Did you know that “Kiss the Son” isn’t in the bible? Or at least it shouldn’t be, and it wasn’t untill the Reformation.

It is a deliberate mistranslation, first printed in 1535 and quicky adopted in Luther’s bible, the Geneva Bible, the Great Bible, and the KJV. And retained in most major protestant translations today.

Psalm 2v12 does NOT say ‘kiss the son’ in Hebrew, or in the greek Septuigent, which has; “accept correction”.

The most common Jewish translation of the verse is “Embrace purity”? An interpretation close to the Catholic church, who follow the Vulgate and translate the phrase as “Embrace discipline”.

To get the translation “Kiss the son”, protestant translators put down their Hebrew dictionaries at the word “Ben” (meaning “Purity”), and pick up an Aramaic dictionary. Arbitrarily translating this one word in the Hebrew Psalm as if it is Aramaic. This is purely to give the text a more theologically favourable meaning – in Aramaic ‘ben’ means “son of”. Then of course back to Hebrew for the rest of the Psalm.

The incredulity of this is reading is made clear by the New Testament itself. Which, although it quotes Psalm 2 twelve times as proof texts for Jesus; never once mentions this verse. Which would be an astonishing oversight if it really did mean ‘kiss the son’.

You can read more on this in the paper: Understanding בַר (BAR) in Psalm 2:12 by Dr Anne Kompaore.

Dr Anne Garber Kompaore holds a PhD in Linguistics from University of Illinois, MA in Biblical Studies from Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary, BA in Linguistics from the University of Ottawa.