Andrews University

Seventh day Adventist Theological Seminary

EXEGESIS OF PSALM 110

Presented in Partial Fulfillment
Of the Requirements for the Course
OTST 558 001 Writings - SP2015

Presented by
Anibal Santeliz

April 07/ 2015

PSALM 110
Henry Van-Dyke1 has no doubt that the whole Christianity has a strong affection for the book of
psalms, he gives us a curious trivia, out of the 283 quotations of the OT found in the NT, 116 of them are
from the book of Psalms. In both tradition and Hebrew, title for the psalms is Tehillim or praises and
are divided into five books, thus psalm 110 belonging to the fifth book2. Also among the 116 titles found
at the beginning of the psalms, only 34 of the psalms are called orphans by the Jewish writers, because
the lack of inscription or title.3 According to Woodrow Michael Kroll, psalm 110 is the most quoted
among the psalms in the NT and he also remarks that Augustine said that even though this is a very brief
psalm, it is great in the weight of thought.4 Van-Dykes also adds that the Huguenots marched singing
psalm 68, and that our Lord Jesus Christ commended his spirit to the Father with Psalm 31:5, and was
further imitated by Stephen, Polycarp, Basil, Bernard Huss, Columbus, Melanchton and many more.5
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Among the coronations which take place in the beginning of Israels monarchies, we find two
ceremonies, so humble in their appearances that they resemble a family celebration, with a small
amount of people, and just the anointing ceremony which consisted of a horn filled with of oil poured
over the head of the chosen king. We find in the Bible record, the anointing of Saul as a king (1 ki 10:1,
21-24) or the three anointing episodes of David (1 Sam 16:12-13; 2 Sam 2:4-7; 5:1-3) as very humble
ceremonies, or even the attempt of Adoniah -Davids son- to sit on the throne (1 Ki 1:5, 7, 9), being a
humble feast as well, or the ceremony of Salomon, son of David, recorded in (1 ki 1:38-40). But as time
went on, the subsequent kings became more sophisticated even on the elaboration of their royal seats,
1

Henry Van Dyke, The Story of the Psalms (New York,: C. Scribner's sons, 1887). P 3

Ibid. p 5

Ibid. p 7

Woodrow Michael Kroll, Psalms : The Poetry of Palestine (Lanham: University Press of America, 1987).

Van Dyke. p11

as is for example the case of Solomon, who built himself a throne made out of Ivory, covered in Gold (1
Ki 10:18-20).
About coronation itself, we have the description made by Ristvet of such ritual in Ebla,
describing the new king as wearing the whole kingly regalia and making sacrifices to his ancestors in the
towns around.6 Herodotus also describes some people that throw themselves at the feet of a Persian
sovereign and worship him; He describes the throne as of massive gold with, a golden footstool and
adds that at the right hand of this sovereign there is a golden scepter with which he swayed a hundred
nations, in his left was the sacred cup of Havan (James Talboys Wheeler)7. How a coronation ceremony
exactly goes, we dont know, nevertheless a little snapshot is located in Psalm 24 where a coronation
choir sing, in antiphonal manner, praises to YHWH, which could be connected with the New Testaments
book of Revelation 4-5. Ehrlichs (quoted in Dahood) relates that During the crowning ceremony, the
king of Israel was considered to be enthroned at the right of the invisible, yet present Lord.8
A king is not a king without people, and Psalm 110 mention a people, which willingly come to
serve the new King in the day of thy power. It is interesting to have a look at a depiction of a new king
sitting on the laps of his nurse, showing his potential enemies at his feet. (Hoerth).9 The two stelas of
Nabonidus found in 1956 by D. S. Rice, shows one line where it reads: . . . the kings of the nearby region
came up to kiss his feet. . . (Pritchard).10 In a slab of the temple of Ninurta in Calah, there is a report of
the expedition of Ashurnasirpal II to the Lebanon, where a fragment reads: their tribute I received and
they embraced my feet (Pritchard)11.The Prism of Sennacherib which record the siege of Jerusalem

Lauren Ristvet, Ritual, Performance, and Politics in the Ancient near East (New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2015). P 68

