B.R. Burton
Among the various disputes in Messianic prophecy, Psalm
110 remains a fixture in the whirlwind of debate.
Various questions may be raised in reading this text: Who is the
"Lord" next to YHVH's right hand? Was the text of Psalm
110 tampered with, and if so who tampered with the text?
Was Psalm 110 understood as a Messianic Psalm? Lets
review the Psalm itself:
Psalm 110 (NIV)
1Of
David. A psalm.
2The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at my
right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for
your feet."
3The LORD will extend your mighty scepter
from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your
enemies.
4Your troops will be willing on your day
of battle. Arrayed in holy majesty, from the womb of
the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth. The
LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: "You
are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek."
5The Lord is at your right hand; he will
crush kings on the day of his wrath.
6He will judge the nations, heaping up
the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth.
7He will drink from a brook beside the
way; therefore he will lift up his head.
Quoting from the New
American Standard Bible, Rabbi Tovia Singer, of Outreach
Judaism, claims that Christians
deliberately mistranslated Psalm 110:1 as,
"The
Lord said to my Lord. . ."
He notes that the two
"Lords" here look identical in this English translation,
although in my online reading of the NASB, the
text appears
as,
"The LORD said to my
Lord. . ."
Psalm
110:1, Online NASB
Assuming that Singer is
reading from a different edition of the NASB, we'll take
his word at face value. Although, he asserts that the
"Christian translator carefully masked
what it says in the text of the actual Hebrew,"1
(emphasis mine), we will not be so quick to charge
anyone with deceit here.
Singer is correct in
his statement that the "LORD" and "Lord" are two
different words in the Hebrew, and that the second
"Lord" can, and is applied to humans in the Tanakh. Here
are some powerful words that Singer uses to describe the
"Christian" translation of this verse:
1. Stunning and clever
mistranslation
2. The Church tampered with it
3. Complete and deliberate mistranslation
4. Doctored
5. Altered
6. Rampant
Christian tampering
These are VERY serious charges. In my CD ROM version of
the Soncino Talmud, created by the
Davka Corporation, the
English translation of Nedarim 32b doesn't distinguish
between the LORD and Lord of Psalm 110:1,
" . . . [the priesthood]
was given to Abraham, as it is written, The Lord
said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until
I make thine enemies thy footstool; which is
followed by, The Lord hath sworn, and will not
repent, Thou art a priest for ever, after the order
of Melchizedek,’ meaning, ‘because of the words
of Melchizedek.’"
Nedarim
32b, Soncino Press Edition
Now, it is possible that
the English translation of the tractate Nedarim is incorrect from the
original language of this Talmudic reference, or even
possible that when the text was being digitized, that
someone made an error. However, according to Rabbi
Singer's logic, this English CD version of the Talmud,
which was made by a Jewish Software company, was
"altered, tampered, stunningly mistranslated,
Christianized, carefully masked, appalling, deliberate
mistranslation, doctored, manipulated, and altered." It
would seem that this conspiracy of the "rampant
Christian tampering" has even influenced and infiltrated
the Jewish community, or on the other hand, we could
accept a much more probable possibility, that a mistake
was made. A mistake and a "deliberate mistranslation"
are two very different things, and we must be careful
not to make incorrect accusations. It is one thing to
call to attention a mistranslation, it is another to
accuse of "deliberate tampering."
There was admittedly
some "tampering" that has occurred, however. In the
Massorah, there are one hundred and thirty-four places
in the Hebrew text that Masoretic scribes changed YHVH,
the Tetragrammaton, to Adonai! Singer sure is adamant
about "Christian tampering," but can he apply the same
rules to himself, as he does his opponents? According to
James Trimm of the Society of the Advancement of
Nazarene Judaism, in his tape series Let's Get
Truthful, the scribes changed the Tetragrammaton in
134 places because, "they didn't want you to get
confused." An article from the TheRain.org7
notes,
"The official list given
in the Massorah (§§ 107-15, Ginsburg's edition)
contains the 134.8"
The article gives the
locations where the Tetragrammaton is changed,
Genesis
18:3,27,30,32
19:18; 20:4.
