How say they that Christ is the son of David?

St Luke Chapter XX : Verses 37-47

Contents

• Luke xx. Verses 37-47.  Douay-Rheims (Challoner) text & Latin text (Vulgate)
• Douay-Rheims 1582 text
• Annotations based on the Great Commentary

Luke xx. Verses 37-47.

But he said to them: How say they that Christ is the son of David? 
J-J Tissot. Brooklyn Museum.

37 Now that the dead rise again, Moses also shewed, at the bush, when he called the Lord, The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;

Quia vero resurgant mortui, et Moyses ostendit secus rubum, sicut dicit Dominum, Deum Abraham, et Deum Isaac, et Deum Jacob.

38 For he is not the God of the dead, but of the living: for all live to him.

Deus autem non est mortuorum, sed vivorum : omnes enim vivunt ei.

39 And some of the scribes answering, said to him: Master, thou hast said well.

Respondentes autem quidam scribarum, dixerunt ei : Magister, bene dixisti.

40 And after that they durst not ask him any more questions.

Et amplius non audebant eum quidquam interrogare.

41 But he said to them: How say they that Christ is the son of David?

Dixit autem ad illos : Quomodo dicunt Christum filium esse David?

42 And David himself saith in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand,

et ipse David dicit in libro Psalmorum : Dixit Dominus Domino meo : sede a dextris meis,

43 Till I make thy enemies thy footstool.

donec ponam inimicos tuos scabellum pedum tuorum.

44 David then calleth him Lord: and how is he his son?

David ergo Dominum illum vocat : et quomodo filius ejus est?

45 And in the hearing of all the people, he said to his disciples:

Audiente autem omni populo, dixit discipulis suis :

46 Beware of the scribes, who desire to walk in long robes, and love salutations in the marketplace, and the first chairs in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts:

Attendite a scribis, qui volunt ambulare in stolis, et amant salutationes in foro, et primas cathedras in synagogis, et primos discubitus in conviviis,

47 Who devour the houses of widows, feigning long prayer. These shall receive greater damnation.

qui devorant domos viduarum, simulantes longam orationem : hi accipient damnationem majorem.

Douay-Rheims : 1582 text

37. But that the dead riſe againe, Moyſes alſo ſhewed, beſide the buſh, as he calleth the Lord: The God of Abraham, and the God of Iſaac, and the God of Iacob.

38. For God is not of the dead, but of the liuing: for al liue to him.
39. And certaine of the Scribes anſwering, said to him: Maiſter, thou haſt ſaid wel.
40. And further they durſt not aſke him anything.
41. But he said to them: *How ſay they that Chriſt is the ſonne of Dauid,
42. and Dauid himseld ſaith in the booke of Pſalmes: The Lord ſaid to my Lord, ſit on my right hand,
43. til I put thine enemies, the footſtoole of thy feet?
44. Dauid then calleth him Lord: and how is he his ſonne?
45. And al the people hearing him, he ſaid to his Diſciples:
46. Beware of the Scribes, that wil walke in robes, and loue ſalutations in the market-place, and the firſt chaires in the ſynagogues, and the cheefe roomes in feaſtes.

47. Which deuoure widowes houſes: feining long praier. These ſhal receiue greater damnation.

 

Annotations

[Taken from the Great Commentary on Chapter xxii of St Matthew's Gospel. The verse numbers of St Luke's Gospel have been inserted.]

    39. And some of the scribes answering &c. This was in the Temple, as appears from Mark xii. 35. Christ made use of this occasion of the Pharisees tempting Him to instruct them concerning the Person and dignity of Messiah, that He might teach how to return good for evil, and turn a temptation into an occasion of instruction. He taught them that Messiah, or the Christ, was not a mere man, as they supposed, but the God-Man. They must not wonder, therefore, that He asserted Himself to be the Son of God.

    41. How say they that Christ is the son of David? Observe: Luke and Mark relate these things somewhat differently; but the apparent discrepancy is to be reconciled by considering that the meaning of the two former Evangelists is, that Christ, in the first place, asked the Pharisees, “Whose son was Christ?” They replied that the Scribes, or Doctors of the Law, said, “that He was the son of David.” Then Christ rejoined, “How say the Scribes that Christ is the son of David, when David calls Him his Lord?”