James Talboys Wheeler, The Life and Travels of Herodotus in the Fifth Century before Christ: An Imaginary Biography Founded on Fact,
Illustrative of the History, Manners, Religion, Literature, Arts, and Social Condition of the Greeks, Egyptians, Persians, Babylonians, Hebrews,
Scythians, and Other Ancient Nations, in the Days of Pericles and Nehemiah, 2 vols. (New York,: Harper, 1856). P 354
8
Mitchell J. Dahood, Psalms, 1st ed., 3 vols., The Anchor Bible, (Garden City, N.Y.,: Doubleday, 1966). P 114
9

Alfred J. Hoerth, Archaeology and the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker Books, 1998). P 213

10

James B. Pritchard, The Ancient near East; Supplementary Texts and Pictures Relating to the Old Testament (Princeton, N.J.,: Princeton
University Press, 1969). P 111
11
James B. Pritchard, The Ancient near East; an Anthology of Texts and Pictures (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1958). P 188

reads: they bowed in submission to my feet and also they brought sumptuous gifts . . . and kissed my
feet (Pritchard).12 Another example of enemies at the footstool is found in the triumphal monument of
Darius the Great, and a Tak-i-Shan sculpture where there can be seen depictions of monarchs standing
on the corpses of the defeated people (price).13 According to Dahod14 On Tutankhamens footstool or
hassock are representations of foreign captives, prostrate, with their hands behind their backs. Certain
passages in the Bible reiterates this idea of the triumphal people standing, or walking on the corpses or
even ashes of the wicked enemies (see Jos 10:22-25; 1 Ki 5:3; Isa. 63:6; Malachi 4:3).
LITERARY CONTEXT
The authorship of the psalm is agreed upon by some scholars as belonging to David such as:
Armstrong, Kroll, Limburg, Spurgeon, Thirtle, Van-Dyke, Weiser, and others, for the plain reason that the
psalm begins stating that it belongs to David. Kroll quotes Martin Luther and John Calvin as agreeing
with the universal belief of this psalm as Messianic.15 James Limburg16 straightforwardly recognizes the
messianic tone of psalm 110 and its connection with many a passage in the NT made by the writers of
the book of Acts, the letter to the Romans, the letter to the Hebrews and first letter of Peter. Artur
Weiser17 sides with those who believe in the Davidic authorship of the psalm evidenced by the text per
se and the testimony of Jesus, which ascribes it to David. Spurgeon18 concludes that this psalm is a divine
revelation to David of a secret conversation between the Father and the Son. However critics such as
Kraus19 doubt such authorship notwithstanding the text. Kraus quotes Durr on a comparative analysis

12

Ibid. p 199

13

Ira Maurice Price, The Monuments and the Old Testament; Light from the near East on the Scriptures (Philadelphia,: Judson Press, 1958). P
250-251
14
Dahood. P 114
15

Kroll. p 329

16

James Limburg, Psalms, 1st ed., Westminster Bible Companion (Louisville, Ky.: Westminister John Knox Press, 2000).

17

Artur Weiser, The Psalms, a Commentary, The Old Testament Library (Philadelphia,: Westminster Press, 1962). P 692

18

C. H. Spurgeon, The Treasury of David: Containing an Original Exposition of the Book of Psalms; a Collection of Illustrative Extracts from the
Whole Range of Literature; a Series of Homiletical Hints Upon Almost Every Verse, and Lists of Writers Upon Each Psalm, 7 vols. (Toronto, New
York etc.: Funk & Wagnalls co., 1892). P 460
19
Hans-Joachim Kraus, Psalms 60-150 : A Commentary (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 1989). P 347, 352

that the scholar undertakes between the psalm and a so called Ramesses Papyrus where he allegedly
finds great parallelisms, and even understands verse 5-6 as mythical statements in the Jerusalem
cultic tradition. Although Thirtle20 states that without doubt the formula lDavid in the psalm intended
to ascribe authorship to David. Scholars as Croft21 believe that the superinscription in itself cannot
provide firm ground for the interpretation of any psalms, instead the title lDavid at the beginning
of the psalm could be explained since David was the composer par excellence, so later people believed
all psalms belong to David and thus ascribed authorship to him. Thirtle22 mentions that there are some
scholars, which advocate for earlier Greek versions, allegedly to be dated at 900 B.C. instead of the
Masoretic (Hebrew) text which is dated at 400 B.C. This is given probably in order to get rid of this
superinscript which is lacking in these supposed earlier Greek recension. Nevertheless, these objections
to the Davidic authorship are no more than an educated conjecture which cannot ever overrule what is
written, we can conclude with Kroll23 that those who deny the authorship of David on this psalm do it
out of pure bias.
On the composition date, Dahood24 suggests that the resemblance of psalm 110 with psalm 2 is
a good reason to place this psalm in a 10th century date composition. It could also be reasoned that if we
grant the authorship of this psalm to David, the next logical thought would be that it had to be written
during his lifetime, which is in perfect accordance with what Dahood suggests.
Psalm 110 is said to belong to a special category of psalms called Royal Psalms. How many
psalms are royal? The examination of Gunkel (quoted by croft25) reveals that only nine are without
doubt royal, out of which only three are individual psalms. Croft also reckons that Psalm 110 focuses
20

