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Psalm 110:1 – “nü´ùm Yehôvâh lA´dönî”
A very important verse, and Psalm.
In the greater majority of English Versions, we have as in the King James Bible, “The LORD said unto my Lord”.
In some Versions, like the 2011 New International, Good News, English Standard Version, New American Bible, NET and New Revised Standard Version, have adopted the reading:
“The LORD said to my lord”
In the 1984 edition of the New International, this verse reads: “The Lord says to my Lord”
Versions before the King James, Myles Coverdale, 1535, “The LORDE sayde vnto my LORDE”, Bishops, 1558, “God sayd vnto my Lorde”, and Geneva, 1587, “The Lord said vnto my Lorde”.
Interestingly, the New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, reads:
“The utterance of Jehovah to my Lord is” (1984)
And, in their 2013 edition, “Jehovah declared to my Lord”
The Greek Old Testament (LXX), reads: “ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου” (Rahlfs’)
However, in the Greek Old Testament translated in the 2nd century AD, by the Jewish scholar, Symmachus, it reads; “ὁ κύριος τῷ δεσπότη μου”. Where “δεσπότη”, is generally “master”.
A Jewish website run by a Rabbi, has this to say on this verse:
“I should note that the second “lord” in Hebrew is not “ado-nai” – the term the Torah reserves for God, but “adoni”. The latter is a simple Hebrew word which means “my lord” but is not sacred. Throughout the Torah that word is used in reference to honored human beings but never to God, e.g. Genesis 18:3, 23:6, 24:18, 31:35, 33:8, 34:14, 44:18, etc. Thus, it was incorrectly capitalized in your translation. In fact, Hebrew has no capital letters so capitalizations which are found in English translations are merely based on translators’ assumptions, and as you can see, are not always reliable.”
(Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld; https://www.aish.com/atr/Psalm-110-Two-Lords.html)
Firstly, we have the statement, that “adoni”, is use to honor men, and never God. This is misleading, and false. “adoni”, is from the root, “´ädön”
In at least THREE places in the Torah, this very word is used for YHWH.
"Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD (hä´ädön Yah·weh Exo 23:17)
"Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the LORD God of Israel (hä´ädön Yah·weh ´élöhê yiSrä´ël. (Exo 34:23)”
"For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God (Yah·weh´élö hêkem hû´ ´élöhê hä´élöhîm wa´ádönê hä´ádönîm), mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. (Deu 10:17)”
Secondly. there are also a number of other places, especially in the Psalms, where “´ädön”, is used for YHWH:
"Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth, (´ádôn kāl hā·’ā·reṣ)” (Jos 3:11)” . And verse 13
“Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord (Yah·weh ’ă·ḏō·nê·nū), and His ordinances and His statutes” (Nehemiah 10:29)
“O LORD, our Lord (Yah·weh ’ă·ḏō·nê·nū), How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!” (Psalm 8:1). And verse 9
“The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD (Yah·weh), At the presence of the Lord (’ă·ḏō·wn) of the whole earth” (Psalm 97:5)
“Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord (’ă·ḏō·wn), At the presence of the God (’ĕ·lō·w·ah) of Jacob” (Psalm 114:7)
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord (la·’ă·ḏō·nê) of lords (hā·’ă·ḏō·nîm)! For His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:3)
“Therefore the Lord (hā·’ā·ḏō·wn) says, The LORD of hosts (Yah·weh ṣə·ḇā·’ō·wṯ), the Mighty One of Israel” (Isaiah 1:24)
“Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord (hā·’ā·ḏō·wn), whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the Covenant (ū·mal·’aḵ hab·bə·rîṯ) In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts (Yah·weh ṣə·ḇā·’ō·wṯ)” (Malachi 3:1)
Thirdly, it makes no difference, if the text reads, “my Lord”, or, “your Lord”, or “the Lord”, or “our Lord”, as the root Hebrew word used in these, and other passages, when referring to YHWH, is clearly, “´ädön”. The same word is also used for humans, but not exclusively as some wrongly suggest, which is for theological reasons.
Fourthly, it is not correct to say that “ado-nai”, is used only for God.
In Genesis 19:2, Lot says to the 2 angels, “And he said, "Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant's house and spend the night”. Where “my lords” is the Hebrew, “´ádönay”. In verse 18 we read, “Then Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lords!”, here the Hebrew is, “´ádönäy”, similar, but different. This is the word that is supposed to be reserved for God only.
In Ezra 10:3, we have, “"Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master”. This refers to the advice Ezra gives in the previous chapter. Here “my master” is the Hebrew, “´ádönäy”, which is also used for a human.
Clear evidence that “´ádönäy” is not only used for Almighty God.
There is some speculation, that “´ádönay” in verse 1, is a human person, such as Abraham, or some king. This is not possible from the context in which it is used, especially with the words that follow, “Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”.
To sit at the Right Hand of God, cannot be for any human person. It is clear from this whole Psalm, that the “´ádönay” of verse 1 is an equal to Yahweh.