Exodus
4:10,13
5:22
15:17
34:9,9
Numbers
14:17
Joshua
7:8
Judges
6:15
13:8
1Kings
3:10,15
22:6
2Kings
7:6
19:23 |
Isaiah
3:17, 18
4:4
6:1,8,11
7:14,20
8:7
9:8,17
10:12
11:11
21:6,8,16
28:2
29:13
30:20
37:24
38:14,16
49:14
Ezekiel
18:25,29;
21:13;
33:17,29.
Amos
5:16
7:7,8
9:1
Zechariah
9:4
|
Psalm
2:4
16:2
22:19,30
30:8
35:3,17,22
37:12
38:9,15,22
39:7; 40:17
44:23
51:15
54:4
55:9
57:9
59:11
62:12
66:18
68:11,17,19,22,26,32
73:20
77:2,7
78:65
79:12
86:3,4,5,8,9,12,15
89:49,50
90:1,17
110:5
130:2,3,6
|
Micah
1:2
Malachi
1:12,14
Daniel
1:2,
9:3,4,7,9,15,16,17,19
Lamentations
1:14,15,15
2:1,2,5,7,18,19,20; 3:31,36,37,58.
Ezra
10:3
Nehemiah
1:11
4:14
Job
28:28.9 |
The article also notes,
"To these may be added
the following, where "Elohim" was treated in the
same way:
2Samuel
5:19-25
6:9-17} Where
the Authorized Version has "LORD."
|
1Chronicles
13:12
14:10,11,14,16
16:1
|
Psalms
14:1,2,5
53:1,2,4,5.} Where in Authorized Version and Revised
Version it still appears as "God". It is printed
"GOD" in the Companion Bible.10" |
A Song of
David
Rabbi Singer asks, "For whom would [King David] be
writing [these songs]? By whom would they be sung?" This
question leads to his explanation, and answer: The
Levitical singers, of course! Which would make the
second "Lord" in Psalm 110 - King David! However, the
Levitical singers are mentioned nowhere in this
Psalm.
Who's
At the Right Hand of God?
So just who
is this "Lord" at God's right hand? Ibn Ezra thinks it's
David. However, some Talmudic references tell us that it
is Avraham (Nedarim 32b, Sanhedrin 108.)2
Now that certainly wouldn't fit with Rabbi Singer's
interpretation here!
R. Hana b. Liwai said:
Shem, [Noah's] eldest son, said to Eliezer
[Abraham's servant], 'When the kings of the east and
west attacked you, what did you do?' - He replied,
'The Holy One, blessed be He, took Abraham and
placed him at His right hand, and they [God and
Abraham] threw dust which turned to swords and chaff
which turned to arrows, as it is written, A Psalm
of David. The Lord said unto my master, Sit thou at
my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy
footstool;a
a. Ps. CX, 1:
supposed to be said by Eliezer, 'my master'
referring to Abraham.
Sanhedrin 108b, Soncino Press Edition
According to the Midrash
Rabbah,
R. Ishmael and R. Akiba
[reasoned as follows]. R. Ishmael said: Abraham was
a High Priest, as it says, The Lord hath sworn,
and will not repent: Thou art a priest for ever
after the manner of Melchizedek (Ps. CX, 4).
Genesis
Rabbah 46:5, Soncino Press Editon, Cf. Gen. Rabbah
55:6, 55:7, Lev. Rabbah 25:6, Deut. Rabbah 2:7
One thing we know for
sure, is that whoever the speaker is in this psalm, the
second "Lord" is greater than the speaker. Singer
recognizes this, and that's why he says the psalm is for
the Levites. While the above passages speak of Abraham
as the one at God's Right hand, the Midrash on Psalms
places the Messiah there,
R. Yudan said in the
name of R. Hama: In the time-to-come, when
the Holy One, blessed be He, seats the lord Messiah
at His right hand, as is said The Lord saith unto my
lord: "Sit thou at My right hand" (Ps. 110:1), and
seats Abraham at His left, Abraham's face will pale,
and he will say to the Lord: "My son's son sits at
the right, and I at the left!" Thereupon the Holy
One, blessed be He, will comfort Abraham, saying:
"Thy son's son is at My right, but I, in a manner of
speaking, am at thy right": The Lord [is] at thy
right hand (Ps. 110:5).
