|
God has made him both Lord and Messiah—this Yeshua. (Acts 2:36)
Today in the city of David there has been born for you No one can say, "Yeshua is Lord," except by the Holy Spirit. (1 Corinthians 12:3)
|
|
In the Hebrew Bible there are two words commonly translated "Lord" in English. By distinguishing the two, readers will see a thick messianic thread running into New Testament.
At least 100 times in the NT Yeshua is called "the Lord Yeshua." Hundreds of other times he is "the Lord Yeshua Messiah" or simply "Lord." One of his more famous statements about himself was: "The Son of Man is the Lord of the Sabbath" (Luke 6:5). After his death, his disciples went to fellow Jews, "preaching peace through Yeshua Messiah — he is Lord of all" (Acts 10:36). With Greeks, the message was the same: they were "preaching the Lord Yeshua" (Acts 11:20). Yeshua as "Lord" was also central to the teaching of Saul of Tarsus (Paul the apostle). He urged people to "confess with [their] mouth: Yeshua is Lord" (Rom 10:9). Eventually, every being in the universe will "confess that Yeshua Messiah is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Phil 2:10-11). What did Yeshua's followers mean by calling him "Lord"? What did the word denote and connote in Jewish minds? The Hebrew text of Psalm 110:1 provides an answer.
Until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. The first phrase literally says: "YHVH said . . ." By custom, "the LORD" (large and small capital letters) stands for the name of God when it occurs in the Hebrew text: YHVH — the Tetragrammaton (Name of Four Letters), YaHWeH, or JeHoVaH. [For more on this, see HaShem — The Name.]
The second "Lord" in the phrase is Adon. In the Bible Adon is used both for God and for human authorities. It simply means master, sovereign, lord. (Some Bible translators don't capitalize "Lord" here, depending on how they interpret the adon's identity.) [Note 1]
YHVH said to my Adon . . .
Adon in this passage has royal status with God. He is invited to sit with God. To "sit" means to be enthroned as ruler. In verse 4 he also has priestly status — "you are a priest forever" — even though he doesn't descend from the normal priestly line of Levi. [Top]
Adon David King David and his descendants who ruled from Jerusalem were thought to share God's throne as His representatives on earth. David and they were princes, symbolically sitting by the "Great King" (Ps 48:2). We hear David express this idea himself. Just before dying, he tells his people that God "has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of YHVH over Israel" (1 Chron 28:5). Then at the coronation ceremony, the narrator notes, "Solomon sat on the throne of YHVH as king" (1 Chron 29:23). The Adon in Psalm 110:1 could be David himself or one of his grandsons entitled to assume the role of headship over God's kingdom. The lack of specific identification intriguingly opens the window for making links to any Davidic leader in the future. The "my" in "to my Adon" could be the psalmist. Or it could be David himself standing by and witnessing the scepter pass to his successor, to his "Adon" Solomon. Or it might be the last Davidic king Zedekiah, who peered into the future beyond the fall of the House of David in 587 BC. In any case, the branches of the tree of David did not perish forever with the end of his dynasty. Prophets predicted a "Branch" of David's fallen tree would rise in the future (Amos 9:11; Jer 23:5). [Top]
The striking, symbolic passage Daniel 7:9-14 apparently depicts the coronation of a future David, though that name is not used. In this visionary scene, a human-like Someone is escorted into the heavenly council chambers where the Ancient of Days and his "court" wait. The Ancient of Days gives to this unnamed Someone authority to rule the entire world, from the throne of a kingdom "which will not be destroyed" (v. 14). This granting of sovereignty echoes the messianic Psalm 72, in which "David" will rule "to the ends of the earth" and "all nations will serve him." In the pre-1st century Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible (the Septuagint), its Jewish translators may have seen a link between this Danielic imagery of a coronation/power-bestowal in the heavenly realm and God's invitation in Psalm 110 to his Lord to assume co-power with him. In Psalm 110:3, the Septuagint has God say to his right-hand Lord: Among the splendors of the holy ones Inaugurating a king into office is like a father begetting a son. This event takes place in the heavens, "before the dawn" (of creation, of history, of the final age?).
