Antisemitism is unbiblical. Tragically, its foothold in Christian circles is growing. Believers in Jesus must understand the depths of the dangers of antisemitism both for their testimonies and in their commitment to God’s Word.
The antisemitic chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a particularly popular phrase that is leaving much destruction in its wake. This chant not only distorts biblical truth but also amounts to an outright assault on the name of Jesus.
A Rebellious Reaction to God’s Promises
Weaponized against Israel, this phrase is unbiblical because it calls for the eradication of the Jewish people from the land that God promised them. The chant even uses the Bible’s own verbiage to express this murderous hatred. God repeatedly uses the language of “the River” and “the Sea” to describe the boundary of the land that He has promised to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and their physical descendants (Genesis 15:8; Deuteronomy 11:24; Joshua 1:4). At a minimum, this chant is a rebellious reaction to God’s promises for His people Israel.
Both Psalm 72:8 and the context of its chapter look forward to the time that the Messiah’s rule will start from Israel and extend throughout the entire planet.
When we compare the language of this chant to a particular Messianic promise in the book of Psalms, we learn that the chant is even more diabolical than mere defiance to God’s promises. The chant, intentionally or unintentionally, is an assault against the name of Jesus. We can make this connection because Psalm 72:8 states that the Messiah will have dominion “from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth.” Both this verse and the context of its chapter look forward to the time that the Messiah’s rule will start from Israel and extend throughout the entire planet. Studying Psalm 72 will help us understand just how much the antisemitic, pro-Palestinian chant conflicts with God’s plan for His Messiah.
The Messianic Richness of Psalm 72
Psalm 72 has a rich interpretive history and is grounded as a Messianic prophecy. The Jewish Targums, early Christian interpreters like Justin Martyr, and the prominent medieval Rabbi David Kimhi (also known as RaDaK) all interpreted this psalm as a reference to the Messiah.1 Recent Bible scholars such as Michael Rydelnik, Kevin Chen, and Walter Kaiser Jr. continue to promote this chapter as an important Messianic prophecy.
In Messiah in the Old Testament, Kaiser makes an important observation that will help us appreciate the significance of the Messiah’s worldwide dominion envisioned in Psalm 72:8. Kaiser suggests that David’s description of the Messiah as ruling to “the ends of the earth” in Psalm 2 was likely influenced by Hannah’s prayer in 1 Samuel 2:10 in which she looked forward to the time when the Lord’s anointed (מָשִׁיחַ, i.e., Messiah) will judge the ends of the earth.2 When David described the Messiah’s future global dominion using the phrase “to the ends of the earth” (Psalm 2:8–9; Psalm 72:8), he was thinking of Hannah’s Messianic prayer.
How would Hannah have known about the promise of the Messiah? Hannah knew and loved reading the Torah. Her prayer in 1 Samuel 2:10 uses the same language found in an earlier Messianic prophecy in Numbers 24:7–8.3
The adversaries of the Lᴏʀᴅ shall be broken to pieces; against them he will thunder in heaven. The Lᴏʀᴅ will judge the ends of the earth; he will give strength to his king and exalt the horn of his anointed (1 Samuel 2:10, ESV).
His king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. God brings him out of Egypt and is for him like the horns of the wild ox; he shall eat up the nations, his adversaries, and shall break their bones in pieces and pierce them through with his arrows (Numbers 24:7–8, ESV).
Hannah’s use of this rare combination of Hebrew words and grammar suggests that she is thinking of the prophet Balaam’s prophecy of a future victorious Messianic King who will deliver Israel in its battle against the nations of the earth. Her prayer is directly influenced by this Messianic prophecy.
We can also trace Numbers 24:7–8 to another early Messianic prophecy because the very next verse (v. 9) quotes word for word from the one in Genesis 49:9.
He bows down, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who shall rouse him? (Genesis 49:9).
He bows down, he lies down as a lion, and as a lion, who shall rouse him? (Numbers 24:9).
Tracing this thread of Messianic promises from 1 Samuel 2:10 to Numbers 24:7–8 and Genesis 49:9 ultimately leads us to Genesis 3:15.4
I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel (Genesis 3:15).
The future King named Shiloh in Genesis 49:10 is the promised Seed of the woman who will crush the head of the Serpent.
Since Psalm 72:17 links the Messiah’s rule from Israel over the nations to His “name,” or His reputation, the antisemitic chant should be understood as a challenge to Jesus’ name.
Jesus Will Rule From the River to the Sea and Beyond
David’s language of the Messiah’s future dominion from Israel and over the world in Psalm 72 reveals God’s plan for His Messiah as revealed in Psalm 2; 1 Samuel 2; Numbers 24; Genesis 49; and Genesis 3. Therefore, the chant “from the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” is a direct challenge to God’s plan for His Messiah. Since Psalm 72:17 links the Messiah’s rule from Israel over the nations to His “name,” or His reputation, the antisemitic chant should be understood as a challenge to Jesus’ name. God’s plan for Israel in the end-times is uniquely tied to the Messiah’s reputation from Genesis 3:15 to Psalm 72:8 and beyond.
Jesus of Nazareth is the Messianic King that David spoke of in Psalm 72:8. The church must take a stand against the antisemitic chant “From the River to the Sea, Palestine will be free” because it opposes the name of Jesus, who truly will rule from the River to the Sea (over Israel) and to the ends of the earth.
Endnotes
1 David C. Mitchell, The Message of the Psalter: An Eschatological Programme in the Book of Psalms, 2nd ed. (Campbell Publishers, 2023), 251.
2 Walter C. Kaiser, The Messiah in the Old Testament, Studies in Old Testament Biblical Theology (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 1995), 69.
3 Dr. Seth Postell observes that “Hannah’s prayer and Balaam’s oracle are the only two instances where the inflected form מַלְכּוֹ (his king) appears with the jussive form of the verb רום: וְיָרֹם (Num 24:7) וְיָרֵם (1 Sam 2:10),” Seth Postell, “Messianism in Light of Literary Strategy,” Bibliotheca Sacra vol. 177, no. 707 (July 2020): 336.
4 Brian Overholtzer, “The Messianic Promise in the Song of Hannah: Tracing an Intertextual Thread from 1 Sam 2:10 to Gen 3:15” (Th.M., The Master’s Seminary, 2025), i.
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Comments 3
Thank you, Brian, for this great writing on the Biblical refutation to that evil chant . I will be printing it for my “Biblical Support for Israel” table at church for all to read!
Thank you for the excellent explanation by using reliable resources to trace these historical scriptural connections and insights to our Jewish Messiah. In my opinion, as Believers in Yeshua, we should find this antisemitic, anti Messianic “slogan” abhorrent, blasphemous, and dangerous.
Thank you Brother! Your article is put together well and informative. I am so glad you’re speaking truth from the Bible about Israel. May the ones who are misled repent and stop the antisemitism.