Jesus said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord’? For he says:
Parallel translations
- WEB He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call him Lord, saying,
- KJV He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying,
- NKJV He said to them, “How then does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying:
- NASB He *said to them, “Then how does David in the Spirit call Him ‘Lord,’ saying,
- NLT Jesus responded, “Then why does David, speaking under the inspiration of the Spirit, call the Messiah ‘my Lord’? For David said,
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 asks how David, inspired by the Spirit, calls the Messiah 'Lord.' He points to the Messiah's identity as greater than David himself.
Overview
Citing Psalm 110, Jesus notes that David, speaking by the Holy Spirit, addresses the Messiah as 'Lord,' a title implying superiority. This affirms the Spirit's inspiration of Scripture and presses the question of how the Messiah can be both David's son and David's Lord. The answer points to Christ's deity: He is both the human descendant of David and the divine Lord, the God-man who is the true Messiah.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Sam 23:2The Spirit of the LORD spoke through me; His word was on my tongue.
- Rev 4:2At once I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne standing in heaven, with someone seated on it.
- Mark 12:36Speaking by the Holy Spirit, David himself declared: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand until I put Your enemies under Your feet.”’
- Heb 3:7Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear His voice,
- Acts 2:30–31But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that He would place one of his descendants on his throne.
- Acts 1:16“Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus.
- Rev 1:10On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
- Luke 2:26–27The Holy Spirit had revealed to him that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
- 2 Pet 1:21For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
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
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 22:43 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.