Psalm 2:12, does it really say “Kiss the Son”?
Psalm 2:12 is printed here as Kiss the son, while the LXX reads lay hold of instruction; bar is the Aramaic word for son rather than Hebrew ben. The readings derive different senses from the same consonants.
The APB text at this verse
The manuscripts, editions, and versions
The committee record at this verse
The APB's translation committee works blind: it is never told it is translating the Bible, never given a book name or a verse number, and it never sees the witnesses above. Since revision 3.5, the places where the manuscripts disagree are decided before translation by three readers, Grok 4.3, GPT-6 Astra, and Claude Fable 5.1, who see the readings and the witnesses by age and class but never a reference or a manuscript name. Whatever was done at this verse was done on the language and the evidence alone, and the record is public.
The committee's printed text for Psalm 2:12 reads: "Kiss the son, lest he be angry and you perish in the way, for his anger is quickly kindled. Blessed are all who take refuge in him." The supplied APB text therefore prints the wording associated with reading A at the crux.
The argument for each reading
If “kiss the Son”
The MT reads נשקו בר, glossed kiss the son. Its row describes this as the received Hebrew text and calls attention to bar: the psalm uses the Aramaic word rather than Hebrew ben. On this reading, the clause contains a kiss directed toward the son, followed by the warning and blessing in the supplied text of Psalm 2:12. The Hebrew consonants supplied for the verse begin נשקו בר. The case for this reading rests on the MT's explicit wording and on its preservation of bar as son. The question remains how this wording relates to the alternative sense reflected in the ancient translations.
If “lay hold of instruction”
The LXX reads δράξασθε παιδείας, glossed lay hold of instruction. Its row says that the Greek translators derived the clause from a different sense of the same consonants, with no son and no kiss of homage. The Vg reads adprehendite disciplinam, embrace discipline, and its row says that Jerome's church Psalter follows the Greek. Together these witnesses present a clause concerned with instruction or discipline rather than homage to a son. The Vg row also records a later Hebrew rendering, worship purely, showing a third path noted in the packet.
The packet preserves uncertainty over how the supplied consonants were understood: kiss the son or lay hold of instruction. It supplies no rationale that resolves the difference. No doctrine is decided by this registry entry; the stated stakes concern the wording and sense of this clause.
Common questions
Why is son an Aramaic word in Psalm 2:12?
The MT row identifies bar as the Aramaic word for son and notes that the psalm uses bar rather than Hebrew ben.
What does the Septuagint read in Psalm 2:12?
The LXX reads δράξασθε παιδείας, glossed lay hold of instruction. Its row says the Greek translators found a different sense in the same consonants.
What wording did the APB committee print?
The supplied APB text prints Kiss the son at Psalm 2:12, followed by the warning about anger and perishing in the way.
Related entries
Witness readings for critical editions are quoted from the SBLGNT apparatus (CC BY 4.0); Hebrew text from the Westminster Leningrad Codex (Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible). Readings of ancient manuscripts and versions are cited as published scholarly fact with their sources linked above. The page does not declare which reading is original.
The registry gives no verdict
The registry does not say which reading is original. Each page lists the witnesses, shows what the committee did with the same text, and leaves the judgment to the reader.