[Top]
Psalm 110:1 was important to Yeshua. He quoted it during his "Messianic identity" discussions with the Pharisees (Matt 22:41-46). Then during his interrogation by Caiaphas he alluded to it and to imagery in Daniel 7 (Matt 26:62-66). Following Yeshua's teaching example, the passage became a central proof-text in the preaching of the Jewish apostles. [See Psalm 110 list.] In fact, this verse is the most often quoted and referenced Hebrew Bible text in all the NT (Dan 7:9-14 comes in second). By calling Yeshua "Lord," the apostles were saying he was God's Adon — not YHVH, God the Father. That's the point made by Yeshua in Matthew 22:41-46: he is the Adon Messiah who has kingdom authority given by God. His Adon-ship dominates the NT. Today in the city of David there has been born for you a savior, who is Messiah the Lord. (Luke 2:11) [Top]
Lord Messiah and Lord God
The typical banner of faith is: "There is one God, the Father . . . and one Lord, Yeshua Messiah" (1 Cor 8:6).
(2) At times, "Lord" stands for the Tetragrammaton. [Note 2]
Repent therefore and return, that your sins may be wiped away,
The kingdom of this world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah; (3) At times, Hebrew Bible texts that refer to YHVH are applied to the Lord, Yeshua: A1:
[Top] Here's the paradox. Though the Messiah is not YHVH, he in some way manifests his presence on earth. (Paul calls Yeshua "the image of the invisible God"; Col 1:15.) An inseparable bond exists between the Lords. As when the ancient priests gave Torah-decisions and were called "God"; as when David ruled and was called "the angel of God" (2 Sam 14:17, 20); and when the prophets spoke and said, "Thus says the LORD" — so too, when Yeshua exercises authority as God's Adon, it is as though the LORD God is ruling through him. Yeshua is like the priests and David and the prophets. But he is more than they. Yeshua said he came in God's name (John 5:43; 17:6) ("Yeshua" means in Hebrew "YHVH saves.") Through him, the God of the patriarchs — the God of the ancestral faith of Israel, the one who anointed David as co-ruling Adon — has established his kingship over humanity and continues to rule to this day by Yeshua's hand. For "he must reign until [God] has put all his enemies under his feet" (1 Cor 15:25). That is, "until the times of the restoration of all things" (Acts 3:21).
(1) The two Lords of Psalm 110:1 shed light on the existence of David Theology and on the expectation that a future David would serve as God's representative Adon on earth. What the first David was in filtered light, the ultimate David will be in full brightness of the sun. (2) The NT applies the Davidic-Messianic palette of Psalm 110:1 to Yeshua. He and his disciples focused on this text and on Daniel 7:9-14 as their way of describing his position, role, or status with God. Had they intended to argue that Yeshua was YHVH God himself, there was no point in emphasizing he was YHVH's Adon. During his interrogation by Caiaphas the high priest, Yeshua alluded to both Psalm 110 and Daniel 7. In response, Caiaphas accused him of blasphemy. But he wasn't guilty, because the Scriptures stood unalterable. And Caiaphas could hardly reject them. But he could reject this particular man for applying them to himself. He might also have dismissed Yeshua because he didn't honor him as God's high priest (Matthew 26:62-68). (3) Some Christians misunderstand the title "Lord" when used for Jesus, assuming it's synonymous with "the LORD," or YHVH. They thus conclude that Jesus is "Jehovah" in the Old Testament. If they were taught the distinction in the Hebrew text of Psalm 110:1 and how this verse is used in the NT, this error would disappear.
• Paul Sumner
1. Adon is used for: God (400+ times). Examples:
Malachi 3:1 — Then suddenly the Lord [Adon] you are seeking will come to his
temple.
Psalm 8:1 — O LORD [YHVH], our Lord [Adon], how majestic is your name in all the earth. Humans (300+ times). Examples:
Genesis 18:12 — Sarah laughed to herself . . . Shall I have pleasure, my lord [adon] being old also? In passages where Adon and YHVH are joined, modern translators usually render the pair as "the Lord GOD" — the small caps on "God" representing the divine name, as in "the LORD." Some versions such as the NIV print "the Sovereign LORD." (Exodus 34:23; Deuteronomy 9:26; Isaiah 49:22; 61:1; Psalm 71:5; 73:28) [Return to Text]
2. In most of the extant versions of the Septuagint, the name of God (YHVH) has been replaced by the generic Greek word kurios (lord, master), which is also used for adon. Thus Psalm 110:1 (numbered 109:1 in the Septuagint) reads:
However, in Septuagint text fragments found in caves near the Dead Sea, YHVH is often printed in Paleo-Hebrew letters.
|
|
Hebrew Bible Studies | Hebrew-Greek Transliteration [PDF]
|
