Psalm of David.
1 The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.
2 The LORD will send forth the rod of thy strength from Zion: rule in the midst of thy enemies.
3 In the day of Your power Your people are ready in the splendor of holiness; From the womb before the morning star, your birth was like dew.
4 The Lord has sworn and will not repent: You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.
5 The Lord is at Your right hand. He will smite kings in the day of His wrath;
6 He will bring judgment upon the nations, he will fill land corpses, he will crush his head in a vast land.
7 He will drink from the stream along the way, and therefore he will lift up his head.
Translation by Averintsev:
Psalm of David.
Word of the Lord to my Sovereign 38:
"Sit at My right hand,
until I have defeated Your enemies
at Your footstool!"
Scepter of Your power
from Zion the Lord will send:
rule in the midst of Your enemies!
Power is with You in the day of Your strength
in the light of shrines;
before the morning star I gave birth to you
from my womb 39.
The Lord swore
and will not take back his words:
"You are a Priest forever,
as Melchizedek was of old!”
The Lord is at Your right hand,
on the day of His wrath
He will smite kings,
will bring judgment upon the nations,
will strike many to death,
will crush the head of the vast earth.
He will drink from the stream as he goes,
for this reason he will lift up his head.
38 Insofar as this psalm is interpreted in polemics with the scribes by Christ Himself (Matthew 22:42-46) and is especially important for the Christian theological and liturgical tradition, all the questions mentioned above appear with particular urgency in relation to it, and this begins with 1 -th verse. Traditional translation: “the Lord spoke to my Lord,” “the Lord said to my Lord”; it fully corresponds to the text of the Septuagint, where the noun κ?ριος is used both times. The problem, however, is that this noun (like the Church Slavic Lord) can normally be used both in relation to God and in relation to man, like the Russian “lord”. In the Masoretic text the first κ?ριος corresponds to the unpronounceable Name of God?????? , but the second one is neutral?????? adona?y (“my lord”), normally applied to a person. This prevented us from translating it with the word “Lord,” which in Russian usage is completely unambiguous. On the other hand, it is obvious that we are talking not just about the “lord”, but about the sacred, messianic figure of the King; therefore, we translated it not with the word “lord”, but with the word “Sovereign”, not only suggesting the Tsar’s rank, but carrying within itself special semantic potentials, at the same time deciding - in accordance with traditional usage - to write this word and the pronouns related to it with a capital letter .
39 As is known, “Dennitsa”, i.e. the morning star, has complex symbolism in the biblical (and then Christian) tradition. - The entire phrase as a whole is translated according to the Septuagint version - not only for reasons of fidelity to the tradition of Christian reading, but primarily because the Masoretic text here presents unusually many difficulties and possibilities for different understanding. Here is an attempt to translate the Masoretic text according to one of the possible interpretations:
On the day of Your power
Your people are ready
in the shine of holy vestments;
from the belly of the dawn
the dew of Thy youth is upon Thee.
“When King David grew old and entered [advanced] years, they covered him with clothes, but he could not keep warm.”
Thus begins the Third Book of Kings. The simple statement of fact reinforces the terrible meaning. The young man who staggered under the weight of Saul's armor, who swapped clothes with Jonathan, who doubled the bride price to two hundred circumcisions, the man who conquered Abigail and Bathsheba and danced naked around the Ark of the Covenant in full view of Michal and the slaves, the outstanding poet and military leader, the creator of Jerusalem, the city, which he lost and found again - he cannot warm himself, for he has become old and sick. Just as when he first weakened in battle with the giant Goliath, weakness seems to be about to overcome David. But, as then, his character is mobilized to fight weakness - and in a sense, defeats it.
It is important that we see David on different stages life. He is not destined to die young, like Achilles, to spend his old age behind the scenes outside of our vision, like Odysseus, or to leave the stage as a graying warrior, like Beowulf, who in the cold twilight last days died for his people. Perhaps Lear was once a beautiful youth, but this image is the lot of a lazy imagination; Likewise, we can imagine Romeo and Juliet as an older couple if things had turned out differently. Not for David the vengeful self-destruction of Samson or the last look from the mountain of Moses. David's drama is the drama of a lifetime. David, in his defeats and victories, losses and achievements, embodies on an almost unimaginable level the idea of living life.
According to the midrash that Ginsberg quotes, God originally intended for David to die as a child. But Adam noticed David's soul in that part of paradise where souls are before birth, and saw in it qualities that prompted him to make a wonderful proposal to God.
“Lord,” said the progenitor of all people, “this worthy soul should be given a life longer than a few days or weeks. You have destined for me a thousand years of life on earth. Let me give seventy of them to David.”
And so the Lord, together with his angels, signs a contract, recording in writing that the undersigned Adam confirms the cession of seventy of his thousand years to the above-mentioned recipient David, the son of Jesse. Adam, for his part, also confirms the agreement with his signature, giving David the agreed upon seven decades. The God-fearing bookworm who created this legend turns David's life into a purely secular phenomenon by introducing a crazy element - a legal obligation signed by two parties.
The progenitor Adam foresaw in the childish soul of David the future transformation of an ordinary man into a superman, if this term also includes superhuman failures. If Adam, when he was created, contained, like a seed, various human qualities in their original form, then in David, beloved by God, these qualities were realized and developed into fruit.
He endured and overcame everything that could knock him out of the saddle at one stage or another in his life - persecution from elders in age and status in adolescence, a dangerous conflict with the authorities, capriciously unkind and impulsive, in his youth, the struggle to gain power and conquering enemies in maturity. David overcame and himself used the insidious traps that lie in wait for a self-loving person - he feigned madness, betrayed loyalty, was merciless in the use of force and reckless in sin. He experienced a consuming passion in adulthood, he suffered for his sins and experienced the sorrows of fatherhood, when the rape of Tamar was followed by the death of Amnon, and then the death of Absalom - this wound was inflicted on David the father by the will of David the ruler. Be that as it may, he endured all this and triumphed over everyone, and now he is obliged to triumph not only over age-related weakness, but also over almighty death itself, spreading his will beyond the grave.
David is very old and weak. But he is still a king, and when the courtiers come up with what they think is a way to improve his condition, David himself decides whether to follow their advice or not:
“And his servants said to him: let them look for a young maiden for our lord the king, so that she may stand before the king and follow him and lie with him, and it will be warm for our lord the king” (III Kings 1:2).
"Servants" are courtiers, politicians and family members. They, of course, were guided by personal motives, they entered into alliances based on their own interests, they constantly thought about who would inherit after David, who would gain and who would lose - but there was, undoubtedly, concern for the king. At court and in the family, love and conspiracies, self-interest and loyalty are often intertwined, and what is what was not always clear even to the participants themselves. And all this revolved around the king, who was chilling from senile weakness. When David's "servants" brought their idea to him, he apparently agreed and even approved of it:
“And they looked for the beautiful maiden throughout all the borders of Israel, and they found Abishag the Shunammite, and they brought her to the king. The maiden was very beautiful, and she followed the king and served him; but the king did not know her” (III Kings 1:3–4).
The tripartite relationship of beauty, old age and worldly desires in this story is reflected in Robert Frost, who began his poem "Oh Give, Oh Give" with a mention of Abishag:
An old woman, gloomy as darkness,
Why did you come to wash your feet?
She was lovely and sweet.
Hollywood is proud of the scene.
Yes, Abishago is the name of the Old Woman.
The path of the fall is steep.
(Translated by V. Chernin)
“Take the throne,” Frost writes a few lines later, “and then no one will call you an old woman.” Frost's lines echo a sad and at the same time comical look at human life, expressed in the sublime poetry of the ninetieth psalm, where the time of man's life is compared with the eternity of the Lord:
God! You are our refuge forever and ever.
Before the mountains were born
and You formed the earth and the universe,
and from everlasting to everlasting You are God.
You return a person to decay and say:
“Return, sons of men!”