In the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, leading Jewish scholars taught that “´ádönay” refers to the Messiah.
“Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Hama, "In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will seat the Messiah King at His right hand, as it says, 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand"' (Psalm 110:1)”
www.sefaria.org
Then we have John Gill, in his commentary:
“Galatinus says the true Targum of Jonathan has it,
"the Lord said to his Word;''
Adam Clarke, in his commentary says, of verse one;
“Said unto my Lord. Instead of לאדני ladoni, “my Lord,” one MS. seems to have read ליהוה layhovah, “Jehovah said unto Jehovah, ‘Sit thou on my right hand,’” etc. See De Rossi”
Here we have a Hebrew manuscript that has TWO distinct Persons Who are called Yahweh.
In verse 5 we read;
“The Lord at thy right hand crushes kings on the day of His wrath”
The “Lord” here, is the same LORD Who is at the Right-Hand of “Yahweh” in verse 1. In this verse, we have, not “´ádönay”, as in verse 1, but, “´ádönäy”, which is almost every time used in the Old Testament, for Almighty God.
There is very strong textual evidence, that in verse 5, in about 20 Hebrew manuscripts, it does not read “´ádönäy”, but “Yahweh”. “Yahweh at Your Right Hand”. The single Hebrew manuscript mentioned by Adam Clarke, for verse 1 reading, “Yahweh said to Yahweh”, is confirmed by this reading in verse 5.
Some, like Allen P Ross, in his commentary, assume that in this verse, God changes places with the king, and is now at the human king’s “right hand”!
Such is the desperation shown by some, who cannot accept the plain facts of the Teaching in Scripture, that there is more than One Person in the Old Testament, Who are clearly called Yahweh.
All of the “objections” that have been used to try to “prove”, that the second “Lord” in verse 1, does not refer to a Person Who is Himself Almighty God, are proven to be completely false! Together with verse 5, and the rest of this Psalm, there is no doubt that The Messiah in this Psalm, and the entire Bible, is Yahweh.
In the Gospels, Jesus Christ uses the words in verse 1 to show that He is the LORD at the Right Hand of Yahweh, and is Himself Yahweh! (Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44)
A very important verse, and Psalm.
In the greater majority of English Versions, we have as in the King James Bible, “The LORD said unto my Lord”.
In some Versions, like the 2011 New International, Good News, English Standard Version, New American Bible, NET and New Revised Standard Version, have adopted the reading:
“The LORD said to my lord”
In the 1984 edition of the New International, this verse reads: “The Lord says to my Lord”
Versions before the King James, Myles Coverdale, 1535, “The LORDE sayde vnto my LORDE”, Bishops, 1558, “God sayd vnto my Lorde”, and Geneva, 1587, “The Lord said vnto my Lorde”.
Interestingly, the New World Translation of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, reads:
“The utterance of Jehovah to my Lord is” (1984)
And, in their 2013 edition, “Jehovah declared to my Lord”
The Greek Old Testament (LXX), reads: “ὁ κύριος τῷ κυρίῳ μου” (Rahlfs’)
However, in the Greek Old Testament translated in the 2nd century AD, by the Jewish scholar, Symmachus, it reads; “ὁ κύριος τῷ δεσπότη μου”. Where “δεσπότη”, is generally “master”.
A Jewish website run by a Rabbi, has this to say on this verse:
“I should note that the second “lord” in Hebrew is not “ado-nai” – the term the Torah reserves for God, but “adoni”. The latter is a simple Hebrew word which means “my lord” but is not sacred. Throughout the Torah that word is used in reference to honored human beings but never to God, e.g. Genesis 18:3, 23:6, 24:18, 31:35, 33:8, 34:14, 44:18, etc. Thus, it was incorrectly capitalized in your translation. In fact, Hebrew has no capital letters so capitalizations which are found in English translations are merely based on translators’ assumptions, and as you can see, are not always reliable.”
(Rabbi Dovid Rosenfeld; https://www.aish.com/atr/Psalm-110-Two-Lords.html)
Firstly, we have the statement, that “adoni”, is use to honor men, and never God. This is misleading, and false. “adoni”, is from the root, “´ädön”
In at least THREE places in the Torah, this very word is used for YHWH.