James William Thirtle, The Titles of the Psalms, Their Nature and Meaning Explained, 2d ed. (London, New York etc.: H. Frowde, 1905). P 3

21

Steven, Croft J.L. The Identity of the Individual in the Psalms. P 74-75

22

Thirtle. p 11

23

Kroll. p 329

24

Dahood. p 112

25

Steven, Croft J.L. The Identity of the Individual in the Psalms. P 73, 81, 84

more clearly in the military function of the king either at his anointing or in the context of the festival.
The enemies in vs. 1 are clearly the nations of vs. 6. However in this psalm the King is a military
instrument of judgment as it was Cyrus, or the Assyrians. Croft adds that there was cultic context in
which these psalms were delivered connecting Israels festal sacred calendar with the Feast of Booths
and further stating that according to some scholars the royal ideology of the ancient near east, kingship
consisted of the exercise of the functions of warrior and judge, and that these two were interconnected,
and pinpoints that for this reason psalm 2, 110, 72 and 132, have been placed as pertaining to the
Autumn festivals by most scholars.
STRUCTURE OF THE PSALM:
Armstrong-Hoyt26 wrote: the first outstanding characteristic of Hebrew poetry is its use of two
parallel lines to express the desire thought. The first line never completes the thought, so the second
reiterates it, adds to it or contrasts it as the case may be, for strength. . . thus it will be seen that Hebrew
poetry, like Assyrian and Babylonian, uses parallelism rather than meter for rhythm, and repetition
rather than rhyme. This gives the effect of the rising falling tone. It holds an audience, especially as it is
designed for antiphonal and recitational uses.27 Mitchel Dahood28 analyzes the metric of the psalm,
divides it into two stanzas and finds a symmetrical balance of 74 syllables in it. From these figures based
on MT flows the conclusion that the text is basically intact, at least as far as meter is concerned.
In psalm 110 the student can readily note the repetition of words and phrases that inject a rich
dose of meaning, staring in awe before such a master piece of Hebrew literature. There are phrases,
which are evidently royal, and other phrases that clearly resemble priestly duties, also it can be said that
there are parallelisms and repetitions of words that interconnect perfectly as threads of a fabric.

26

Edyth Viola Armstrong Hoyt, Studies in the Psalms (Chicago, Ill.,: Associated authors, 1937). P 16

27

Ibid. p 17

28

Dahood. p 113

Royal Phrases:

At my right hand

Rule in the midst of thine enemies

Thy people. . . in the day of your power

At thy right hand

Strike through kings

Wound the heads of many countries

Day of his wrath

Judge among the heathen

Priestly Phrases

Thou art a priest

After the order

Melchizedek

YHWH Occurrences in the psalm 110:

Adonai shall:

said to Adonai: sit thou. . .

Judge among the heathen

Shall send the rod. . .

Filled with dead bodies

Hath sworn and will not repent. . .

Wound the heads of many countries

Parallelisms in the text:

A In the day of thy power
A in the day of his wrath

A He shall wound the heads

A He shall. . . lift up the head
A Sit thou at my right hand
A Rule thou in the midst of thy enemies
A Thou has the dew of thy youth
A Thou art a priest forever

Marc Girard29 perceives the psalm as a tripartite unit, the first part goes from an
introduction to an oracle, the second part designates both, the Divine and the human king, and the third
part Girard suggests- introduces an apparent misunderstanding. The initial oracle is set in a coronation
frame, and the second oracle follows a holy-war setting. This second part reports the enthronization of a
new king and the investiture of priesthood.