For in Your sight a thousand years are like yesterday,
when he passed, and [as] a guard in the night.
You [like] a flood carry them away; they are [like] a dream, like grass,
which grows in the morning,
in the morning it blooms and turns green,
in the evening it is cut and dries up; for we are consumed by Thy wrath, and by Thy wrath we are dismayed.
You have placed our iniquities before You and our secrets before the light of Your face.
All our days have passed in Thy wrath; we are losing our summers like a sound.
The days of our years are seventy years,
and with greater strength - eighty years; and their best time is labor and illness,
for they pass quickly, and we fly.
(Ps. 89:2-10).
If you imagine that these lines were composed by David himself (traditionally this psalm is called the “prayer of Moses”), then you can feel a special pathos in the words: we are losing our years like a sound. No other life was more like a story than David's; it flows like a story, flowing and unwinding towards the divine eternity in whose fury we spend our days.
Adonijah, the next eldest son of David after Absalom, has such an impressive appearance as Absalom, he also gets himself chariots, and horsemen, and fifty runners to run before him. The text speaks bluntly about the character and behavior of Adonijah: “he said proudly: I will be king” (III Kings 1:5). And about David’s attitude towards Adonijah it is said this way: “His father never bothered him with the question: why are you doing this?” (III Kings 1, 6)
So, Adonijah is the son who is forgiven in everything and not contradicted in anything, the first in seniority after the death of Absalom, and it is quite logical that when time moves towards the succession, Adonijah turns to the military leader Joab for support and advice. The priest Abiathar also joins the faction of the heir apparent. “And they helped Adonijah” (III Kings 1:7). Perhaps, at the instigation of Abiathar and Joab, Adonijah organizes a festival not far from Jerusalem, to which he invites all his brothers (except Solomon), advisers, military commander and priest, as well as “all the Jews who served the king.” In front of those invited, Adonijah personally slaughtered the “sheep, oxen and bulls” intended for sacrifice - as if he had already inherited the throne. Representatives of the other faction were not invited:
“He did not invite the prophet Nathan and Benaiah, and those mighty ones, and Solomon his brother. Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba, the mother of Solomon, saying, “Have you heard that Adonijah the son of Haggithin has become king, but our lord David does not know [about it]?” (III Kings 1, 10–11)
The prophet Nathan, who once condemned David for the murder of Uriah the Hittite and forcing Bathsheba to cohabitate, now advises her:
“Now, behold, I advise you: save your life and the life of your son Solomon. Go and go in to King David and tell him: Did you not, my lord the king, swear to your handmaid, saying: “Your son Solomon will be king after me and he will sit on my throne”? Why did Adonijah reign? And now, while you are still speaking there with the king, I will also come in after you and complete your words” (III Kings 1:12-14).
The last phrase spoken by Nathan to Bathsheba gives rise to the assumption that David did not promise anything to Bathsheba and they want to fool David - in fact, if David promised Bathsheba that Solomon would reign, then why would Nathan’s support be there? Or the promise was actually made, but it was not announced publicly.
Bathsheba is one of those women who at first seem inactive, but then demonstrate unexpected strength, and she follows Nathan's advice:
“Bathsheba went to the king’s bedroom; the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite served the king; and Bathsheba stooped and bowed to the king; and the king said, “What do you want?” (III Kings 1, 15–16)
So, the elderly David bows to the woman whom he, many years ago, waking up from his slumber, saw on the roof of her house, where she was performing ablution, and at the very time when the soldiers first told him that he could no longer take risks in a real battle. It is now clear that Bathsheba is younger than David (though not as young as Abishag). Bathsheba says to David:
“My lord king! You swore to your handmaid by the Lord your God: “Your son Solomon will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne.” And now, behold, Adonijah [has reigned], and you, my lord the king, do not know [about it]. He brought a multitude of oxen, bulls, and sheep, and invited all the sons of the king, and Abiathar the priest, and Joab, the captain of the army, but he did not invite him. But you, my lord, are a king, and the eyes of all Israel [are fixed] on you, so that You have declared to them who will sit on the throne of my lord the king after him; otherwise, when my lord the king rests with his fathers, the accusation will fall on me and on my son Solomon” (III Kings 1:17-21).
Bathsheba may have cheated by starting her speech with David's promise, and only then reporting that Adonijah has “reigned” and the eyes of all Israelites are now fixed on David in anticipation of his actions, and this information, presumably, is much more important for the king. And here is the culmination of Bathsheba’s speech: “The accusation will fall on me and on my son Solomon.” The idea that David will not be able to save the “accused” from death is apparently Bathsheba’s signature argument, for it is in the power of David, who did not save the rebel Absalom from death, and before him the rapist Amnon, to save Bathsheba and the impeccable Solomon. (And long before these events, the king was unable to save, although he fasted, tore his clothes and prayed, the first child born from this woman.)
In accordance with the developed plan, after Bathsheba spoke about David's promise, reported the threat hanging over her life, and that the eyes of all the Israelis were fixed on the king, the prophet Nathan enters the bedroom. He bows to the ground, observing, like Bathsheba, ceremonial formalities; the irony of fate is that all this happens at the royal bed that Bathsheba shared with David, and Nathan cursed him for it. Then the prophet turns to the king:
“And Nathan said: My lord the king! have you said, “Adonijah will reign after me, and he will sit on my throne”? For now he came down and killed many oxen, bulls and sheep, and invited all the king's sons and the captains of the army and Abiathar the priest, and behold, they eat and drink with him and say: Long live King Adonijah! But you did not invite me, your servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Solomon your servant. Did this not happen by [the will of] my lord the king, and why did you not reveal to your servant who would sit on the throne of my lord the king after him?” (III Kings 1, 24–27).
Bathsheba and Nathan put everything on the line by appealing to David's authority. In a sense, they encourage him to become the old David again, that is, not only to determine how things should be, and not only to direct events in accordance with his will, but to overwhelm and change the logic of events. The ceremonial celebration of Adonijah, with the sacrifices and the invited king's sons, the Judean officials, the military leader Joab and the priest Abiathar, even the obvious, if not mandatory, principle of primogeniture, the fact that Adonijah is not only older than Solomon, but is already almost on the throne - all of this Nathan and Bathsheba try to oppose David's will.
Or maybe his word. After all, the king did not sanction the country meeting arranged by Adonijah with all its magnificent sacrifices and analogues of our toasts and speeches. It seems that this is the last opportunity for David to act as the one who suddenly cancels other people's decisions. The spring country meeting of princes and aristocrats is the same challenge for him as the existence of older brothers who do not value him, or a giant, or an order established by someone that constrains his actions. This is a new and, perhaps, the last opportunity to argue with priests and military leaders. And David quickly, as in former times, reacts to what he heard - he is still a conqueror anointed by the Lord:
“And King David answered and said, Call Bathsheba to me. And she went in and stood before the king. And the king swore and said: As the Lord lives, he has delivered my soul from every trouble! Just as I swore to you by the Lord God of Israel, saying that Solomon your son will reign after me and he will sit on my throne in my place, so I will do this today” (III Kings 1:28-30).
“In my place” and “today” go beyond what Bathsheba and Nathan asked for. Solomon will become king of Israel and Judah right now! Perhaps this is a gesture of genuine reverence, or perhaps irony, but Bathsheba, in response to David’s words, again bows to the ground - and at the same time, most likely, Abishag the Shunammite is present - and says: “Long live my lord King David forever!” (III Kings 1, 31)
Be that as it may, the old king made it clear that he had a plan:
“And King David said, Call to me the priest Zadok and the prophet Nathan and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they went in to the king. And the king said to them: Take with you the servants of your lord, and put Solomon my son on my mule, and bring him to Gion, and let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel, and blow the trumpet and shout: Yes King Solomon lives! Then bring him back, and he will come and sit on my throne; he will reign in my place; I bequeathed to him to be the leader of Israel and Judah” (III Kings 1, 32–35).
