Psalm 110:3
New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition
3 Your people will offer themselves willingly
on the day you lead your forces
on the holy mountains.[a]
From the womb of the morning,
like dew, your youth[b] will come to you.
Footnotes
- Psalm 110:3 Another reading is in holy splendor
- Psalm 110:3 Cn: Heb the dew of your youth
Psalm 110:3
Good News Translation
3 On the day you fight your enemies,
your people will volunteer.
Like the dew of early morning
your young men will come to you on the sacred hills.[a]
Footnotes
- Psalm 110:3 Verse 3 in Hebrew is unclear.
Psalm 110:3
New Catholic Bible
3 Yours is royal dignity in the day of your birth;
in holy splendor, before the daystar,
like the dew, I have begotten you.”[a]
Footnotes
- Psalm 110:3 Yours is royal dignity . . . I have begotten you: this is the usual Catholic translation and comes from the revised Latin Vulgate, which is based on the ancient versions. The current Hebrew is obscure and seems to be corrupt. Before the daystar: when the sun had not yet been created, i.e., from all eternity. Like the dew: in a secret, mysterious manner. Hence, the Messiah and Son of God existed before the dawn of creation in eternity.
The Hebrew is translated as follows: “Your people will volunteer freely / on your day of battle. / In holy splendor, from the womb of the dawn / the dew of your youth is yours.” It refers to numerous royal troops at the Messiah’s command. The people come voluntarily on the day of battle, as in the days of Deborah (see Jdg 5:2, 9). They consecrate themselves, are fully prepared, and place themselves at his service. They will be as abundant as the dew at dawn. The image is close to those of Paul about “living sacrifices” (Rom 12:1) or a life poured out like a “libation” (Phil 2:17). It should be noted that, even not considering the linguistic difficulties that argue against this reading and the fact that the Septuagint of pre-Christian times already confirms the text of the Vulgate, the Hebrew reading does not fit the great theme of the psalm as well as the Latin translation does. Every connection with the central thought that speaks of the royal and priestly dignity of Melchizedek is missing.
New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition) © 1992 American Bible Society. All rights reserved. For more information about GNT, visit www.bibles.com and www.gnt.bible.