Psalm 110

This article is about Psalm 110 in Hebrew (Masoretic) numbering. For Psalm 110 in Greek Septuagint or Latin Vulgate numbering, see Psalm 111.
Psalm 110
"The LORD said unto my Lord"
Royal psalm
Introduction to Vespers and beginning of the psalm, "Dixit Dominus",
in a Book of Hours
Other name
  • Psalm 109
  • "Dixit Dominus"
LanguageHebrew (original)

Psalm 110 is the 110th psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "The LORD said unto my Lord". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 109. In Latin, it is known as Dixit Dominus ("The Lord Said").[1] It is considered both a royal psalm[2] and a messianic psalm.[3] C. S. Rodd associates it with the king's coronation.[4]

This psalm is a cornerstone in Christian theology, as it is cited as proof of the plurality of the Godhead and Jesus' supremacy as king, priest, and Messiah. For this reason, Psalm 110 is "the most frequently quoted or referenced psalm in the New Testament".[3] Classical Jewish sources, in contrast, state that the subject of the psalm is either Abraham, David, or the Jewish Messiah.

The psalm forms a regular part of Jewish, Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and other Protestant liturgies. Because this psalm is prominent in the Office of Vespers, its Latin text has particular significance in music. Well-known vespers settings are Monteverdi's Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610), and Mozart's Vesperae solennes de confessore (1780). Handel composed his Dixit Dominus in 1707, and Vivaldi set the psalm in Latin three times.

  1. ^ "Parallel Latin/English Psalter / Psalmus 109 (110)". Archived from the original on 2017-09-30. Retrieved 2019-09-19.
  2. ^ Hayward 2010, p. 379.
  3. ^ a b Davis, Barry C. (April–June 2000). "Is Psalm 110 a Messianic Psalm?" (PDF). Bibliotheca Sacra. 157: 160–73. S2CID 16671626. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-10-12. (footnote 1)
  4. ^ Rodd, C. S., 18. Psalms, in Barton, J. and Muddiman, J. (2001), The Oxford Bible Commentary Archived 2017-11-22 at the Wayback Machine, p. 396