Before David had time to give the order, Solomon on David’s mule, accompanied by the priest Zadok, the prophet Nathan and Benaiah, at the head of detachments of the Helethites and Philistines loyal to David, ascends to Gion. The anointing takes place, accompanied by trumpets and people shouting “Long live King Solomon!” - and all this is within earshot of the country festival of Adonijah.
Against the sacrifices of Adonijah - anointing; against his meeting - a procession with the participation of the royal mule; against his high-ranking guests are the chelethei and the felethei and the screaming people. This ceremony had its effect:
“And all the people accompanied Solomon, and the people played the pipes, and rejoiced greatly, so that the earth was divided at the sound of his cries. And Adonijah and all his invitees heard it as soon as they had stopped eating; and Joab, hearing the sound of the trumpet, said, “What is the cause of this sound of the troubled city?” (III Kings 1, 40–41)
It is Joab, not Adonijah, who asks this question; the commander senses that something wrong is happening - perhaps Joab was as much an instigator of Adonijah as an adviser. But it is Adonijah who breaks the news to the priest’s son Jonathan. The report repeats what has already been said, but resembles a poetic stanza - this is a kind of ode to the new victory of old David:
“And Jonathan answered and said to Adonijah, Yes, our lord king David has made Solomon king; and the king sent with him Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and the Helethites, and the Pelethites, and they set him on the king's mule; and Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anointed him king in Gion, and from there they departed with joy, and the city began to move. That's what makes the noise you hear. And Solomon already sat on the royal throne” (III Kings 1, 43–46).
And as if this were not enough: “And the king’s servants came to congratulate our lord King David, saying: May your God glorify the name of Solomon more than your name, and may he make his throne greater than your throne. And the king bowed down on his bed, and the king said: “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, who today has given one to sit on my throne, and mine eyes see it!” (III Kings 1, 47–48)
The triumph of David, marked by the wishes that the heir to the dynasty should surpass his own greatness - in its way the greatest and most subtle congratulation that a patriarch can receive - was accomplished. Adonijah’s guests get up in fear and leave, “each his own way.” And Prince Adonijah himself realizes that he is in danger and seeks refuge at the altar. We can now hear the voice of Solomon as he faced his first challenge as king:
“And Adonijah, fearing Solomon, stood up and went and grabbed the horns of the altar. And they reported to Solomon, saying: Behold, Adonijah is afraid of King Solomon, and behold, he is holding on to the horns of the altar, saying: Let King Solomon now swear to me that he will not kill his servant with the sword” (III Kings 1:50-51).
Adonijah acknowledged his surrender by saying “his servant” and by holding on to the horns—the four projections at the corners of the altar. At this point, David's intention to create a dynasty depended on Solomon's handling of the situation. Solomon's response to Adonijah's brother is short, commanding, and has the intimidating effect that is characteristic of their father:
“And Solomon said, If he be an honest man, not a hair of his will fall to the ground; if wickedness is found in him, he will die. And King Solomon sent and brought him from the altar. And he came and bowed down to King Solomon; and Solomon said to him: Go to your house” (III Kings 1, 52-53).
Adonijah's pardon strengthens the victory of David, who, while on his deathbed, not only managed to appoint one son as heir, but also spared the life of another son. The survival of the dynasty is ensured not only literally - by the rise of Solomon, but also spiritually - by the way David manifested himself in the voice of Solomon. The verse “Go to your house” leaves no doubt about who is in charge here and who marks the boundaries of the life - private and domestic - given to the kneeling Adonijah.
But this is not the last episode in David's life. He calls Solomon, says: “I am going on the journey of the whole earth” (III Kings 2:2) and gives him brief instructions. It is impossible to avoid the gangster analogy: David, whose mind is full of cunning, poison and determination even on the threshold of another world, says to Solomon:
“Again, you know what Joab the son of Zerui did to me, how he did to the two leaders of the army of Israel, Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jepher, how he killed them and shed their blood during the peace, staining them with the blood of war. a girdle around your waist and sandals on your feet: walk according to your wisdom, so that you do not let his gray hairs peacefully go to hell” (III Kings 2:5-6)
The harshness of David's last phrase, which wants Solomon to "let go of the gray hairs" of Joab in blood and pain, can be softened by the reminder that for many years David had to deal very delicately with the dangerous commander and his bloody deeds. Joab stabbed Abner out of revenge and Amasa out of rivalry, both not in time of war, as he killed Absalom, but pretending to be a friend, embracing his victims, so that their blood, as David says, stained his clothes. Abner and Amasa, David's opponents in the war, were killed by Joab treacherously.
However, David's instructions regarding Joab's gray hair are still shocking. In contrast, David instructs Solomon to be kind to the sons of old Barzillai, a faithful Gileadite, “for they came to me when I fled from Absalom your brother” (III Kings 2:7). This, along with the death sentence for Joab, indicates David's keen interest in settling scores - for him, a decisive period is coming when old age and death sum up life.
These deeply secular, overbearing, throat-grabbing final orders are given a comic edge by the interpolation, much later inserted by the author-editor called “the author of Deuteronomy,” an anachronistic command to obey Deuteronomy. The transition is so abrupt and so striking that if we believe that these words are spoken by David, we will get the effect of a careless hypocritical preamble to the real matter:
“Behold, I am going on the journey of all the earth, but you be strong and be of good courage and keep the covenant of the Lord your God, walking in His ways and keeping His statutes and His commandments and His statutes and His statutes, as it is written in the law of Moses, so that be prudent in everything you do and everywhere you turn; so that the Lord would fulfill His word, which He spoke about me, saying: “If your sons take heed to their ways, to walk before Me in truth with all their hearts and with all their souls, then a husband from you will not cease to be on the throne.” Israel"Also: you know what Joab son of Zarui did to me, what he did to the two leaders of the army of Israel" (III Kings 2:2-5).
This little word “yet” marks the moment when Solomon must listen carefully. And David moves on to the urgent problem of killing old Joab.
However, the king did not forget the ape man who cursed and threw stones, who insulted him when he had to leave Jerusalem:
“You also have Shimei, the son of Hera the Benjamite from Bahurim; he slandered me with grievous slander when I went to Mahanaim; but he came to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: “I will not kill you with the sword.” Don't leave him unpunished; for you are a wise man and you know what you should do with him, to bring down his gray hair in blood to the underworld” (III Kings 2:8-9).
The same terrible wording as regarding Joab, only slightly modified. The dying man's vengeful desire for the gray-haired Semey to meet a bloody end makes even more impressive his restraint in those years when it was politically advantageous to ignore empty foul language. And it becomes clear that this restraint has nothing to do with mercy, but rather came from the cold calculation of the mafia.
After this, David dies and is buried in the City of David, but his will continues to be carried out through Solomon. Although David did not mention the priest Abiathar, who joined the party of Adonijah, Solomon condemns him, removes him from the priesthood, and then pardons him in the name of David and in the manner of David. Solomon says to Abiathar:
“Go to Anathoth to your field; you are worthy of death, but at the present time I will not put you to death, for you carried the ark of the Sovereign Lord before David my father, and endured everything that my father endured” (III Kings 2:26).
Shimei and Joab remain. Like David, Solomon shows mercy to the ape-like scatterer of abusive epithets and stones, and subsequently of cowardly apologies. Solomon orders Shimei to build himself a house in Jerusalem and never again, under pain of death, leave the city. And he repentantly thanks and praises the new king, as he once thanked and praised David. It is as if Solomon foresaw that after three years in the Jerusalem home, Shimei would go to Gath in pursuit of two runaway slaves. Then Solomon, like David in his time, gets another chance to deal with Shimei and reminds him how ardently he thanked him for the condition that was now violated. Solomon, as in the case of the priest Abiathar, referring to David, says to Shimei:
“You know and your heart knows all the evil that you did to my father David; May the Lord turn your anger on your head! and may King Solomon be blessed, and may the throne of David be unshakable before the Lord forever! and the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went and struck Shimei, and he died” (III Kings 2:44-46).
