1:13 But to which of the angels 1 has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? 2
A psalm of David.
110:1 Here is the Lord’s proclamation 4 to my lord: 5
“Sit down at my right hand 6 until I make your enemies your footstool!” 7
22:44 ‘The Lord said to my lord, 8
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’? 9
‘The Lord said to my lord, 10
“Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ 11
20:43 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’ 12
2:35 until I make your enemies a footstool 13 for your feet.”’ 14
2:1 Now 15 when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.
1 sn The parallel phrases to which of the angels in vv. 5 and 13 show the unity of this series of quotations (vv. 5-14) in revealing the superiority of the Son over angels (v. 4).
2 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.
3 sn Psalm 110. In this royal psalm the psalmist announces God’s oracle to the Davidic king. The first part of the oracle appears in v. 1, the second in v. 4. In vv. 2-3 the psalmist addresses the king, while in vv. 5-7 he appears to address God.
4 tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is used frequently in the OT of a formal divine announcement through a prophet.
5 sn My lord. In the psalm’s original context the speaker is an unidentified prophetic voice in the royal court. In the course of time the psalm is applied to each successive king in the dynasty and ultimately to the ideal Davidic king. NT references to the psalm understand David to be speaking about his “lord,” the Messiah. (See Matt 22:43-45; Mark 12:36-37; Luke 20:42-44; Acts 2:34-35).
6 tn To sit at the “right hand” of the king was an honor (see 1 Kgs 2:19). In Ugaritic myth (CTA 4 v. 108-10) the artisan god Kothar-and Khasis is described as sitting at the right hand of the storm god Baal. See G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 61-62.
7 sn When the Lord made his covenant with David, he promised to subdue the king’s enemies (see 2 Sam 7:9-11; Ps 89:22-23).
8 sn The Lord said to my Lord. With David being the speaker, this indicates his respect for his descendant (referred to as my Lord). Jesus was arguing, as the ancient exposition assumed, that the passage is about the Lord’s anointed. The passage looks at an enthronement of this figure and a declaration of honor for him as he takes his place at the side of God. In Jerusalem, the king’s palace was located to the right of the temple to indicate this kind of relationship. Jesus was pressing the language here to get his opponents to reflect on how great Messiah is.
9 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.
10 sn The Lord said to my Lord. With David being the speaker, this indicates his respect for his descendant (referred to as my Lord). Jesus was arguing, as the ancient exposition assumed, that the passage is about the Lord’s anointed. The passage looks at an enthronement of this figure and a declaration of honor for him as he takes his place at the side of God. In Jerusalem, the king’s palace was located to the right of the temple to indicate this kind of relationship. Jesus was pressing the language here to get his opponents to reflect on how great Messiah is.
11 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.
12 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.
13 sn The metaphor make your enemies a footstool portrays the complete subjugation of the enemies.
14 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1, one of the most often-cited OT passages in the NT, pointing to the exaltation of Jesus.
15 tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.
16 tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”
17 tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.