Intertextuality
VOCABS OF INTEREST:

Priest
Among the 753 occurrences of this vocab, it is interesting that the OT presents clear
examples that God does not approve that the place or duty of priesthood should be usurp, for example
we have the case of king Saul, who in desperation took the place of the prophet Samuel and was
rebuked by the prophet who said: . . . Thou hast done foolishly: thou hast not kept the commandment
of the LORD thy God I Sam. 13:13. (See also 1 Sam. 13:8-13). Another example of a King who attempted
to function as a priest by offering incense before the Lord and was smitten by God with leprosy; what
the priests told him is revealing: And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth
29

MARC GIRARD, Les Psaumes Redecouverts: De La Structure Au Sens (Quebec: Bellarmin, 1984). P 161,163

not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron. . . 2 Ch 26:
18. (see also 2 Ch 26:16-20). One more example of a king messing with priesthood is the case of
Jeroboam, who instituted a false system of sacrifices, with calves images, and false priests, reason for
which the Lord pronounce that he and his family were going to be eradicated from the face of the earth.
(see 1Ki 12:26-33; 14:9-11).
The position of a priest was so important that the Lord commanded them to lift the Ark
of the Covenant and be the first to cross the Jordan, and as the sole of their feet touched the waters,
these opened. (see Jos. 3:3, 4, 13) We also find 7 priests playing seven trumpets on the 7th day on the
miraculous destruction of Jericho (See Jos. 6:4, 5, 15, 16). When God brought Israel from Egypt he said
to Moses that this people would be a nation of kings and priests (Exo 19:6).
Melchizedek
This word although appears only 2 times in the O.T. bears a significant load of meaning, of which
the Apostle Paul expands in the N.T. where he made use of it 9 times (see Heb 5:6, 10; 6:20; 7:1, 10, 11,
15, 17, 21) explicitly declaring that Melchizedek is a type of Jesus Christ as a Priest-King who holds
inherent priesthood and is so exalted priest that Abraham gives him the tithes of everything as is related
in Gen 14:18-20.
After al
According to BDB30 definitions, this preposition, which in the text is connected to in a
construct state, conveys the meaning of:
1) upon (the order), on the ground of (the order), according to (the order), on account of
(the order),

30

Francis Brown et al., The New Brown, Driver, Briggs, Gesenius Hebrew and English Lexicon : With an Appendix Containing the Biblical Aramaic
(Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson, 1979). P 724-725

1a) on the basis of (the order), because of (the order), on behalf of (the order),
concerning (the order).
1b) above, beyond, over (of excess)
The order
dibrah
The definition of this noun, which appears only 5 times in the O.T. is rendered in BDB as:
cause, manner, reason
the STRONG definition is:
Feminine of H1697; a reason, suit or style: - cause, end, estate, order, regard.
The only place where appears with the preposition as in psalm 110:4 is in
Ecc 8:2 I counsel thee to keep the king's commandment, and that in regard of the oath of God

Right hand
yamin
The term right hand denotes importance and a position of ultimate trust, it is of such
importance that Joseph was displeased to see his father placing the right hand on the younger grandson
(see Gen 48:17, also revealed in the words of the dying patriarch: And his father refused, and said, I
know it, my son, I know it: he also shall become a people, and he also shall be great: but truly his
younger brother shall be greater than he, and his seed shall become a multitude of nations. Gen 48:19.
Furthermore, the law of God is at his right side (Deu33:2), when Bathseba asked to speak to Solomon,
she sat at the right hand (1 Ki 2:19), Davis does not fear because The Lord is at his right hand (Psa 16:8)
where there is pleasures for evermore (Psa 16:11), it is the Right hand of God which holds David (Psa