And Joab, an old servant, a cunning military leader, the killer of Abner and Amasa, the first accomplice of Absalom, who later dealt with Absalom himself - Joab, although he was outwitted in the end, is not a fool at all. Hearing that Abiathar has been removed from the priesthood and exiled to Anathoth on pain of death, Joab flees to refuge. The once all-powerful military leader chooses the same desperate path as Adonijah:
“And Joab fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and took hold of the horns of the altar. And they told King Solomon that Joab had fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and that he was at the altar. And Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying, “Go, kill him” (III Kings 2:28-29).
Here is an old general who has grabbed the horns of the altar. And here is the young king Solomon, giving orders to Vanya. The king, like his father David, knows that the people are looking at him. And he does not give up in the confrontation with the old murderer, conspirator and favorite Joab:
“And Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the Lord and said to him, Thus said the king: Come out. And he said: no, I want to die here. Benaiah conveyed this to the king, saying, Thus spake Joab, and thus answered me. The king said to him: Do as he said, and kill him and bury him, and take away the innocent blood shed by Joab from me and from my father’s house” (III Kings 2:30-31).
And here is Benaiah, the heir of Joab, in the role strong man, kills the captain of the army in the tabernacle. And Solomon, in more detail than about the priest Abiathar or the mocking Shimei, speaks about Joab’s participation in the fate of David. Solomon's words are clear and eloquent, a kind of dynastic and patriotic poem:
“May the Lord turn his blood on his head because he killed two innocent men and his best: he struck with the sword, without the knowledge of my father David, Abner the son of Ner, the commander of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jepher, the commander of Judah; and their blood shall return upon the head of Joab and upon the head of his descendants forever: and to David and his descendants, and to his house and his throne, may there be peace forever from the Lord!” (III Kings 2, 32–33)
The deaths of the little Shimei and the great Joab mean that the will of David remains in effect even after his death. And the end of Adonijah reveals the still active magnetism of David’s personality. This episode also demonstrates Solomon's character. After David's death, Adonijah comes to Bathsheba with an unusual request. He had already bowed to the king, his younger brother, and he said to him: “Go to your house.”
Now that David is dead—seemingly at the very moment when David is dead, and Shimei and Joab are still alive, and Abiathar is still a priest—Adonijah comes out of his house with a desire that in its own way continues the story of David in the imagination of his sons and wife Bathsheba:
“And Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba the mother of Solomon. She said: Is your coming in peace? And he said: in peace. And he said: I have a word for you. She said: speak. And he said: You know that the kingdom belonged to me, and all Israel turned their eyes to me as to the future king; but the kingdom departed from me and went to my brother, for it was from the Lord to him” (III Kings 2:13-15).
The measured, rounded periods of this dialogue, the preliminary fencing between Bathsheba and Adonijah, King Solomon's handsome older brother, have an intimate, believable ring, far from the stylized formulations of gray heads and continuing dynasties. Adonijah apparently had a hard time realizing how close he was to becoming king. “I have a word for you,” he says. His request, which he and Bathsheba are gradually approaching, looks like a veiled political bet. In some way, all this reminds us of how Abner entered the concubines of Saul in order to humiliate the weak heir of Ishbosheth, or how Absalom entered the concubines of David on the advice of the cunning, serpent-like man Ahithophel. This gesture reveals the passion with which the distorted filial and brotherly feelings that prevail in the family of David are manifested. In any case, what Adonijah asks of Bathsheba after much beating around the bush (the term “stepmother” is hardly applicable to polygamous families) is amazing.
“Now I ask you one thing,” Adonijah says to Bathsheba, still avoiding a direct request, “do not refuse me. She told him: speak. And he said: I beg you, speak to King Solomon, for he will not refuse you, so that he may give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife” (III Kings 2:16-17).
The sons of David seem destined to follow David's path in one way or another. The form that this property takes on in this case, embodied in Adonijah’s only request to Bathsheba, is beyond measure surprising. Bathsheba answers calmly, or at least does not show her feelings:
“And Bathsheba said: good, I will talk about you to the king” (III Kings 2:18).
The following verse reveals Bathsheba's role in Solomon's reign:
“And Bathsheba went in to King Solomon to tell him about Adonijah. The king stood before her, bowed to her, and sat down on his throne. They set up a throne for the king's mother, and she sat down right hand him" (III Kings 2:19).
In modern cinema, Solomon's bow and Bathsheba's throne to the young king's right would indicate her high position and perhaps her authority over Solomon. However, when Bathsheba asks for Adonijah - it doesn’t matter whether she does it sincerely or with the expectation that her request will result in big trouble for Adonijah - despite the fact that she sits to the right of Solomon, she is faced with not just a refusal, but a complete reproach. irony:
“And King Solomon answered and said to his mother: Why do you ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask him [also] for the kingdom; for he is my elder brother, and Abiathar the priest and Joab the son of Zerui are [friends] to him” (III Kings 2:22).
There is little righteousness in Solomon's indignation, but common sense enough. Allowing Adonijah to take possession of Abishaga, who served David, for him is tantamount to handing over the kingdom to the enemies - not only to Adonijah, but also to the priest Abiathar and Joab. And Solomon, who, unlike the brothers Absalom and Adonijah, did not have chariots with fifty fast walkers running in front to demonstrate the royal greatness, here shows merciless and certainly royal firmness of character:
“And King Solomon swore by the Lord, saying: Let God do this and that to me, and even more, if Adonijah spoke such a word not to his own soul; Now the Lord lives, who strengthened me and seated me on the throne of David my father, and built a house for me, as He said, but now Adonijah must die. And King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, who struck him, and he died” (III Kings 2:23–25).
With these executions, Solomon, in a sense, completes the life story of his father David. At the same time, Solomon’s union with the Egyptian pharaoh through his marriage to his daughter, the construction of the Temple with the help of the artisans of Hiram of Tire, Solomon’s request to the Lord for the gift of wisdom and the fact that the Lord gave him in response not only wisdom, but also wealth and good luck, many Solomon's wives and even his conflicted attachment to foreign gods - all this is very reminiscent of David; It is obvious that his other sons could not repeat it. The temple, which embodies the cherished dream of the founder of the dynasty, is like the last message of the Lord to David; this message is his perfect heir Solomon.
Muslim legend says that forty thousand priests sang the funeral hymn for David, but the message in the Third Book of Kings only says that he rested with his fathers and was buried in the City of David, having reigned for forty years - seven in Hebron and thirty-three in Jerusalem. There is a sad irony and a little truth about how power is achieved in his last surviving words, containing the demand to send his gray-haired enemy to the underworld. A bloodthirsty vendetta was destined to be the final act in the drama of a man who had once sung and played the harp as a rebellious youth to appease King Saul.
The one hundred and ninth psalm, which is commonly called the “Psalm of David,” speaks of the charm of youth and the madness of being in power. This is a coronation anthem, characterized by spontaneity and passion, inherent in character David himself. One can believe that David himself composed this poem, describing his own life in this way.
According to the Christian interpretation, David glorifies the coming Jesus here, but Jews believe that the psalm speaks of the coming Messiah. The publishers of the Oxford Bible write: “The Hebrew text is substantially damaged, and the interpretation of certain details is extremely difficult.” But even this vagueness of images is associated with the mysteries of David’s character, contradictory and striving for harmony. The psalm begins like this:
The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand,
until I make Your enemies Your footstool.
The Lord will send the rod of Your strength from Zion: rule among Your enemies.
In the day of Your power Your people are ready in the splendor of holiness; From the womb before the morning star, your birth was like dew.
