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Whose Son Is the Messiah?

41 Then, surrounded by the Pharisees, Jesus asked them a question: 42 “What do you think about the Messiah? Whose son is he?”

They replied, “He is the son of David.”

43 Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said,

44 ‘The Lord said to my Lord,
Sit in the place of honor at my right hand
    until I humble your enemies beneath your feet.’[a]

45 Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”

46 No one could answer him. And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions.

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Footnotes

  1. 22:44 Ps 110:1.

The Messiah: David’s Son and Lord

41 While[a] the Pharisees[b] were assembled, Jesus asked them a question:[c] 42 “What do you think about the Christ?[d] Whose son is he?” They said, “The son of David.”[e] 43 He said to them, “How then does David by the Spirit call him ‘Lord,’ saying,

44 The Lord said to my lord,[f]
Sit at my right hand,
until I put your enemies under your feet”’?[g]

45 If David then calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?”[h] 46 No one[i] was able to answer him a word, and from that day on no one dared to question him any longer.

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Footnotes

  1. Matthew 22:41 tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.
  2. Matthew 22:41 sn See the note on Pharisees in 3:7.
  3. Matthew 22:41 tn Grk “asked them a question, saying.” The participle λέγων (legōn) is somewhat redundant here in contemporary English and has not been translated.
  4. Matthew 22:42 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”sn See the note on Christ in 1:16.
  5. Matthew 22:42 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.
  6. Matthew 22:44 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.
  7. Matthew 22:44 sn A quotation from Ps 110:1.
  8. Matthew 22:45 tn Grk “how is he his son?”
  9. Matthew 22:46 tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.