18:35), also king David exclaims: Let thy hand be upon the man of thy right hand (Psa 80:17). Thus the
right hand of The Lord God is full of righteousness (Psa 48:10), is exalted and does valiantly (Psa 118:15),
and upholds the weak by the right hand (Isa 41:10). It is the right hand of God that spanned the heavens
(Isa 48:13) and holds Cyrus by the right hand (Isa 45:1) and even pronounces oath by his right hand (Isa
62:8).
Rod staff
matteh
The rod constituted the evidence that Moses was sent by God, it was the most basic tool of
Moses, but became a powerful instrument once was commanded by the almighty (see Exo 4:4, 17, 20);
It becomes serpent (Exo 7:9-10) and even swallowed the enchanted Egyptians serpents (Exo 7:12); at
the touch of the river the water becomes blood (Exo 7:15, 17-20). The assyrians are compared with a
rod of the anger of the Lord (Isa 10:5), a rod is paralleled with a scepter (Isa 14:5), finally a vine in
Ezequiel, which is allegorically compared to Israel, is said to produced good rods for scepters (Eze 19:1011), thus enforcing the idea that a rod could be used as a scepter. This rod in Habaccuk is employed
exactly in the same manner as in Psa 110:5-6. Thou didst strike through with his staves the head of his
villages. Hab 3:14
Mount of zion
The Rod is sent from mount Zion in psalm 110:2, so it would be useful to search the Scriptures
for the use of this word:
The mount of Zion is identified as the city of David (1Sa 5:7), which is called my holy hill in Psa
2:6. Furthermore, it is said that The Lord God dwells in Zion (Psa 9:11) or Jerusalem (Psa 135:21) also
called mount Zion which is on the sides of the north (Psa 48:2). What is particularly interesting is
that in Isaiah, talking of Lucifer, the prophet says that Lucifer coveted to sit on the sides of the north
(Isa 14:13), we also read Ezequiel the description of this angelical fallen being that the prophet makes;

this fallen cherub once lived in the mountain of God (Eze 28:14) but was cast out (Eze 28:16). Zion
therefore belongs to the heavenly realm, it is Gods dwelling place, but also Zion is the dwelling place of
God on earth. It is from Zion that goes forth the law and the word of the Lord (Isa 2:3) the fire of the
Lord is in Zion (Isa 31:9) which is filled with judgment and righteousness (Isa 33:5), and the precious
cornerstone, our Lord Jesus Christ is laid in Zion (Isa 28:16); Zion is where the people of God gathers (Joe
2:15), furthermore, Zion is the refuge place where Gods deliverance is found (Joe 2:32), since the Lord
God roars from Zion to protect his people (Joe 3:16-17).The authority of this anointed king-priest of
psalm 110 comes from none other place but from Zion, the center of universe, even Gods
headquarters.
SECONDARY LITERATURE

In verse 1 we find the two principal subjects of the whole psalm, and these are and ,
titles that correspond to God the Father and Jesus Christ respectively -the only one who has ascended to
heaven and sits at the right hand of God. It is interesting that the verb is in imperative tense, which is
both an invitation and command to to sit until he has placed his enemies at the footstool. During
the crowning ceremony, the king of Israel was considered to be enthroned at the right of the invisible,
yet present Lord. (Ehrlichs, quoted in Dahood31 ). Limburg32 also believes that the expression sit at my
right hand reveals a royal authority position and he also sees in this psalm a military wording that refers
to the kingdom of Christ. According to Girard,33 sitting at the right hand of anybody in ancient east
mentality, constitutes a mark of honor. The expression is common in Sumerian, Babylonian and Egyptian
texts. In the N.T. is a unique case. Kroll34 also highlights the fact that sitting at the right hand of YHWH
constitutes the third step of the exaltation of The Lord Jesus Christ, being the first step his resurrection,
31

Dahood. p114

32

Limburg. p380

33

GIRARD. P162

34

Kroll. p 330

the second step his ascension to heaven, culminating in his glorification by sitting on the throne of
Heaven beside The Father.
Verse 2 show 3 verbs. To send or to stretch out is an imperfect verb, which means that the
action is still in the future. Also the idea of stretching out a scepter-rod of power in relation with the
new king, conveys the meaning of absolute power, there is no indication of any power shortage.
Dahood35 asserts that the term can be translated as forge like forging a weapon- and connects the
term with the term thus perceiving that the word for scepter-rod in verse 2 is like a
hammer-scepter that the king uses in verses 5 and 6 to pound and shatter enemies, however,
stretching out the significance by using standard lexicons as Dahood mentions, implies to place this
messianic text in heathen context, thus equating the messianic king with the oppressing ancient
emperors, enemies of Israel. Kroll36 remarks that the expression send the rod of thy Power is poetic
expression for his ruling power, to place the foot on the neck of the defeated foe was a common
practice for conquerors in the ancient near east The next 2 verbs are: and which are
connected. The first one is in imperative mode, so the new king not only receives full authority from
Zion, the city of God, but is told to rule among his enemies. Now the enemies of this new king are not
represented with a noun as it should be, but with a participle, which denotes action, so the enemies are
yet in the continuous action of being his enemies. Dahood37 sees that the word my Lord (Adonai) is used
as a polite way to refer to a second masculine singular as in 1 Sam. 12:12, 25:25, 26:18, and 1 kings 1:13,
17. Nevertheless if the author is the one addressing the subject, the king as Adonai, would not use the
term rule thou in an imperative tense; such tense he remarks, is used in both Biblical and Ugaritic
texts in a majestic manner.

