"The LORD says to my Lord" in Psalm 110:1 is usually considered proof of Jesus' divinity. However, I've read some Jewish writers claiming the second "Lord" is a false translation of the word adoni, which should be rendered by a lower-case "lord" or "master." How should we interpret this scripture? -- Ryan
I think the point the rabbis are making is that this is a false capitalization more than a false translation. Lord is not a word exclusively reserved for divinity, and throughout the O.T. it is used in a variety of ways, as it is in English as well.
The first word (LORD) is YAHWEH, the personal name of God. It is rendered in some English versions by LORD (all upper case letters), though perhaps that is not the best translation. It is used strictly for the Deity, not for humans. It is true, the second "Lord," as was correctly rendered in the version you cited, is a different word entirely. That is why the word is not in all upper-case letters. This word is 'adon, meaning lord. The word may refer to God or to man. The point Christians make, and in fact the very point Jesus made in Matthew 22:45 (et par), is that David refers to his descendant, the Messiah, as his "lord." That makes little sense unless his royal descendant is in fact divine.
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