Psalms 109:31--110:1

109:31 because he stands at the right hand of the needy,

to deliver him from those who threaten ¹  his life.

Psalm 110 ² 

A psalm of David.

110:1 Here is the Lord’s proclamation ³  to my lord: ⁴ 

“Sit down at my right hand ⁵  until I make your enemies your footstool!” ⁶ 

John 14:3

14:3 And if I go and make ready ⁷  a place for you, I will come again and take you ⁸  to be with me, ⁹  so that where I am you may be too.

Hebrews 1:3

1:3 The Son is ¹⁰  the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, ¹¹  and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ¹² 

Hebrews 8:1

The High Priest of a Better Covenant

8:1 Now the main point of what we are saying is this: ¹³  We have such a high priest, one who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven, ¹⁴ 

¹ tn Heb “judge.”

² 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.

³ tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is used frequently in the OT of a formal divine announcement through a prophet.

⁴ 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).

⁵ 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.

⁶ 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).

⁷ tn Or “prepare.”

⁸ tn Or “bring you.”

⁹ tn Grk “to myself.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “who being…and sustaining.” Heb 1:1-4 form one skillfully composed sentence in Greek, but it must be broken into shorter segments to correspond to contemporary English usage, which does not allow for sentences of this length and complexity.

¹¹ tn Grk “by the word of his power.”

¹² sn An allusion to Ps 110:1, quoted often in Hebrews.

¹³ tn Grk “the main point of the things being said.”

¹⁴ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1; see Heb 1:3, 13.