35

Dahood. p115

36

Kroll.

37

Dahood. p 113

In verse 3 the people of is willing in the day of thy power We find here two kinds of
people, one which are being his enemies, and the other people which are willing in the day of thy
power. Not only that, but these willing people are according to the text offer themselves in the
beauty of holiness .
Now being holy is a verb that is directly connected to divine
attributes and sanctuary jargon. Who are these enemies? Well, apparently verses 5-6 answers this
question, for it names kings, and heathen, and countries. In responding the question on who are the
enemies who beset the individual suppliant in many psalms Croft declares that the two groups of
wicked vs righteous, were seen as two rival sects within Judaism.38 There are others like Birkeland
(quoted by croft), whose opinion is that the enemies of Israel are explicitly identified as the foreign
nations with whom Israel was continually at war.39
VERSE 4 constitutes the center of the whole psalm. In fact looks that the whole psalm has 79
syllables if we count the prepositions; this being the case, shows that verse 4 starts at the very center of
the chapter. The verse begins with a solemn oath made by himself, which cannot be
overemphasized, since there are just a few places in the O.T. -20 times- where God intervenes with an
oath (see: Gen 24:7; Gen 22:16; Gen 26:3; Deu 1:34,5; Jdg 2:15; 1Sa 3:14; Psa 89:35-36; Psa 132:11; Isa
14:24,5; Isa 45:23; Isa 54:9; Isa 62:8; Jer 22:5; Jer 44:26; Jer51:14; Amo 4:2; Amo 6:8; Amo 8:7). There
are a couple of things of paramount importance: the oath of the naming of as a priest,
according to the order of Melchizedek, and the length of time that loads the text with solemnity
and profound implications, for the apostle Peter clearly states that David did not ascend to heaven (Acts
2:22,36), and ultimately there has not been another eternal priest of which is made mention of in the
Bible than this Adonai which is referred by Paul as no other than Jesus Christ, having an eternal
priesthood. Even Krauss40 admits there is a prophetic formula of revelation at the beginning of the

38

Steven, Croft J.L. The Identity of the Individual in the Psalms. p15

39

Ibid. p16

40

Kraus. p 348

psalm. Therefore the coronation of this king and his appointing as an eternal priest under oath
constitute the very core of the psalm, and a topic which, as mentioned before is well exploited in the NT.
Kroll41 also agrees in placing the fourth verse as the center piece of the psalm, applying the priestly duty
of Melchizedek to the priestly attributes of Jesus and concludes that Jesus Christ is by divine decree,
both king and Priest. Kroll also applies the Adonai of verse 5 to YHWH of verse 1,2, and 4, and believes
that verse 6 is still in the future and will have its fulfillment at the second coming of Christ. Weiser42 says
that in this psalm the author makes use of the court style language that was often employed in the
investiture of a king in the ancient orient. Weiser believes that this psalm was composed to teach that
the offices of priesthood was forever remain vested in the king after the order of Melchizedek and
adds that in the person of the King David the two offices converged.43 Dahoods opinion is that the new
king like all early Israelite kings enjoyed the privilege of a priest, calling two texts: 2 Sam 8:18 and 1 kings
3:4.44 Nevertheless these texts do not in any way even suggest priestly duties, therefore there is no base
for this assertion. Girard45 disagrees with Dahoods position, and states that the King-Priest in Israel
was never seen except for the Maccabean period. Armstrong-Hoyt46 informs us that It was at the time
of the reign of Simon that the office of High Priest was made hereditary in the Maccabean family, thus
uniting church and state. Simon was indeed both king and priest. Even further, Hoyt synthetize the
story of the Maccabean, and throws on the table that a famous Judas of the family of Mattathias was
nicknamed as the hammerer,47 or Maccab, which explains why some like Dahood intent to make the
scepter-rod into a hammer, for the simple and convenient reason that this person was a king that was
not from the tribe of Judah, but from the Levites, and forcefully some scholars try to make him a king-

41

Kroll. p331

42

Weiser. p 694

43

Ibid. p 695

44

Dahood.

