But to return Ps. ii. 4 is Messianically applied in the Talmud (Abhod. Z. u. s.). Ps. ii. 6 is applied to the Messiah in the Midrash on 1 Samuel xvi. 1 (Par. 19, ed, Lemberg, p. 45 a and b), where it is said that of the three measures of sufferings [6428] one goes to the King Messiah, of whom it is written (Is. liii.) He was wounded for our trangression.' They say to the King Messiah: Where dost Thou seek to dwell? He answers: Is this question also necessary? In Sion My holy hill (Ps. ii. 6). (Comp. also Yalkut ii. p. 53 c.)
Ps. ii. 7 is quoted as Messianic in the Talmud, among a number of other Messianic quotations (Sukk. 52 a). There is a very remarkable passage in the Midrash on Ps. ii. 7 (ed. Warsh p. 5 a), in which the unity of Israel and the Messiah in prophetic vision seems clearly indicated. Tracing the decree' through the Law, the Prophets, and the Hagiograph, the first passage quoted in Exod. iv 22: Israel is My first-born son;' the second, from the Prophets, Is. lii. 13: Behold My servants shall deal prudently,' and Is. xlii. 1: Behold My My servant, whom I uphold;' the third, from the Hagiographa, Ps. cx. 1: The Lord said unto my Lord,' and again, Ps. ii. 7: The Lord said unto Me, Thou art My Son,' and yet this other saying (Dan. vii. 13): Behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven.' Five lines further down, the same Midrash, in reference to the words Thou art My Son,' observes that, when that hour comes, God speaks to Him to make a new convenant, and thus He speaks: This day have I begotten Thee' - this is the hour in which He become His Son.
Ps. ii. 8 is applied in Ber. R. 44 (ed. Warsh. p. 80 a) and in the Midrash on the passage, to the Messiah, with the curious remark that there were three of whom it was said Ask of Me' - Solomon, Ahaz, [6429] and the Messiah. In the Talmud (Shukk. 52 a) the same passage is very curiously applied, it being suggested that, when the Messiah, the Son of David, saw that the Messiah, the Son of Joseph, [6430] would be killed, He said to the Almighty, I seek nothing of Thee except life. To which the reply was: Life before Thou hadst spoken, as David Thy father prophesied of Thee, Ps. xxi. 4.
Ps. ii. 9 will be referred to in our remarks on Ps. cxx.
Ps. xvi. 5 is discussed in Ber. R. 88, in connection with the cup which Pharaoh's butler saw in his dream. From this the Midrash proceeds to speak of the four cups appointed for the Passover night, and to explain their meaning in various manners, among others, contrasting the four cups of fury, which God would make the nations drink, with the four cups of salvation which He would give Israel in the latter days, viz. Ps. xvi. 5; Ps. cxvi. 13; Ps. xxiii. 5. The expression, Ps. cxvi. 13, rendered in our A. V. the cup of salvation,' is in the orginal, the cup of salvations' - and is explained as implying on one for the days of the Messiah, and the other for the days of Gog.
On verse 9, the Midrash on the passage says: My glory shall rejoice in the King Messiah, Who in the furture shall come forth from me, as it is written in Is. iv. 5: "upon all the glory a covering."' And the Midrash continues my flesh also shall dwell in safety' - i.e. after death, to teach us that corruption and the worm shall not rule over it.
Ps. xviii. 31 (in the Heb. verse 32). The Targum explains this in reference to the works and miracles of the Messiah.