Was Jesus born when Psalm 2 was written?

I will tell of the decree:

the LORD said to me, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you.
Ask of me, and I will make the nations your heritage, and the ends of the earth your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron and dash them in pieces like a potter's vessel.”

Now therefore, O kings, be wise; be warned, O rulers of the earth.

Serve the LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and you perish in the way, for his wrath is quickly kindled.

-- Psalm 2:7-12 (ESV)

Some people argue that because the Son was "begotten" with past tense, it means that Jesus was already begotten at the time the Psalm was written. However, the Psalmist wrote "today", which an English person would understand means at the day that the Psalm was written, Jesus was supposed to be born, but the Psalm was written about a thousand years before Jesus was born.

The Hebrew word "yom" which was translated as "today" does not necessary mean "today", it could also mean: a specific future day, later, some time, when, whenever, and so forth according to NAS Exhaustive Concordance.

This is also how Paul understood the prophecy:

So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said: ...

We bring you the good news that what God promised to the fathers, this He has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm,

"You are my Son, today I have begotten you."

-- Acts 13:16, 32-33 (ESV)

Another prophecy that was also written in past tense, but refers to a future is:

Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed. -- Isaiah 53:3 (ESV)

Obviously Jesus had not yet been crucified at the time Isaiah wrote this.

Therefore, even if the Hebrew word "yom" was intended to mean "today", it is still not unusual for a prophet to refer to a future event in the past tense as if it already happened, for example: Daniel 2:34-35; Revelation 20:11-15

Unfortunately, many translators replaced God Almighty's name YHVH with "The LORD". This causes confusion to the modern English bible reader who view that "the Lord" is Jesus. However, from Psalm 2 it is clear that there are interaction between "The LORD" and His "Son", which means they are distinct and not the same God.

This means that the intended message was:

  • YHVH "begot" a Son.
  • "The Son" will inherit from YHVH.
  • This "heritage" will enable "the Son" to rule with "a rod of iron".
  • The psalmist warns the reader:
  • "The Son" is a prophecy to a specific "Son of God" that would be "begotten", also known as Jesus Christ.
    • "The Son" is begotten by YHVH.
    • "The Son" inherit from YHVH.
    • "The Son" should be "kissed" (a form of respect)