Psalms 110:1

Psalm 110

A psalm of David.

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

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

Matthew 22:42-45

22:42 “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” They said, “The son of David.” 22:43 He said to them, “How then does David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying,

22:44The Lord said to my lord,

Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet”’?

22:45 If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” 10 

Mark 12:36

12:36 David himself, by the Holy Spirit, said,

The Lord said to my lord, 11 

Sit at my right hand,

until I put your enemies under your feet.”’ 12 

Luke 20:42-43

20:42 For David himself says in the book of Psalms,

The Lord said to my 13  lord,

Sit at my right hand,

20:43 until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’ 14 

Luke 20:1

The Authority of Jesus

20:1 Now one 15  day, as Jesus 16  was teaching the people in the temple courts 17  and proclaiming 18  the gospel, the chief priests and the experts in the law 19  with the elders came up 20 

Colossians 1:25

1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship 21  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete 22  the word of God,

Ephesians 1:22

1:22 And God 23  put 24  all things under Christ’s 25  feet, 26  and he gave him to the church as head over all things. 27 

Hebrews 1:13

1:13 But to which of the angels 28  has he ever said, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet”? 29 


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.

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

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).

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.

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).

tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

sn It was a common belief in Judaism that Messiah would be the son of David in that he would come from the lineage of David. On this point the Pharisees agreed and were correct. But their understanding was nonetheless incomplete, for Messiah is also David’s Lord. With this statement Jesus was affirming that, as the Messiah, he is both God and man.

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.

sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.

10 tn Grk “how is he his son?”

11 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.

12 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.

13 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.

14 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.

15 tn Grk “Now it happened that one.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

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

17 tn Grk “the temple.”

18 tn Or “preaching.”

19 tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 5:21.

20 sn The chief priests and the experts in the law with the elders came up. The description is similar to Luke 19:47. The leaders are really watching Jesus at this point.

21 tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

22 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.

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

24 tn Grk “subjected.”

25 tn Grk “his”; the referent (Christ) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

26 sn An allusion to Ps 8:6.

27 tn Grk “and he gave him as head over all things to the church.”

28 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).

29 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.