The royal power in these lines came to terms with the freshness and optimism of the beginning of life. In the second part, the author asks for Divine mercy. (Melchizedek is the ancient priest and king who blessed Abraham and received tithes from him; a figure representing ancient power and legitimacy - and thereby, perhaps, compensating and forgiving the existence of upstarts.) The passionate desire to rule here is not diluted in any way, it is as strong as the words of David about Shimei and Joab. The psalm ends with a vision of consolation finally coming:
The Lord has sworn and will not repent: You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. The Lord is at Your right hand. He will smite kings in the day of His wrath; He will bring judgment upon the nations, he will fill [the earth] with corpses, he will crush his head in a vast land. He will drink from the stream along the way, and therefore will lift up his head.
Psalm of David. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool..
Arousing the attention of listeners by pointing to high value Psalm, especially for the denunciation of various heretics and, firstly, the Jews: The Lord, to whom God speaks, is, contrary to the opinions of the Jews, the Only Begotten Son of God, and such an explanation does not disagree with the basic teaching of the Old Testament; the commandment to honor the one God was given for the sake of the weakness of the Jews; the prophecies about Christ, as fulfilled, serve as irrefutable proof of the truth of the Old Testament, in which the Jews believe. Secondly, the Psalm serves as a denunciation of Paul of Samosata, Arius, Marcian, etc. - What does it mean: "sit at my right hand And: until I make Your enemies Your footstool."? The “rod of power” means the divine power with which the Apostles went around the universe and conquered it to Christ, despite the opposition of kings and rulers. – The enemies of the Son are the enemies of the Father. – The Son has power in Himself, which He showed during His earthly life and will show at His second coming; evidence of this same power is: the triumph of Christianity, travel to the Holy Sepulcher, the power of the Cross of the Lord, the greatness of the Christian righteous. – In words: "from the womb before the morning star I gave birth to You” () it is not the birth of Christ according to the flesh that is expressed, but the pre-eternal birth of the Son of God. – Prophecy of Christ as High Priest according to the order of Melchizedek. – Strengthening the flesh of Christ from God the Father and victory over the enemies of the Church. – The humility of Christ according to the flesh and glorification. – The admonition is to despise pomp and vanity.
1. Let us stand up, I ask you, and increase your attention. This psalm proclaims to us very great truths and refutes not just one type of heresies, but various and varied ones. He refutes the Jews, and Paul of Samosata, and the Arians, and the Marcionites, and the Manichaeans, and all those who do not believe in the resurrection. If it is directed against so many, then we need to have many eyes in order to accurately notice the methods of this warfare. In worldly battles, even if something is left unchecked, there is no harm to the spectator, because there the spectacle is staged not for edification, but for pleasure. But here, if you do not notice with precision how the enemy attacks and how we can hit him, then you will suffer considerable harm. So, so that you do not experience this, awaken your mind, open your ears. First of all, we will defeat the Jews and rush against them, taking as our ally the prophet with the above words. When we assert that this is clearly said about Christ, the Jews do not accept this, but make up something else. Let us first refute their teaching, and then present ours. Let us ask them: Who is this Lord of the righteous? "Said, he says, Lord to my Lord". Here, not one person is mentioned, but a conversation between one and another is presented. Who do they say is speaking here? God. Who's listening? Abraham. Others mean Zerubbabel, and others mean another person, without saying anything in agreement, as if they were drunk, or better, as wandering in the dark and pushing each other. Well, tell me, is Zerubbabel the Lord of David? Is this reasonable when he himself considered it a great honor to be called David? And what follows shows that nothing is said here either about Zerubbabel or about David, because neither of them was honored by the priesthood; and here we are talking about a certain Person who has an Extraordinary and wondrous priesthood: (). But let's expand on what was proposed. They also say something more empty, namely: they claim that this was said about the people (the Jews), but the people were not priests, and the rest of what was said here cannot in any way be attributed to them. So, leaving this as empty and not requiring refutation, let us imagine what they also say. What is it? Some of them claim that the son of Abraham is speaking here about his master. What could be more unfounded than this? Indeed, what does the son of Abraham want to say here? When was his master a priest who himself turned to the priest Melchizedek and asked for his blessing? Is it reasonable to refer to Abraham the words: "from the womb before the morning star I gave birth to You" ()? How can this be applied to David, or Zerubbabel, or the people? What is being said here transcends human nature. And what meaning would the words have: "sit at my right hand", if these persons were meant here? None. How can you say: "sit at my right hand" about Abraham, who considered it the greatest honor for himself to stand before the angels? But what basis do they have? They say: how do you allow another Lord when the Scripture clearly says: “Our Lord, the Lord is one; Serve Him alone; and there is none besides Him"(; )? But for whose sake, tell me, is this said? Mainly for the sake of your, Jew, ignorance. Why was nothing like this said neither to Abraham, nor to Isaac, nor to Jacob, nor to Moses, but only to you alone, when you, having come out of Egypt, poured yourself a calf? Why, tell me?
If you don’t know, then find out the reason from me. Since you, having left Egypt, fused yourself a calf, began to serve Beelphegor and turn to many gods, allowing lawless polytheism, then, wanting to heal your illness, you said: “one”, to distinguish you from the imaginary gods, and not because to deny the Only Begotten. Otherwise, why was it said at the beginning: “Let us make man in our image and likeness”(), and further: “Let us go down and confuse their language there”(), and David also says: “Therefore, O God, I have anointed You with the oil of gladness more Your companions" ()? If Moses says: then the reason for this was your weakness. And is it surprising that this was the case with dogmas, if in deeds he reduced speech from the most perfect to the less perfect, condescending to your weakness? So, He allowed to let go of one wife and take another, although at first the law did not give such a law. And regarding food He made a great difference, although at first he said the opposite: “I give you everything like green herbs”(). And regarding the place (of worship), He established many laws, not allowing prayers to be performed everywhere, although at first He did not give such a law, but He appeared to Abraham in the Persian land, and in Palestine, and everywhere, and subsequently appeared to Moses in the desert.
2. What do you say, Scripture contradicts itself? No; but it distributes everything for good, in accordance with the times, correcting the weakness of each generation. That's why you were told: “Our Lord, there is only one Lord”. And that He also has a Son, the prophets spoke about this in their books, but they did not say it very clearly, so as not to harm you due to your weakness, and did not hide it in order to give you the opportunity to later come to your senses and learn the truth from their own books. By this we can primarily prove that the prophets are true prophets when we speak with the pagans, and show the reliability of the Old Testament. If you reject this, how will you stop the mouth of a pagan? What will you point to? Is it the exodus from Egypt and the prophecies concerning you? But he won't accept them. If you point out what was predicted in old testament about Christ, and show true events testifying to the fulfillment of prophecy, then he will not be able to resist. And if you, a Jew, reject our scriptures, how will you defend the Old Testament? When someone asks you: how is it clear that the writings of Moses are true, then what will you say? Won't you say: we believed in them? Our writings are all the more reliable, because we also believed in them; Moreover, you are only one people, and we are the whole universe; and it was not Moses who convinced you so much as Christ who convinced us; all yours has passed away, but ours remains. Can you point out the predictions? But we have more of them. Thus, if you reject what is ours, then you cast a shadow on yours. Or for miracles? But now you cannot show a single sign of Moses - they were and passed away; and we have many and various signs of Christ, which are still happening, and predictions that shine brighter than the sun. Or on laws? But ours contain more wisdom. Or that you left Egypt while the Egyptians were preventing you? But it is not the same thing to defeat the opposing universe or to overcome the Egyptians alone. However, I say this not in order to contrast the Old Testament with the new - no - but in order to curb the ingratitude of the Jews. Both this and this covenant were given by the same God and came from Him; but I want to prove that the Jew, by rejecting the prophecies about Christ, perverts most of the prophecies, and that he cannot prove the importance of the Old Testament unless he accepts the new. And that the above words were not spoken about a person, this is obvious to those who have understanding from the words: "sit at my right hand", and from the fact that He is called "Lord", like the Lord who speaks to Him, and from the fact that He was born "from the womb before the morning star", and from the fact that He is "priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek", and from the words: “With You is the power in the day of Your power" ().