    David in Spirit, being inspired by the Holy Ghost. For the Holy Ghost dictated the Psalms to David, endued him with their living sense. Therefore it was not so much David in Spirit, as the Spirit in David, which thus spake.

    44. David then calleth him Lord: and how is he his son? Calleth Him lord, for the son is less than his father. Wherefore the father is not wont to call the son his lord, but the son his father, as is common with the Italians and other nations. From this passage the modern Rabbins are confuted, who expound this cixth Psalm not of Messiah, or Christ, but of Abraham, or David, or Hezekiah. For the Scribes and Pharisees of Christ’s time understood it of Christ, and regarded it as a prophecy of Him. For had they not done so, they would have replied that Christ wrongly applied the Psalm to Messiah, when it ought to be understood of Abraham or David, &c. That it does apply to Christ is evident from the 4th verse of the same Psalm, With Thee is the beginning (secum principium, Vulg.), the headship, which is the force of the Heb. נְדָבו̇ח, nedabot, and the Gr. ἀρχή, in the day of thy strength, in the splendours of the saints: from the womb, before the day-star, I have begotten Thee (Vulg.). This can refer to no one save Christ. Lastly, Jonathan, the Chaldee, Rabbi Barachias, R. Levi, and the ancient Rabbins take it as referring only to Christ.

    42. And David himself saith in the book of Psalms: The Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand. From this verse Christ clearly proves that the Messiah was not a mere man, as the Pharisees believed, but that He was David’s God, and therefore his Lord. The meaning therefore is as if David said, “The Lord God hath said to my Lord, even Christ, Sit on My right hand, in that after the Death and Resurrection of Christ He will raise Him up, and exalt Him above all powers and principalities, and will set Him next to Himself in Heaven, that He may reign with the most perfect happiness, glory, and authority over all created things.”

    The Heb. for said is גְאֻם, neum, i.e., pronounced, spoken prophetically, decreed by the Lord concerning David’s Lord, and therefore something fixed, certain, immutable. For neum is, by metathesis, the same as Amen, or sure and faithful. And the meaning is, that “God the Father from eternity hath firmly and inviolably decreed concerning Christ His Son, not as He is God, but in that He became Incarnate and was made man (for this is the force of the Heb. אֲדו̇נִי, Adoni), that He is, by virtue both of the Hypostatic Union and of the Redemption which He accomplished on the Cross, of all men, and therefore of David, the Lord.” He hath said, interiorly in His own mind, from all eternity. But He said also, in the sense that He will say at the time of the Ascension of Christ in triumph into Heaven, “Come and sit on My right hand; reign and triumph in the glory of My majesty.” So S. Jerome, Theodoret, and others. For this 110th Psalm celebrates the most “glorious Kingdom of Christ both in Heaven and earth—that kingdom in which Christ, after His Ascension, began from Zion and Jerusalem to reign over all nations, and by His Apostles to bring them to His faith and worship, until He shall put down all His enemies, that is, all the wicked, under His feet in the day of judgment.”

    43. Till I make thy enemies thy footstool. This means, reign with Me in glory, until I make all Thine enemies subject unto Thee. Thus it is said that Sapor, king of Persia, made use of the Emperor Aurelian, whom he had taken captive in battle, to mount upon his horse, placing his foot upon the back of the emperor, as upon a kind of footstool.

    The expression until here does not signify end or conclusion, but continuation and amplification of sitting and reigning. Reign even in the time which seems contrary and opposed to Thy Kingdom, even when Thine enemies shall seem to reign rather than Thee. Reign even in the midst of crosses, persecutions, and the tumults of Satan and his ministers.

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The Vladimirskaya Icon. >12th century.

SUB tuum præsidium confugimus, Sancta Dei Genitrix. Nostras deprecationes ne despicias in necessitatibus, sed a periculis cunctis libera nos semper, Virgo gloriosa et benedicta. Amen.

 

 

Totus tuus ego sum

Et omnia mea tua sunt;

Tecum semper tutus sum:

Ad Jesum per Mariam.