Acts 4:26

παρέστησαν : not necessarily of hostile intent, although here the context indicates it; R.V., “set themselves in array,” lit [162] “presented themselves,” an exact rendering of the Hebrew יָצַב, which sometimes implies rising up against as here, Psalms 2:2, and cf. 2 Samuel 18:13 (R.V. margin). Of the generally accepted Messianic interpretation of the Psalm, and of the verses here quoted, there can be no doubt, cf. Edersheim, Jesus the Messiah, ii., 716 (appendix on Messianic passages), and Wetstein, in loco. The Psalm is regarded as full of Messianic references (Briggs, Messianic Prophecy, pp. 132 140, and 492, 493), cf., e.g., the comment on this verse of the Psalm in the Mechilta (quoted in the Yalkut Shimeoni, ii., f. 90, 1 Sch. p. 227), Perowne, Psalms (small edition), p. 16; and Edersheim, u. s. The Psalm carries us back to the great Davidic promise in 2 Samuel 7:11-16, and it reflects the Messianic hopes of the Davidic period. That hope the N.T. writers who quote this Psalm very frequently or refer to it, cf. Acts 13:33; Hebrews 1:5; Hebrews 5:5, see fulfilled in Christ, the antitype of David and of Solomon. Thus the gathering together of the nations and their fruitless decrees find their counterpart in the alliance of Herod and Pilate, and the hostile combination of Jew and Gentile against the holy Servant Jesus, the anointed of God, and against His followers; although the words of the Psalm and the issues of the conflict carry on our thoughts to a still wider and deeper fulfilment in the final triumph of Christ's kingdom, cf. the frequent recurrence of the language of the Psalm in Revelation 12:5; Revelation 19:15, and cf. Revelation 1:5; Revelation 2:26-27.

[162] literal, literally.