feet. The word ka (like) followed by ari (lion) means like a lion.  The imagery here presents the picture of “Like a lion” my hands and my feet are mauled.   In the older Dead Sea Scrolls version of Psalms 22 the word is ka’aru meaning, “to dig out” or “to bore through”

            So the issue of pierced is not so much a question of the King James translators, as much an issue of Jewish manuscripts.  Dr. Michael Brown sums up this argument succinctly,

……….According to Rashi, the meaning is “as though they are crushed in a lion’s mouth.”  While the commentary of Metsudat David states, “They crush my hands and my feet as the lion which crushes the bones  of the prey in its mouth.”  Thus, the imagery is clear; These lions are not licking the psalmist’s feet! They are tearing and ripping at them.  Given the metaphorical language of the surrounding verses (cf. vv. 12-21 [13-22]), this vivid image of mauling lions graphically conveys the great physical agony of the sufferer…….

…Where did the King James translators come up with this idea of ‘piercing’ the hands and feet? That’s not what the Hebrew says.” …..

…..Actually, the Septuagint, the oldest existing Jewish translation of the Tanakh, was the first to translate the Hebrew as “they pierced my hands and feet” (using the verb oruxan in Greek), followed by the Syriach Peshitta version two or three centuries later (rendering with baz’u) not only so, but the oldest Hebrew copy of the Psalms we possess (from the Dead Sea Scrolls, dating to the century before Yeshua) reads the verb in this verse as ka’aru (not ka’ari, “like a lion”),  a reading also found in about a dozen medieval Masoretic manuscripts—recognized as the authoritative texts in traditional Jewish thought—where instead of ka’ari (found in almost all other Masoretic manuscripts) the texts say either ka’aru or karu.

 In conclusion, the Dead Sea scrolls agrees with the picture of the pierced Messiah in the 22^nd Psalm, verse 16.