Mark 12:36

For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(36) David himself said by the Holy Ghost.—St. Mark is more emphatic in ascribing the words of David to the influence of the Holy Spirit than either St. Matthew, who simply quotes, or St. Luke, who uses the more general phrase “in spirit.” (Comp. 2Peter 1:21.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

12:35-40 When we attend to what the Scriptures declare, as to the person and offices of Christ, we shall be led to confess him as our Lord and God; to obey him as our exalted Redeemer. If the common people hear these things gladly, while the learned and distinguished oppose, the former are happy, and the latter to be pitied. And as sin, disguised with a show of piety, is double iniquity, so its doom will be doubly heavy.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See the notes at Matthew 22:41-46.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

36. For David himself said by the Holy Ghost, The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool—(Ps 110:1).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Ver. 36. See Poole on "Mark 12:35"

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For David himself said by the Holy Ghost,.... In Psalm 110:1, being inspired by the Spirit of God:

the Lord said to my Lord, sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool. This is a proof, that David did call Christ his Lord; and that he called him so in spirit; since these words were delivered by him under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: that the psalm was wrote by David, the title shows; and that he spake it as he was influenced by the Holy Ghost, our Lord declares: the passage relates to what God the Father said to Christ, when being risen from the dead, he ascended on high, and entered into the most holy place; he bid him sit down at his right hand, as having done the work of man's salvation, he was sent about, to full satisfaction; and as a mark of affection to him, and honour conferred upon him in the human nature; where he should continue, till all his enemies, Jews, Pagans, Papists, and Mahometans, as well as Satan, and all his principalities and powers, were so subdued under him, as to be as a footstool to his throne: and when David prophetically speaks of this, he calls the Messiah his Lord; saying, the "Lord said to my Lord"; on which account the prophecy is cited; who was so, as he is God, and his Creator and Redeemer. That this prophecy is a prophecy of the Messiah, and is applicable to no other but he; and is therefore pertinently cited, and applied to him here; see Gill on Matthew 22:44.

Geneva Study Bible

For David himself said by {f} the Holy Ghost, The LORD said to my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool.

(f) Literally, in the Holy Spirit; and there is a great power in this kind of speech, by which is meant that it was not so much David who was speaking, but instead the Holy Spirit, who in a way possessed David.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Expositor's Greek Testament

Mark 12:36. αὐτὸς Δ. Over against the dogma of the scribes, stated in Mark 12:35 as something well known (in Mt. Jesus asks for their opinion on the topic), is set the declaration of David himself, introduced without connecting particle. David, who ought to know better than the scribes.—ἐν τῷ π. τ. ἁ.: especially when speaking, as they would all admit, by inspiration.—εἶπεν, etc.: the quotation as given in T.R. exactly reproduces the Sept[113] The omission of ὁ before Κύριος in [114] [115] turns the latter into a proper name of God.—κάθου (κάθισον in [116]) is a late or “popular” form of the present imperative of κάθημαι.

[113]Septuagint.

[114] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

[115] Codex Bezae

[116] Codex Vaticanus (sæc. iv.), published in photographic facsimile in 1889 under the care of the Abbate Cozza-Luzi.

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

36. David himself said] The Pharisees are referred to the cxth Psalm, which the Rabbis regarded as distinctly Messianic. “The Lord (Jehovah) said unto my Lord (Adonai), Sit thou on My right hand till I make thy foes a footstool for thy feet.” In this lofty and mysterious Psalm, David, speaking by the Holy Ghost, was carried out of and beyond himself, and saw in prophetic vision that his Son would also be his Lord. The Psalm is more frequently cited by the New Testament writers than any other single portion of the ancient Scriptures (Acts 2:34-35; 1 Corinthians 15:25; Hebrews 1:13; Hebrews 5:6; Hebrews 7:17; Hebrews 7:21), “In later Jewish writings nearly every verse of it is quoted as referring to the Messiah.” Perowne on the Psalms, ii. 291.

Bengel's Gnomen

Mark 12:36. Ἀυτὸς,) Himself.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 36. - The Lord said unto my Lord. From this verse (Psalm 110.) our Lord shows that the Messiah, such as he was, was not a mere man, as the Pharisees thought, but that he was God, and therefore David's Lord. The meaning, therefore, is this, "The Lord God said to my Lord," that is, Christ, "Sit thou at my right hand," that is, when, after his cross, his death, and his resurrection, he will exalt him far above all principality and power, and place him next to him in heaven, that he may reign with supreme happiness and power and glory over all creatures. These words show that this is a Divine decree, fixed and irrevocable. Till I make thine enemies thy footstool (ὑποπόδιον τῶν ποδῶν σου); literally, the footstool of thy feet; that is, reign with me in glory until the day of judgment, when I will make the wicked, all opposing powers, subject to thee. The word "till" does not imply that Christ will then cease to reign. "Of his kingdom there shall be no end." But he will then formally deliver up the kingdom to God, even the Father, only that he may receive it again as the second Person of the Godhead. Mark 12:36