Skip to Content
intertextual.bible
Go to Related Reading
About this book

LXX Psalms

Septuagint

About this book
Psalm 109

1 A Psalm of David. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. 2 The Lord shall send out a rod of power for you out of Zion: rule in the midst of your enemies. 3 With you is dominion in the day of your power, in the splendors of the saints: I have begotten you from the womb before the morning.⁠ 4 The Lord swore, and will not repent, You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek. 5 The Lord at your right hand has dashed in pieces kings in the day of his fierce anger. 6 He shall judge among the nations, he shall fill up the number of corpses, he shall crush the heads of many on the earth. 7 He shall drink of the brook in the way; therefore he will lift up the head.

Texts in conversation

Compare Psalm 110:3 and LXX Psalm 109:3

Hebrew Bible · Septuagint

Share:

Summary

Psalm 110 includes a description of youth appearing like dew at dawn, which is ambiguous and open to interpretation. The Greek Septuagint contributed to the tradition that identified Melchizedek not as a human priest but as a divine being.

Passages

Psalm 110:3

Hebrew Bible
1 A psalm of David. Here is the Lord’s proclamation to my lord: “Sit down at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.” 2 The Lord extends your dominion from Zion. Rule in the midst of your enemies. 3 Your people willingly follow you when you go into battle. On the holy hills at sunrise the dew of your youth belongs to you. 4 The Lord makes this promise on oath and will not revoke it: “You are an eternal priest after the pattern of Melchizedek.”
600–201 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Psalms

LXX Psalm 109:3

Septuagint
1 A Psalm of David. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit on my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool. 2 The Lord shall send out a rod of power for you out of Zion: rule in the midst of your enemies. 3 With you is dominion in the day of your power, in the splendors of the saints: I have begotten you from the womb before the morning. 4 The Lord swore, and will not repent, You are a priest for ever, after the order of Melchizedek.
100–1 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in LXX Psalms

References

"... In a liturgical text among the Dead Sea Scrolls are further possible references to the Melchizedek the angel; unfortunately, the text here is quite fragmentary ... Although both passages are fragmentary, if the restoration of the name Melchizedek is correct, it would seem from the overall context (namely, a hymn describing the service of God performed by the angels in the heavenly temple) that Melchizedek is, here as well, an angel, indeed perhaps the highest of the angels serving God in heaven. Another crucial ambiguity found in Psalm 110 also contributed to the identification of Melchizedek as an angel or heavenly being. It is the verse translated above as, "From the womb of the morning like dew your youth will come to you." This could be translated in a radically different way—and was. The old Greek ("Septuagint") translation of this verse reads ..."
James L. Kugel, The Bible as It Was (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1998), 155–156.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Your feedback

Psalm 110:3 and LXX Psalm 109:3

Leave a comment

Your questions and comments are welcome!

Comments

Glossary

Search the Library