45

GIRARD. p 166

46

Hoyt. P 171

47

Ibid. p 170

priest just as any common heathen king, thus uniting scepter and censer in one earthly king and reject
psalm 110 as messianic.
Verse 5 shows again, but this time it seems that it is who is showing his presence with
the new king, because it is he who promised to place his enemies at his footstool in verse 1. There
are 2 days mentioned in psalm 110, one is in verse 3 and the other is mentioned in verse 5; one is the
day of his power (the power of Adonai) the other is the day of his wrath. Now although there are 2
subjects in this verse, this wrath does not belong to the kings because it is a plural noun, and since the
phrase day of his wrath has two nouns which are masculine-singular, the wrath has to refer to
be the wrath of ( masculine-singular) which is the one who abates the enemies in verse 1 as
previously mentioned. Girard remarks that: the day of the wrath refers to the eschatological moment
on the destruction of all the political adversaries of the new king.48 And further states that: the subject
of the verbs in verses 5-7 is no other tan YHWH . . . Jehovah is the subject in the verbs of verses 4, 5, and
7 inclusive, in order to avoid the problem of an inexplicable grammatical hiatus49
Verse 6-7 show the portentous works of YHWH in order to place everything at the footstool of
the new king and thus fulfill his dictum on him in verse 1. Verse 7 is difficult to understand, not much is
reported by commentators, other than it is the antithesis of verse 6 where the heads of the antagonists
kings are being smashed. My personal view is that this verse takes us back to the story of Gideon, where
those few who went in the name of God did not dip their heads in the water, but took water with their
hand as they pursued on, and were conquerors in the name and by the strength of God.

48

GIRARD. p 162

49

Ibid. p 165

Practical Application
Moses recorded the promise of God himself that they would be a kingdom of kings and priests
(Exo 19:6). The positions of priest and king in the Bible were independent one from the other. Both
positions were appointed by God himself, who gave to each especial authority for their cardinal
responsibilities. Jesus recognized two authorities, first he recognized the authority of the priesthood by
commanding the healed man to pay a visit to the priest: And Jesus saith . . . go thy way, shew thyself to the priest.
. . Mat 8:4. Jesus also recognized the civil authority, when asked on whether or not tribute should be

given to Caesar: . . . Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's; and unto God the things that are God's.
Mat 22:17,19-21. It is noteworthy that these two powers were clearly divided from the very beginning of

the history of the nation of Israel after the theocracy. Saul was rejected by God because he disobeyed
God and usurped the place of the priest performing sacred duties that belonged exclusively to the
Levites.
God has the prerogative of evaluating the performance on duty of both, priests and kings and in
a point of time He even sent the kingdom of Judah to captivity and rejected the prince and the priest, as
we read: And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as if it were of a garden: he hath destroyed his places of the
assembly: the LORD hath caused the solemn feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion, and hath despised in the indignation
of his anger the king and the priest. Lam 2:6. When the people of Judah came from the exile to become a nation

again, we read in the book of Zechariah that God once more appointed two powers, a priest called
Joshua, representing the church, and a governor called Zerubbabel, representing the state.
The separation of Church-State is conspicuous in the Bible even in the most shallow study of the
subject, it is clear that God recognizes both powers, and that these two powers are meant to be
separate. History has well proved that whenever church and state come into an illegal marriage and
become one, the world has suffered terrible consequences, being deprived of its liberties, being the
dearest of them, the liberty of conscience. As an old Spanish proverb says: nobody knows what he has

until he loses it We should look after the freedom that we actually enjoy in a country that still holds
separation of church and state, and protect, and defend such freedom.
As Christians we are to recognize Jesus as our High Priest, with all its implications such as the
belief of a judgment in heaven, the Ark of the Covenant, and an eternal law of God, according to which
everybody will be judged; missing this, will equate to reject Jesus as our priest, furthermore, by
accepting a government where church and state are united, means to unite two powers that on earth
should not be married. Sad as it is, the people of God rejected Jesus Christ as their king-Priest by
shouting we do not have other king than Caesar uniting by this, the state represented by Rome with
the church or Sanhedrin, thus sealing their fate and disappearing from the community of nations. God
still has rightful and righteous people that will be priests and rulers, which will inherit the earth; Jesus
Christ still holds eternal royal position next to the throne of the Father as a High Priest, and will assume
the totality of kingly duties after he concludes his priestly duties in the Holy of Holies in Heaven and
comes back to take his people that will be awaiting for him in the beauty of Holiness, as in psalm 110.

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