"Three times in the year all your males shall appear before the Lord GOD (hä´ädön Yah·weh Exo 23:17)
"Three times in the year all your men shall appear before the Lord, the LORD God of Israel (hä´ädön Yah·weh ´élöhê yiSrä´ël. (Exo 34:23)”
"For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God (Yah·weh´élö hêkem hû´ ´élöhê hä´élöhîm wa´ádönê hä´ádönîm), mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. (Deu 10:17)”
Secondly. there are also a number of other places, especially in the Psalms, where “´ädön”, is used for YHWH:
"Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth, (´ádôn kāl hā·’ā·reṣ)” (Jos 3:11)” . And verse 13
“Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord (Yah·weh ’ă·ḏō·nê·nū), and His ordinances and His statutes” (Nehemiah 10:29)
“O LORD, our Lord (Yah·weh ’ă·ḏō·nê·nū), How excellent is Your name in all the earth, Who have set Your glory above the heavens!” (Psalm 8:1). And verse 9
“The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD (Yah·weh), At the presence of the Lord (’ă·ḏō·wn) of the whole earth” (Psalm 97:5)
“Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord (’ă·ḏō·wn), At the presence of the God (’ĕ·lō·w·ah) of Jacob” (Psalm 114:7)
“Oh, give thanks to the Lord (la·’ă·ḏō·nê) of lords (hā·’ă·ḏō·nîm)! For His mercy endures forever” (Psalm 136:3)
“Therefore the Lord (hā·’ā·ḏō·wn) says, The LORD of hosts (Yah·weh ṣə·ḇā·’ō·wṯ), the Mighty One of Israel” (Isaiah 1:24)
“Behold, I send My messenger, And he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord (hā·’ā·ḏō·wn), whom you seek, Will suddenly come to His temple, Even the Messenger of the Covenant (ū·mal·’aḵ hab·bə·rîṯ) In whom you delight. Behold, He is coming,” Says the LORD of hosts (Yah·weh ṣə·ḇā·’ō·wṯ)” (Malachi 3:1)
Thirdly, it makes no difference, if the text reads, “my Lord”, or, “your Lord”, or “the Lord”, or “our Lord”, as the root Hebrew word used in these, and other passages, when referring to YHWH, is clearly, “´ädön”. The same word is also used for humans, but not exclusively as some wrongly suggest, which is for theological reasons.
Fourthly, it is not correct to say that “ado-nai”, is used only for God.
In Genesis 19:2, Lot says to the 2 angels, “And he said, "Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant's house and spend the night”. Where “my lords” is the Hebrew, “´ádönay”. In verse 18 we read, “Then Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lords!”, here the Hebrew is, “´ádönäy”, similar, but different. This is the word that is supposed to be reserved for God only.
In Ezra 10:3, we have, “"Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master”. This refers to the advice Ezra gives in the previous chapter. Here “my master” is the Hebrew, “´ádönäy”, which is also used for a human.
Clear evidence that “´ádönäy” is not only used for Almighty God.
There is some speculation, that “´ádönay” in verse 1, is a human person, such as Abraham, or some king. This is not possible from the context in which it is used, especially with the words that follow, “Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”.
To sit at the Right Hand of God, cannot be for any human person. It is clear from this whole Psalm, that the “´ádönay” of verse 1 is an equal to Yahweh.
In the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, leading Jewish scholars taught that “´ádönay” refers to the Messiah.
“Rabbi Yudan said in the name of Rabbi Hama, "In the future, the Holy One, blessed be He, will seat the Messiah King at His right hand, as it says, 'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand"' (Psalm 110:1)”
Midrash Tehillim 18:29
"Say another thing and give me the shield of your salvation." Speaking of Abraham, who was sitting while the Shechinah (divine presence) was standing. Rabbi...
www.sefaria.org
Then we have John Gill, in his commentary:
“Galatinus says the true Targum of Jonathan has it,
"the Lord said to his Word;''
Adam Clarke, in his commentary says, of verse one;
“Said unto my Lord. Instead of לאדני ladoni, “my Lord,” one MS. seems to have read ליהוה layhovah, “Jehovah said unto Jehovah, ‘Sit thou on my right hand,’” etc. See De Rossi”
Here we have a Hebrew manuscript that has TWO distinct Persons Who are called Yahweh.
In verse 5 we read;
“The Lord at thy right hand crushes kings on the day of His wrath”
The “Lord” here, is the same LORD Who is at the Right-Hand of “Yahweh” in verse 1. In this verse, we have, not “´ádönay”, as in verse 1, but, “´ádönäy”, which is almost every time used in the Old Testament, for Almighty God.
There is very strong textual evidence, that in verse 5, in about 20 Hebrew manuscripts, it does not read “´ádönäy”, but “Yahweh”. “Yahweh at Your Right Hand”. The single Hebrew manuscript mentioned by Adam Clarke, for verse 1 reading, “Yahweh said to Yahweh”, is confirmed by this reading in verse 5.
Some, like Allen P Ross, in his commentary, assume that in this verse, God changes places with the king, and is now at the human king’s “right hand”!
Such is the desperation shown by some, who cannot accept the plain facts of the Teaching in Scripture, that there is more than One Person in the Old Testament, Who are clearly called Yahweh.
All of the “objections” that have been used to try to “prove”, that the second “Lord” in verse 1, does not refer to a Person Who is Himself Almighty God, are proven to be completely false! Together with verse 5, and the rest of this Psalm, there is no doubt that The Messiah in this Psalm, and the entire Bible, is Yahweh.
In the Gospels, Jesus Christ uses the words in verse 1 to show that He is the LORD at the Right Hand of Yahweh, and is Himself Yahweh! (Matthew 22:41-46; Mark 12:35-37; Luke 20:41-44)
