So if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how can He be David’s son?”
Parallel translations
- WEB “If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”
- KJV If David then call him Lord, how is he his son?
- NKJV If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his Son?”
- NASB Therefore, if David calls Him ‘Lord,’ how is He his son?”
- NLT Since David called the Messiah ‘my Lord,’ how can the Messiah be his son?”
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 the Messiah can be merely David's son if David himself calls him 'Lord.' This exposes that the Messiah is both David's descendant and his divine sovereign.
Overview
The question presses the inadequacy of viewing the Messiah only as an earthly heir of David. Scripture holds both truths together: the Christ is truly the son of David according to the flesh, yet also David's Lord. This points forward to the incarnation, in which the eternal Son takes on human descent from David while remaining God to be worshiped.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- 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.”
- Rom 1:3–4regarding His Son, who was a descendant of David according to the flesh,
- John 8:58“Truly, truly, I tell you,” Jesus declared, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
- 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.
- Phil 2:6–8Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
- Heb 2:14Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,
- 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.
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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 22:45 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.