Psalm 110 Bible study: The LORD says to my Lord

The psalm is titled "A Psalm by David" (110:1), and its first words are "The LORD says to my Lord" (110:1) (tap says, my Lord). Says is ne'um, a word the Hebrew Bible uses mostly in the prophets, as in "says the LORD" (Jeremiah 23:5). The Psalms have it only twice, here and in Psalm 36:1, and Psalm 36's notes set the two side by side. Here is what almost everyone misses. In Hebrew the LORD and my Lord are two different words. The LORD is the divine name, which the WEB prints in capitals. My Lord is adoni, from adon, which Strong's gives as "sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine)". The Psalms use adon of the LORD, "LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Psalm 8:1), and of a king, "for he is your lord" (Psalm 45:11). So the psalm's first line has the LORD speaking to someone the psalm calls "my Lord", and what he says is "Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet" (110:1) (tap right hand, footstool).

Psalms 110:1→leads toMatthew 22:44

The psalm says, "The LORD says to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool for your feet.”" (Psalm 110:1). While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them about the Christ (Matthew 22:41-42). Then he said to them, "How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord" (Matthew 22:43), and gave the psalm's words: "The Lord said to my Lord, sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet" (Matthew 22:44). He asked, "If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?" (Matthew 22:45), and "No one was able to answer him a word" (Matthew 22:46). Jesus's question rests on the psalm's first line: David, speaking "in the Spirit" (Matthew 22:43), calls the Christ his Lord. Mark and Luke tell the same question (Mark 12:35-37, Luke 20:41-44). The WEB words the psalm and Matthew a little differently: says and said, Sit at and sit on, your footstool and a footstool.

אָדוֹןadonsay a-DOHN

Brown-Driver-Briggs: "lord". Strong's: "sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine)". "The LORD says to my Lord" (110:1): in Hebrew to my Lord is one word, ladoni, and it isn't the divine name the WEB prints as the LORD. The Psalms have adon 12 times in Hebrew. It is used of the LORD, "LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" (Psalm 8:1), and "Give thanks to the Lord of lords" (Psalm 136:3), and of a king: "for he is your lord" (Psalm 45:11). Jesus quoted this line and asked, "Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?" (Mark 12:37). The Lord of 110:5 is a different form, adonai (tap Lord there).