David himself calls Him ‘Lord.’ So how can He be David’s son?” And the large crowd listened to Him with delight.
Parallel translations
- WEB Therefore David himself calls him Lord, so how can he be his son?” The common people heard him gladly.
- KJV David therefore himself calleth him Lord; and whence is he then his son? And the common people heard him gladly.
- NKJV Therefore David himself calls Him ‘Lord’ ; how is He then his Son?” And the common people heard Him gladly.
- NASB David himself calls Him ‘Lord’; so in what sense is He his son?” And the large crowd enjoyed listening to Him.
- NLT Since David himself called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with great delight.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Jesus concludes: if David calls the Messiah 'Lord,' the Christ must be more than David's son. The crowd listens to him with delight.
Overview
Jesus' point is not that the Messiah is not David's son, but that he is far more — David's divine Lord as well as his earthly descendant. The riddle exposes a shallow, merely human view of the Messiah. The common people, unlike the hostile leaders, hear him gladly, illustrating Mark's theme that the humble often receive Christ while the proud resist him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Rom 1:3–4regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,
- Matt 11:25At that time Jesus declared, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because You have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children.
- Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers: Has not God chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom He promised those who love Him?
- Rom 9:5Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.
- Matt 21:46Although they wanted to arrest Him, they were afraid of the crowds, because the people regarded Him as a prophet.
- Matt 11:5The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor.
- John 7:46–49“Never has anyone spoken like this man!” the officers answered.
- Matt 1:23“Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
- John 12:9Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews learned that Jesus was there. And they came not only because of Him, but also to see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.
- Rev 22:16“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”
- Luke 21:38And early in the morning all the people would come to hear Him at the temple.
- Luke 19:48Yet they could not find a way to do so, because all the people hung on His words.
- 1 Tim 3:16By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Mark drives urgently to the cross, showing Jesus the Son of God as the suffering Servant who 'came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.'
How Mark 12:37 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.