Psalms 110:1

Psalm 110 ¹ 

A psalm of David.

110:1 Here is the Lord’s proclamation ²  to my lord: ³ 

“Sit down at my right hand ⁴  until I make your enemies your footstool!” ⁵ 

Acts 7:55-56

7:55 But Stephen, ⁶  full ⁷  of the Holy Spirit, looked intently ⁸  toward heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing ⁹  at the right hand of God. 7:56 “Look!” he said. ¹⁰  “I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

Hebrews 1:3

1:3 The Son is ¹¹  the radiance of his glory and the representation of his essence, and he sustains all things by his powerful word, ¹²  and so when he had accomplished cleansing for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. ¹³ 

Hebrews 12:2

12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ¹⁴ 

¹ 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.

² tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is used frequently in the OT of a formal divine announcement through a prophet.

³ 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).

⁴ 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.

⁵ 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).

⁶ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Grk “being full,” but the participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) has not been translated since it would be redundant in English.

⁸ tn Grk “looking intently toward heaven, saw.” The participle ἀτενίσας (atenisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁹ sn The picture of Jesus standing (rather than seated) probably indicates his rising to receive his child. By announcing his vision, Stephen thoroughly offended his audience, who believed no one could share God’s place in heaven. The phrase is a variation on Ps 110:1.

¹⁰ tn Grk “And he said, ‘Look!’” Because of the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, καί (kai) has not been translated here; a new sentence is begun instead.

¹¹ 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.

¹² tn Grk “by the word of his power.”

¹³ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1, quoted often in Hebrews.

¹⁴ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.