Commenting on Psa 110:1 and the second
lord, not being Adonai but adoni, Protestant Willem A. VanGemeren
wrote:
1 In an oracular
statement (“the Lord says”; cf.
36:1; Allen, 79: “Yahweh’s oracle”), the psalmist speaks of the promise of God
pertaining to David and his dynasty. The promise pertains to the covenant
between the Lord (’adōnî)
and the one in authority over the people of God, the Davidic king. His
authority is by divine grant. The Davidic king is a theocratic ruler in the
sense that he rules over God’s people under the Lord and yet is very close to
him (cf. 1 Ch 28:5; 29:23; 2 Ch 9:8; Ps 45:6), at his right hand (cf. 1 Ki
2:19).
The authority belonging to the Davidic king
is derived from the Lord. He promises to extend his dominion by subjugating the
enemies. To make the enemies a “footstool” is an ancient Near Eastern metaphor
for absolute control. Originally the victorious king placed his feet on the
neck of his vanquished foe (cf. Jos 10:24; 1 Ki 5:3; Isa 51:23). From this
practice arose the idiom of making one’s enemy one’s footstool. In Psalm 2 the
Lord also promises full authority over the earth to the Davidic king (vv. 8–9),
and Paul alludes to this promise when speaking about Jesus’ authority as the
Messiah of God (1 Co 15:25). The promise is further developed in the victorious
and eschatological language of Psalm 110:2–3, 5–7.
Notes
For a discussion of the technical words and
phrases in the superscription, see Introduction, pp. 62–67.
1 The MT uses the phrase אֲדֹנִי (ʾadōnî,
“my master”) to denote the lord-vassal relationship between the king and his
people (cf. 1 Sa 22:12; 26:18; 1 Ki 1:13; 18:7), whereas the usual reference to
deity is אֲדוֹנָי (ʾadōnāy, “Lord” or “my
Lord”). (Willem A. VanGemeren, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Volume 5:
Psalms [rev ed.; Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 2008], 5814)
Elsewhere, commenting on vv. 5-6 where Adonai
is at the right hand of the king, he notes:
5–6 When the king goes out
to war, “the Lord” (ʾadōnāy),
as the Master of the universe, supports him by being at his right hand (v. 5;
cf. 16:8; 109:31; 121:5). He will further the king’s power by crushing the
resistance of kings. There is a day of accountability appointed, and that day
will be a time of vindication (“the day of his wrath”; cf. 2:5, 12; 21:9; Isa
13:9, 13; Zep 2:3). On that day the Lord will “judge the nations” (v. 6; cf.
2:9; 7:8; 9:8; 76:9; Rev 19:11–21), thus causing great defeat for the inimical
nations—a defeat symbolized by their “corpses” and “heads” (rōʾš; NIV, “the rulers”). (Ibid.,
5816–817)
Finally, on the Davidic King (not just the
then-future Messiah!) being a priest “after the order of Melchizedek,” he noted
the following about v. 4:
The irrevocable oath is none other than what
the Lord has promised to David pertaining to his dynasty (2 Sa 7:13; Pss 89:3,
28–29, 34–35; 132:11). David had shown a deep concern for the Lord’s dwelling place;
and with the divine appointment of Jerusalem as the focal point of his earthly
rule, the Lord made great promises to David (see 132:13–18). Here the Davidic
king serves as God’s priest “in the order of Melchizedek” (see M. J. Paul, “The
Order of Melchizedek [Ps 110:4 and Heb 7:3],” WTJ 49 [1987]: 195–211). Melchizedek was a priest-king over
Jerusalem (cf. Ge 14:18) and worshiped the Creator-God as the supreme deity (El Elyon). The Davidic king is after the
order of Melchizedek only in so far as the sacerdotal kingship is concerned. He
is charged with responsibility over the true worship of the Lord. For a
prophetic vision of the glorious union of the Messiah-Priest, see Zechariah
6:13; for the NT application, see Hebrews 5:6–10; 7:22. (Ibid., 5816)
