4:26a–b

The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the Lord and against His Anointed One: Both clauses, The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together, have the same purpose: to go against the Lord and against His Anointed One. Here are some other ways to indicate that:

The kings of the earth took their stand against the Lord and against his Anointed One, and the rulers gathered to do likewise
-or-
The kings of the earth stood together, and the rulers assembled together, against the Lord and against his Christ (NET Bible)

4:26a

take their stand: This phrase indicates that the kings went and stood in preparation to go against God and his Anointed One. Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

went and stood in preparation ⌊to go⌋
-or-
take up position (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
prepare to fight (New Century Version)

The tense on the Greek verb usually indicates past tense. It is the same tense as on the Greek word translated “gathered.”

4:26b

the Lord: This phrase refers here to God. In some languages a literal translation would refer to Jesus. If that is true in your language, make it clearly refer to God. For example:

the Lord ⌊God⌋
-or-

⌊God⌋ the Lord

His Anointed One: In Psalm 2:2, this phrase refers to the Jewish king at that time, many hundreds of years before Jesus. In 4:27 Luke interprets Psalm 2:2 to be a prophecy about Jesus as the Christ, the Greek word that means “anointed one.” But Luke here is only quoting Scripture and not yet interpreting it, so you should translate it without capital letters. For example:

his anointed one (New International Version (2011))

Anointed One: When God chose someone for a special task, God’s spokesman would pour oil on his head as a symbol of that choosing (for example, Samuel anointed Saul to be king in 1 Samuel 9:15–16). Many languages do not have a custom of anointing like this. If that is true in your language, translate the meaning. For example:

chosen one

The Greek word is literally “Christ.” But it would be incorrect to use that word with all its Christian meaning in a quote from the Old Testament.

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