Psalms 110:1 - A Classic Case of Traditional Error in Christian Teaching

Matthew 22:42-46 records the following exchange between Yeshua and some Pharisees with whom he was in conversation.

Many Christians do not realize Yeshua is here referring to the Tanakh (irreverently called the "Old" Testament) passage of Psalms 110:1.

Psalms 110:1 is a verse of particular importance.  Yeshua used it as evidence he was superior to David, thus THE Messiah.  Unfortunately, due to intentional mistranslation from the original Hebrew, sincere Traditional Christians are often lead to an understanding of this crucial verse that is FAR from truth.

Psalms 110:1 is one of the most referenced verses of the Tanakh in the NT.  It is also an unambiguous proof passage that Yeshua (David's lord) is NOT YHWH.

Psalms 110:1 - ¹ The LORD (YHWH) said unto my lord (Adon), Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool.

The Hebrew used 2 entirely different words for "LORD" (YHWH) and "lord" (Adon).  Since very few Christians ever spend much (if any) time reading the Holy Scripture Yeshua and all his followers used, they miss this entirely.  The term lord (Hebrew - Adon) is used numerous times to refer to men - NOT YHWH.  It is often used in reference to kings, captains, angels, husbands, a proprietor of a hill of Samaria, princes, governors, household superintendent, and basically anyone of superior rank. However, the term LORD (Hebrew - YHWH) is used exclusively for the ONE YHWH.

How many of you ladies out there consider your husband God?  I suspect some of your husbands may sometimes try to act like God, but they will answer for that in due time.  If we followed the methods of Trinitarians in their use of Psalms 110:1, husbands could literally claim to be God.

There are some that actually imply this verse reads, "YHWH said unto YHWH..." THAT IS NOT WHAT IT SAYS!  Such butchery of Scripture is necessary for "proof" that Yeshua is YHWH; however, the actual Scripture (unedited by teachers of error) shows quite clear distinction between YHWH (LORD) and Adon (Yeshua Messiah).  Frankly, this one verse goes a long way to defeating the teachings of those that claim Yeshua is YHWH.  If Yeshua is YHWH the Hebrew would clearly show it, but it doesn't.  Instead it shows Yeshua to be the anointed One (Messiah) of YHWH.

Some basic and important points can be learned from this passage in Matthew.

1. Psalms 110:1 is one of the most frequently referenced Tanakh passages within the New Testament.
2. The frequency of its reference, even by Yeshua, proves it to truly be the pure Word of YHWH since they (including Yeshua) considered it so.
3. The use of it in Matthew 22 shows the common and mistaken understanding of it (even today within Judaism) was that it applied to King David's son in such a way as to make that son inferior or equal to David, who was A Messiah (anointed), but not THE Messiah.  Although Yeshua is a literal descendant of King David, he is NOT - as was (is) supposed - inferior or equal to David.  Instead THE Messiah is David's superior - his Adon (lord), but NOT David's God (YHWH).
4. Some anti-semites and anti-Hebraic individuals may present the ridiculous argument that the Hebrew used today for this verse is corrupt; however, the common understanding of the time, shown in the previous point, proves the Hebrew could not possibly have used the Hebrew term, YHWH, for both "lords", since that would have implied David's physical descendant in the minds of Jews then and now was (is) YHWH, which was not even hinted at as a belief from the Hebrew reading they were obviously accepting as true.  Had that been the reading, they would not have considered David's descendant inferior or equal to him!
5. So, the usage of the verse proves the Hebrew just discussed to be irrefutably correct - that 2 separate Hebrew words were used - (YHWH) and (Adon).
6. Therefore, this single verse PROVES Yeshua is NOT YHWH, since one of the two beings in the verse is YHWH, who is speaking to a SEPARATE being that is Messiah Yeshua!

Those claiming Yeshua IS YHWH cannot possibly do so unless they reject this verse's unambiguous meaning.  It is VERY clear in this single verse that the Messiah is shown to NOT be YHWH!  This is absolutely irrefutable unless an outrageously mystical argument is used in an attempt to completely destroy the clear implication of the Scripture.  Unfortunately, that is precisely the tactic taken by all those that cleave to mysticism and mystery for their "proofs" that Yeshua is YHWH.  In order to find proof, they must either shred context, add additional mystical meanings to clear passages, play word games with Hebrew words such as echad and elohim, or base their shaky arguments on a VERY few passages that seem to support them, yet have other interpretations that are just as applicable and requires no "mystery" gyrations to prove so.

Many Bibles and most preachers totally miss the simple and concrete point shown above.  One reason is the failure of translators to properly render the verse in the New Testament Greek and sometimes even intentionally false renderings by capitalizing the term in Psalms (LORD or Lord, instead of lord).  It should properly be translated as "lord" without any capitalization.

Check your Bible.  Odds are it is rendered incorrectly in Psalms; however, it appears later translations are begrudgingly correcting this error.  Most have at least ceased capitalizing the entire second "lord" (LORD) in Ps 110:1 and are now simply capitalizing the first letter of the word (Lord).  However, even this is false since the Hebrew word for "Lord" with the "L" capitalized is Adonay, which is a completely different word used exclusively to refer the Lord God (Adonay Elohim).

Thus, with Psalms 110:1 it is possible to show proof-positive that historically there has been an effort to mislead Christians into accepting Yeshua as YHWH through biased and blatantly false translating of Hebrew into English by Christian Bible translators.  Either that or the translators were of low intelligence.  Either way the picture isn't pretty for them.

Psalms 110:1 (the Hebrew version) was used then by Yeshua to show his Messiahship.  Today, the same passage must be used to prove an entirely different fact of Scripture - that Yeshua (lord - Adon) and YHWH (LORD - YHWH) are NOT the same.  This passage is hard for those promoting Yeshua as God to get around since it so clearly shows the Father and the "lord" Yeshua as separate and distinct both in the actual Hebrew word and the fact the LORD (YHWH) was speaking to the lord (Yeshua).  The one speaking and the one being spoken to infers clear distinction.

I can envision a conversation today between Yeshua and the false prophets of the Christian world:

"What think ye of Christ? Is he God?" The Theologians say unto him, "Yes Lord God." ⁴³ He saith unto them, "How then doth David in spirit clearly distinguish him from LORD God, saying, ⁴⁴ YHWH (LORD) said unto my Adon (lord), Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? ⁴⁵ If David then did not refer to him as God (or YHWH), how is he God (or YHWH)? ⁴⁶ And no Trinitarian was able to answer him a word, neither durst any prophets of the Beast from that day forth ask him any more questions."

Indeed, when the erroneous translation is corrected, Trinitarians are left unable "to answer him a word".