Since David himself called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?” The large crowd listened to him with great 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.
- BSB David himself calls Him ‘Lord.’ So how can He be David’s son?” And the large crowd listened to Him with delight.
- 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.
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 1:3–4concerning his Son, who was born of the offspring of David according to the flesh,
- Matt 11:25At that time, Jesus answered, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you hid these things from the wise and understanding, and revealed them to infants.
- Jas 2:5Listen, my beloved brothers. Didn’t God choose those who are poor in this world to be rich in faith, and heirs of the Kingdom which he promised to those who love him?
- Rom 9:5of whom are the fathers, and from whom is Christ as concerning the flesh, who is over all, God, blessed forever. Amen.
- Matt 21:46When they sought to seize him, they feared the multitudes, because they considered him to be a prophet.
- Matt 11:5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them.
- John 7:46–49The officers answered, “No man ever spoke like this man!”
- Matt 1:23“Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and shall give birth to a son. They shall call his name Immanuel”; which is, being interpreted, “God with us.”
- John 12:9A large crowd therefore of the Jews learned that he was there, and they came, not for Jesus’ sake only, but that they might see Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead.
- Rev 22:16I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you for the assemblies. I am the root and the offspring of David; the Bright and Morning Star.”
- Luke 21:38All the people came early in the morning to him in the temple to hear him.
- Luke 19:48They couldn’t find what they might do, for all the people hung on to every word that he said.
- 1 Tim 3:16Without controversy, the mystery of godliness is great: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the nations, believed on in the world, and received up in glory.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.