Midrash
on Psalms, translated by William G. Braude, Yale
University Press Edition
Genesis Rabbah seems to
allude to the Messianic status of this passage,
AND HE SAID: WHAT PLEDGE
SHALL I GIVE THEE? AND SHE SAID: THY SIGNET AND THY
CORD, AND THY STAFF THAT IS IN THY HAND (Genesis
XXXVIII, 18). R. Hunia said: A holy spirit was
enkindled within her. THY SIGNET alludes to royalty,
as in the verse, Though Coniah the son of
Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon My
right hand, etc. (Jer. XXII, 24); AND THY CORD (PETHIL
- EKA) alludes to the Sanhedrin, as in the verse,
And that they put with the fringe of each corner a
thread (pethil) of blue, etc. (Num. XV, 38)1 AND
THY STAFF alludes to the royal Messiah, as in the
verse, The staff of thy strength the Lord will
send out of Zion (Ps. CX, 2).
Genesis
Rabbah 85:9, Soncino Press Edition
Numbers Rabbah says,
[Aaron's] staff was held
in the hand of every king until the Temple was
destroyed, and then it was [divinely] hidden away.
That same staff also is destined to be held in the
hand of the King Messiah (may it be speedily in our
days!); as it says, The staff of thy strength the
Lord will send out of Zion: Rule thou in the midst
of thine enemies (Ps. CX, 2).
Numbers
Rabbah 28:23, Soncino Press Edition
Edersheim summarizes the
messianic applications to Psalm 110,
Ps. 110, is throughout
applied to the Messiah. To begin with, it evidently
underlies the Targumic of ver. 4. Similarly, it is
propounded in the Midr. on Ps. 2. (although there
the chief application of it is to Abraham). But in
the Midrash on Ps. 18:36 (35 in our A. V.), Ps. 110.
verse 1, 'Sit thou at My right hand' is specially
applied to the Messiah, while Abraham is said to be
seated at the left.
Verse 2, 'The rod of
Thy strength.' In a very curious mystic
interpretation of the pledges which Tamar had, by
the Holy Ghost, asked of Judah, the seal is
interpreted as signifying the Kingdom, the bracelet
as the Sanhedrin, and the staff as the King Messiah,
with special reference to Is. 11. and Ps. 110:2 (Beresh.
R. 85, ed. Warsh. p. 153 a) Similarly in Bemid. R.
18, last line, the staff of Aaron, which is said to
have been in the hands of every king till the Temple
was destroyed, and since then to have been hid, is
to be restored to King Messiah, according to this
verse; and in Yalkut on this Psalm (vol. ii. Par.
869, p. 124 c) this staff is supposed to be the same
as that of Jacob with which he crossed Jordan, and
of Judah, and of Moses, and of Aaron, and the same
which David had in his hand when he slew Goliath, it
being also the same which will be restored to the
Messiah. 4
Other references cited in
The Messiah Texts, an awesome book by Raphael Patai,
state:
[God says:] "Ephraim, My
firstborn, you sit on My right until I subdue the
army of the hosts of God and Magog, your enemies,
under your footstool . . ."
Mid. Alpha Betot, 2:438-425
" . . .the Holy One,
blessed be He, will fight for Israel and will say to
the Messiah : "Sit at my right." And the Messiah
will say to Israel:"Gather together and stand and
see the salvation of the Lord." And instantly the
Holy One, blessed be He, will go forth and fight
against them . . .May that time and that period be
near!"