Now another Jew appears before us, although he wears the appearance of a Christian, namely Paul of Samosata; and one can speak against it from the New Testament. But, so that it does not seem that we, having left one, are moving on to another part of the opponents, we will refute it from here too. What is he saying? He says that Christ is a simple man and exists only from the time he was born of Mary. And what, tell me, will you say against this saying: "from the womb before the morning star I gave birth to You"? It is possible to say everything else that is said against the Jews also against his followers. It is not we who are guilty of this, but they themselves, having great similarities with the Jews in their teaching; That’s why we can use the same weapons against them; the same attackers must be repelled with the same arrows. So what does communion of the throne mean? This signifies the equality of honor (of the Father and the Son). This can block the lips of those who hold the thoughts of Arius. That is why Christ said to the Jews, who said that He was the son of David: “How then does David, by inspiration, call Him Lord, when he says: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit on My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool?”() And subsequently the Apostle Paul, expounding the doctrine of the economy and revealing this place more clearly, deals a mortal blow to both Marcion and Manichaeus, and all those who suffer from a similar disease; he, with his characteristic wisdom, explains how Christ became a priest according to the order of Melchizedek (). But let's return to our subject. “The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand.”. Do you see equality of honor? The throne is a sign of reign; where there is one throne, there is the same honor of the same reign. That's why Paul says: “It is said about the Angels: You create flaming fire with Your Angels and Your servants. But about the Son: Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever.”(). And Daniel saw all creatures, angels and archangels, coming, and the Son of Man walking on the clouds and reaching even the “Ancient of Days” (). If these words offend some, let them know that He “sits at the right hand” and stop being offended. Just as we do not say that He is greater than the Father, although He has the most honorable seat at the “right hand,” so do not say that He is less and lower, but is equal and equal to the Father: this precisely means the communion of the seat. . What enemies? Listen to Paul who says: “Christ the firstborn, then Christ’s at His coming, and then the end... He must reign until He has put all enemies under His feet.” ().
3. Do you see the agreement between the words of the prophets and the apostles? It says: ; and here: “until he puts all enemies under his feet”. But neither here nor here the word “until” means a limit of time. Otherwise, how would the prophetic saying stand: “His dominion is an everlasting dominion”, the kingdom that “will not be destroyed”, “And His kingdom will have no end”(; ), if He had to reign only until a certain time? Do you see that you need to pay attention not to expressions alone, but to ascend to their understanding? Hearing the words of the prophet that the Father puts enemies under His feet, do not be embarrassed; this is not said because the Son has no power. Paul says that He Himself puts His enemies under His Feet: “He must reign until he has put all enemies under his feet.”(), and attributes everything to Him: “When He will hand over the Kingdom to God and the Father, when He will abolish all rule and all authority and power.”(), i.e. When he establishes the kingdom, then he will cease all power. This is the meaning of the word: “abolish.” Attributing everything to the Son, he does not separate the Father from Him, just as he does not separate the Son from the Father, because everything that belongs to the Son belongs to the Father, and everything that belongs to the Father belongs to the Son. So Christ himself said: “And all that is mine is yours, and yours is mine”(). So, when you hear that the Father has conquered, do not think that the Son is not involved in this matter; and when you hear that the Son has subdued, do not say that the Father is not involved in this, because these deeds are common to Him, just like all deeds. "The Lord will send you a rod of strength from Zion and ().
The prophet calls power itself the rod of power; and he mentions Zion because these works began from there: there He gave the law, there he performed miracles, from there the sermon began and spread throughout the entire universe. If you want to take this saying in a figurative sense, then listen to Paul, who says: “But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, to the heavenly Jerusalem... and the church of the firstborn” (). "The rod of strength will send To you is the Lord from Zion." "The rod" sometimes means punishment, sometimes a benefit, sometimes consolation, and sometimes it is a sign of the kingdom. And that all this is really so, listen to the prophet who says: “Thy rod and Thy staff are they comforted me" (), and also: "you will shepherd with a rod of iron you will break them like a potter's vessels."(); Paul also says: "What do you want? shall I come to you with a rod, or with love and a spirit of meekness?”() You see how it can be a rod of punishment; Look how it is with the rod of the kingdom. Isaiah says: "and the industry will happen(rod) from the root of Jesse, and a branch will grow from his root."(); and David: “Your throne, O God, endures forever century. The rod of righteousness is the rod of Your kingdom."(). Here he called the rod the power with which the disciples went around the universe, correcting morals and leading people from unreasonable sin to reasonable sin. human nature, according to the command of Christ: "Go and teach all nations"(). Moses also had a rod, but he received power from God, through which he accomplished everything. His rod divided the waters, but this one crushed the wickedness of the universe. It would not be a sin to call the cross a rod of power, because this rod changed the earth and the sea and filled them with great power. With this rod the apostles went throughout the entire universe and accomplished everything; with him they succeeded in everything, starting from Jerusalem. "And rule over Your enemies". See the prophecy shining brighter than the sun. What does it mean: "rule over your enemies"? In other words: among the pagans, among the Jews. Thus churches were planted among the cities; This is how the apostles overcame and won. It is a sign of glorious victory to build altars among enemies, to be like sheep among wild beasts and like lambs among wolves. This is what Christ said when sending them: "I send you out like sheep among wolves"(). This is no less than a miracle; to overcome those who are surrounded on all sides means no less than for sheep to overcome wolves, even much more, because they, among the twelve, attracted the entire universe. "AND rule among your enemies". He did not say: conquer among your enemies, but: “dominate”, to show that this is not a trophy acquired by battle, but dominion achieved by command. Indeed, this is how the apostles won, having Christ within them and doing everything as if by command. Therefore, every house was open to them, and the believers obeyed them more submissively than any slave, selling their property and laying their price at the feet of the apostles, not even daring to take anything for their needs and showing such respect for them that they did not even dare to join to them ().
4. And not only over the faithful did they have such power, but also over the infidels. In fact, tell me, what is the sign of a slave? Should he not do what his master commands? What is the sign of a master? Shouldn't he do what he wants through slaves? Who did what he wanted with the kings and rulers of that time? Aren't they the apostles? Obviously so. Kings and rulers wanted to keep the universe in wickedness and ordered to serve demons; but the apostles wished for the opposite - and their wish came true. If you point out to me their bonds, scourgings, and tortures, then you will further prove their dominance. How and in what way? Because even with all this, their wish came true. They did not achieve this dominance, not according to the law characteristic of many masters, but through virtue, which did not need any external assistance, but triumphed among the general intrigues. Slaves often brought ordinary masters to destruction with their machinations, because their dominance was imperfect and very weak; and no one could destroy the dominion of the apostles, but the intrigues themselves made it even more brilliant. Which master is more glorious: the one who needs countless benefits to keep his slaves in obedience, or the one who, without all this, acts with authority and disposes of his subordinates? Obviously the last one. Lords who have power, which is common to many, would often be deprived of their life along with their power if they did not have laws to help them and did not live in cities, but Paul ruled in the deserts and everywhere. Do you want to see how he was even more glorious than kings? He introduced laws throughout the universe, so that people, leaving the laws of kings, began to obey his instructions. Moreover, kings have power only over bodies, but the apostles had power over souls. What servant of the master, or given to the king, obeyed with such a willingness as believers obeyed Paul, who wrote only letters to them? Who will express their love and zeal for him, when they were ready to tear out even their eyes for him? Has anyone ever had such slaves? That is why the prophet, presenting all this - how they subjugated the faithful, how terrible they were for the infidels, whom they put to flight with their power, and how Christ reigned through them - said not simply: be a master (curíeue) among Your enemies, but : dominate (catacuríeue), expressing particularly strong power. The enemies, seeing this, could not do anything against them, although they had laws, executioners, and all authority on their side. However, they were so powerful by the power of Him who dwelt in them. He ruled through them; He was not just a master, but he dominated and had great power. By the power of Him who dwelt in them, they boldly went against fire, and against iron, and against wild animals, and against everything. Truly, Christ was always with them, and that is why they rejoiced and admired so much, laboring as if in other people’s bodies, renouncing all worldly sorrows, submitting to the sovereignty of Christ, sparing neither property, nor body, nor real life. This is what those who were once enemies and adversaries did, but the invincible power of Christ not only delivered them from enmity, but also brought them to such obedience and devotion. That is why, although it is said that the Father puts enemies under His feet, it is not said in the sense that the Son does not act at all - all this was the work of the Only Begotten - but, as I said above, so that you honor the Father and the Son as one God , with the characteristics characteristic of each of them, and did not represent two unborn beings. And that all this was done by the Son, you see from the deeds themselves, and do not accept what is said simply in a human-like sense, because otherwise many absurd consequences will come out. But to make sure of this, listen to what I have to say. Some of the people, who were previously enemies, became friends; while others remain enemies to this day. That He made His enemies friends is explained by Paul when he says: "When He hands over the Kingdom to God and the Father"(); The Savior himself explains when he says to His Father: “I glorified You on earth, I completed the work that You gave Me to do.”(). And conquering enemies is the work of the Father. Meanwhile, the first is more important than the last, because it is not the same thing to punish stubborn enemies and make enemies friends. However, this makes neither the Son less than the Father, nor the Father less than the Son. And so that you know that the latter is just as characteristic of the Son as the former is of the Father, listen. “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”(). And He who sends angels to gather the tares is also the Only Begotten (), and everywhere we see Him punishing the devil. The demons themselves admit this when they say: “You came here ahead of time to torment us”(), therefore He will torment them. Do you see that all this, although attributed to the Father, is also the work of the Son? And that the works of the Son also belong to the Father, listen to how He Himself says: “no one can come to Me unless the Father draws him”(), and further: “no one comes to the Father except through Me”(). So, one should not understand all this in a humanoid way. Therefore, the expression: “Thy enemies” should not be taken as if they were the enemies of the one Son, because “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father” ().
5. Thus, the Jews are enemies not only of the Son, but also of the Father. Therefore, he subjected them to the greatest disasters, destroyed their city and turned it into ruins, however, not immediately after the crucifixion of Christ, but gave them a lot of time for repentance, if only they wanted to repent, and sent the apostles, so that through them they would know His power , they someday, although late, turned. But since they had an incurable illness, God sent extreme calamities upon them, wanting through this to call them to repentance, so that they, having lost their former life, would by necessity be brought to the truth, seeing that the One whom they offended, became an object of worship, and everything that belonged to them was destroyed. If even after this they do not become better, then, as unworthy of any pardon, they will be subjected to eternal punishment. When you hear the word “foot,” do not mean something sensual, but submissiveness. And that the enemies will also submit to the Father, this is clear from further words, because just as there is one throne, so there is one footstool.
"With You is the power in the day of Your power"(). As the prophet above said: “until I make Your enemies Your footstool”, so that no one thinks that the Son is not strong and needs assistance, like any of the apostles, listen; how does he resolve such bewilderment: “with You,” he says, “the power in the day of Your power". What does “on the day of power” mean? In You speaks, the leadership, not coming later, but always existing in You. Isaiah expressed the same thing when he said: "Dominion is upon His shoulder"(), i.e. in Himself, in His essence, in His nature, not like that of (ordinary) kings. The power of kings is based on the multitude of troops; but it is not so with the apostles. However, their power also came from an external force that assisted them; and Christ has power by His nature, in His being, not having received it after His birth and not having acquired it from outside, but also having been born with it. That is why, when asked about His kingdom, He said: “I was born for this and came for this”(). "With You is the power in the day of Your power". The expression: “the authority is with You” means not only that His authority does not depend on another, but also that it is constant and eternal. People are often deprived of power during their lifetime, and if not during their lifetime, then certainly after death, or - better to say - even during their lifetime, their power is not in them, but, as I said above, in troops, bodyguards, wealth, fortified fences and in everything else; but God has nothing like this, but His power is in Him and, moreover, constantly; just as it is impossible for His being not to exist, so it is impossible for His kingdom not to exist. "On the Day of Your Power". By “day of power” we can mean both the day that has already passed and the day to come. Both prove the greatest power of Christ. Is it not the greatest proof of His power when His death is abolished, the gates of brass are broken, sin is destroyed, the oath is destroyed, when all former evils are destroyed, and new blessings are given instead? What can compare with this power - will you look at miracles or at His other works? The dead are raised, lepers are cleansed, demons are driven away, the sea is tamed, sins are forgiven, the paralytic are strengthened, paradise is opened, the stones are disintegrated, the veil is torn, the rays of the sun are hidden and darkness covers the universe, the bodies of the departed saints are raised, the thief returns to his ancient fatherland, the vaults of heaven are opened, humiliated human nature rises above the heaven of heaven and, what is even more important, is seated on the royal throne, and angels and powers stand before it, every vice is expelled, virtue returns, the grace of the Spirit is given, fishermen, tax collectors and tabernacles stop the lips of philosophers, curb the tongue of rhetoricians, destroy the dominion of demons, altars, temples, pagan holidays and celebrations are abolished, stench and smoke and all unholy sacrifices are decisively stopped, all soothsayers, sacrileges, fortune-tellers and all the instruments of the devil are put to flight, churches are growing throughout the universe, hosts of virgins and ranks of monastics are formed, along with the cities, the desert is filled with piety, the faces of righteous and holy men sing harmoniously, standing together with the highest angelic powers, hosts of martyrs and confessors appear in great numbers throughout the entire universe, virtue is performed with great ease, barbarian peoples learn wisdom, those who were more ferocious wild animals compete with the lives of angels, and wherever the sun illuminates the earth, the teaching of Christ, after the cross and resurrection, spreads. Presenting all this, the prophet says: “With You is the power in the day of Your power".
6. If you want to see the future day and know that this day is the day of His power, then imagine how the heavens are twisted, all damaged nature is resurrected, everyone appears at one wave, the devil is put to shame, demons come to despair, the righteous receive crowns, everyone gives an account of their sins, and receives rewards for good deeds, as another life begins, in which there is no longer death, illness, old age, poverty, slander, intrigues, dwellings, cities, or arts, no sailings, no clothing, no food, no drink, no roofing, no beds, no tables, no lamps, no evil intentions, no battles, no judgments, no marriages, no birth illnesses, no births, but all this disappears, like the dust is scattered, and another, better state of life comes, the body is granted incorruptibility, immortality and great strength. Explaining this, Paul said: “The image of this world passes away”(). If you do not believe what has been said because you do not see it in the present, then borrow evidence regarding the future from the present. Go around in your thoughts the entire universe, land and sea, Greece and the land of the barbarians, inhabited and uninhabited, cities on land, islands on the sea, mountains and forests, and seeing how the power of Christ shines everywhere, and how everyone glorifies His venerable name, realize that He, who had the opportunity to do all this, promised us a future.