T'fillat R. Shim'on ben Yochai, BhM
4:124-266
It
should be noted, however, that the various
interpretations in Rabbinic literature, especially in
the Midrashim, are allegorical, and do not necessarily
mean that Psalm 110 literally refers to the Messiah.
Whose
Son is He?
While
the P'rushim were gathered together, Yeshua asked
them,
Saying,
"What do you think of Mashiach? Whose son is
he?"
They say
unto him, "The son of David."
He
replied, "How then does David in spirit call him
Lord, saying,
"The Lord
said unto my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I
make your enemies your footstool?
If David
then calls him Lord, how is he his son?"
And no man
was able to answer him a word, neither did any man
from that day forward ask him any more questions.
Matthew
22:41-46
When
did David sit at God's right hand? How can David be a
'priest forever in the order of Malki-Tzaddik' if David
is dead? Could it refer to a resurrected David?
Regardless, even if it were to refer to David, it would
then automatically refer to the Messiah, as Messiah will
be just like David. David is a prophetic prototype of
Mashiach. Both Singer and Gerald Sigal admit that David
is the author of this Psalm, while Singer holds that it
is to be sung by the Levites, Sigal doesn't mention the
Levitical singers, however his reasoning in along the
same line of thinking, saying, "David is writing this
psalm from the perspective of the individual who is
going to recite it."11 Yet in the Rabbinical
writings, this is mainly applied to Abraham, and then
the Messiah. So, if the application of the Messiah were
to be understood as the literal meaning of the text,
then how can David, the author of the Psalm, call
Messiah "Lord"? Apparently, the Messiah is greater than
David.
Rabbi Singer confidently states that since Psalm 110
speaks of David, not the Messiah, he is sure that the
dispute between Yeshua and the Pharisees about the
status of David's son never occurred because,
"No Jew who had even a
superficial knowledge of the Jewish
scriptures would have ever found Jesus’
argument compelling,
let alone a conversation stopper.
The depth of knowledge that the
Pharisees possessed of Tanach was
astounding."
-
Rabbi Tovia Singer, Outreach Judaism,
The Lord said to my Lord
Indeed, the Pharisees did have a great depth of
knowledge about the Tanakh:
"These are the two anointed
ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole
earth (Zech.
4:14). This is a reference to Aaron and the
Messiah, but I cannot tell which is the more
beloved. However, from the verse, The
Lord hath sworn and will not repent: Thou
art a priest for ever after the manner of
Mechizedek (Psalm 110:4), one can tell
that the Messianic King is more beloved that
the righteous priest."
- The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan,
Translated by Judah Goldin, Chapter 34, Yale
University Press, pg. 137-138.
Footnote:This psalm has been taken to
refer to the Messiah. Cf. Epistle to the
Hebrews, Chs 5-7
In the end, it is obvious to anyone with a superficial
knowledge of the scriptures that it is Singer's argument
that is
not at all compelling, and certainly not a conversation
stopper.
Footnotes
1. "The Lord Said To My Lord . . . ." To Whom Was
the Lord Speaking in Psalm 110:1?", Outreach
Judaism, Rabbi Tovia Singer.
2. "Messiah After the Order of Melchizedek," What
the Rabbis Know About the Messiah, Rachmiel
Frydland, Menorah Ministries. URL: http://www.menorah.org/maoom12.html
3. Alfred Edersheim,
The Life and Times of Jesus
the Messiah (Eerdmans 1977) p. 721, cited in
Frydland.
4. Alfred Edersheim,
The Life and Times of Jesus
the Messiah, http://philologos.org/__eb-lat/appen09.htm
5. Raphael Patai, The Messiah Texts
(Wayne State University Press 1988), p. 153
6. Ibid., pg. 159
7. TheRain.org
8. "The 134 Passages Where The Sopherim Altered
"Jehovah" to "Adonai", TheRain.org, URL: http://www.therain.org/appendixes/app32.html
9. Ibid.
10. Ibid.
11. Gerald Sigal, The Trinity Item: 60, Jews for
Judaism
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