If you want to have the most personal proof, then imagine why the whole universe flocks to see the tomb, in which the body of Christ is no longer there, what force draws people from the ends of the earth to see where He was born, where He was buried, where He was crucified; Imagine the cross itself, what power it is a sign. This cross was formerly a sign of damned death, shameful death, the most shameful death; but now it has become more precious than life itself and more glorious than diadems, so that we all wear it on our foreheads, not only without being ashamed, but considering it our adornment. Not only simple people, but also those who put on diadems wear a cross on their foreheads above the diadems; and quite rightly so, because he is taller than countless diadems. The diadem adorns the head, and the cross protects the soul. He is a thunderstorm for demons, a medicine for illnesses of the soul, an invincible weapon, an impregnable wall, an insurmountable defense; he repels not only the invasion of barbarians, not only the attack of enemies, but also hordes of the most ferocious demons. "In the splendor of Thy saints." Another translator (Theodotion and an unknown translator, see Orig. Ex.) says: “in the splendor of a saint.” Third (unknown translator, see Orig. Ex.): “in the glory of the saints.” And this is also said about the present and future days. The prophet here calls the greatness of the saints “brilliance.” Who is more glorious than Paul, who is more famous than Peter, who went around the whole world, shining brighter than the sun, scattering the seeds of piety? They, like angels descended from heaven, were an unapproachable object of reverence for everyone. In expressing this, the writer of the book of Acts says that “No one from outsiders dared to pester them”(). Their very clothes were filled with great grace, and the shadows of their bodies exerted great power. If they were like this here, then imagine - on the day when they receive incorruptible and immortal bodies, shining brighter than any visible light, what they and similar prophets, apostles, righteous people, martyrs, confessors and all those distinguished by a virtuous life of faith will be like. in Christ. Imagine this gathering, these luminaries, these rays, this glory, splendor, serenity, triumph. Who can depict all this? No word can; only experience itself can explain this “brilliance” (to people) worthy of such a spectacle. Then, I think, it will be something like many suns shining in the sky, or continuous lightning; or better yet, no matter how hard I try to describe this beauty in words, I will not be able to express it at its true worth. All such comparisons are sensory; and that lordship, that glory that will shine there, is more brilliant than any such beauty. Then the bodies themselves will not only be incorruptible and immortal, but will also be clothed with ineffable glory. "In the splendor of the saints x." In order not to present God only as terrible, the prophet also portrays Him as meek and beneficent and says: “in the splendor of the holy ones.” And this is a sign of His power to make them as bright as Paul says: “He will transform our lowly body so that it will be conformed to His glorious body.” ().
7. Having spoken of a subject so great and inexpressible, the apostle further adds: "by force, which He acts and subdues everything to Himself.”. Don’t ask, he says, how and in what way; for God anything He wants is possible. Why didn’t the prophet say: in the glory of the saints, but: “in the splendor of the saints”? Because their rewards are numerous and varied. “There is another glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another of the stars; and star differs from star in glory. So it is with the resurrection of the dead."(). And Christ said: "In My Father's house are many mansions"(). Moreover, this lordship has no end. It does not give way to night and does not give room to darkness; but, being inexpressibly great and incomparably superior to all visible light, it is also distinguished by the greatest advantage that it has no end; and this again is the work of the inexpressible power of the King - to impart such strength and power to mortal and corruptible bodies. Having spoken about such lofty subjects, inspiring the listener with hopes, the prophet further shows that this was said not without reason, but because such is the One who does this. Who is the one doing it? Consubstantial with the Father. Expressing this, he continues: "from the womb before the morning star I was born of You."
Those who reinterpret these words as they wish, claim that this speaks of the birth of Christ according to the flesh. But how, tell me "before the morning glory"? This is what he called, they say, the night on which Christ was born, because He was born before dawn. But this is not what we were talking about here, and the prophet is not talking about historical events. On the other hand, they cannot prove that the prophets, who speak about many things in secret, spoke only about what the evangelists talked about. It says here: "before the morning glory", not before the rise of the star, but before the very beginning, before the origin of the star. Scripture usually distinguishes when it speaks of a time before the existence of something, or before activity. Thus, when the Wise One says: “so that it may be known that the sun should warn the sun with thanksgiving to You and turn to You to the east of the world”(), then he means dawn here. He did not say: before the light, but: before the east (light), not before its existence - before the existence of the sun there was nothing - but before the sunrise, which indicates dawn. In another place, when speaking about the existence of the sun, it is not said: before the east, but: before the sun. So, for example: “he will remain with the sun even before moons in childbirth"(). Thus, the expressions do not mean the same thing: before the sun and before the sun rises; the second refers to the activity of the sun and means the dawn, and the first to its existence. So it is exactly here, if the prophet wanted to mean night, he would not have said: "before the morning glory", but: before the sunrise. On the other hand, Christ himself refers this psalm not to His carnal birth, but to His spiritual one. When He asked the Jews: “What do you think about Christ? whose son is he?.. and when they answered: David..., then He brought this psalm and said: How then does David, by inspiration, call Him Lord when he says: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand... If David calls Him Lord, how can He be his son?”()? What do these words mean? Here His true birth (from God the Father) is depicted. Well, doesn’t He exist only before the morning star? No. And in another place it is said: “he will remain with the sun even before moons in childbirth"(); but this does not mean that only before the moon. And about the Father it is said: “before the mountains came into being and were created earth and universe, from everlasting to everlasting Thou art exist" (); but He exists not only from eternity, but even before eternity, and not until eternity only, but infinitely. Do not be tempted by expressions, but understand them in a godly manner. And look at the wisdom of the prophet: he did not say at the very beginning of the psalm: "from the womb before the morning star I gave birth to You"; but first he showed His deeds, and then, when he depicted Him in deeds, he directly expresses His divine dignity. So Christ himself said: “If I do not the works of My Father, do not believe Me; and if I do, then if you do not believe Me, believe My works.”(). This is so that you, having learned that He sits at the right hand of the Father, is called Lord in the same way as the Father, has authority in Himself, produces such lordship and rules among the nations, and will not be amazed when you hear that He is the Son of God and exists before all creation. It is also worthy of surprise how the prophet speaks one thing on behalf of God, and another on his own behalf. In words: "sit at my right hand", And: "from the womb before the morning star I have given birth to You,” who are above him, he represents God himself as speaking; and the rest he says himself. Notice also how precise the expressions he uses. It was enough to say: “The birth of You”; but he added: from the “womb”, for people creeping on the earth, wanting to show them His true birth. And as speaking about the hand of God, he does not say this so that we would allow God has a hand, but expresses His creative power, so here he mentions the womb in order to express His true birth.
8. Then, wanting to compose a prophecy in the form of a judge’s sentence, he turns his speech to Christ himself, as a sign of the strongest love and extreme joy of the soul, completely embraced by the Spirit of God, and says: “The Lord has sworn and will not repent: You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.”(). Do you see how he again reduces speech to a lower subject, talking first about the deity, then about the humanity of Christ? This is what the evangelists do in order to preserve both dogmas exactly. Why did he say: "according to the order of Melchizedek"? And because of the sacrament which Melchizedek typified when he offered bread and wine to Abraham, and because this priesthood does not depend on the law, and because it has neither end nor beginning, as Paul says. What was as a shadow in Melchizedek was fulfilled as truth in Jesus Christ. And just as the names “Jesus” and “Christ” were before, so is this. Melchizedek appears to have neither the beginning of his days nor the end of his life, not because he really did not have them, but because his genealogy is unknown. And He has neither the beginning of days nor the end of life, not in the same sense as Melchisidek, but in the sense that He has absolutely neither a beginning in time nor an end. There is shadow, and here is truth. Just as when you hear the name Jesus (in the Old Testament), you do not understand the true Jesus, but you take this name only as a type and do not look for anything else, so when you hear about the beginningless and infinite Melchizedek, do not look for the truth in him, but be content with one thing name, but find the truth in Christ. When you hear about an oath here, do not understand a real oath. Just as anger in God is not anger, or a passionate movement, but a punishing action, so is an oath. God does not swear, but pronounces what will certainly come true. Thus, the prophet, having spoken about the brightness (brilliance) of the saints, about the subjugation of enemies under His feet, about the day of power, now speaks about the present. Look at the order of speech he uses, wanting to touch the rude listener. Having first instilled fear in him with words about the trial, and thereby softened his stubbornness, he then talks about the present. For this purpose, he uses a mixed composition of speech. Look. “Until I make Your enemies Your footstool”, is about the future; then about the present: "the rod of power will send To you the Lord is from Zion and rule among your enemies"; further about the future: “with You is the power on the day of Your power in the splendor of Thy saints"; then again about the present, but one in which there is no longer punishment, but benefit: "You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek". It talks about forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God. Having dwelled on this subject as much as he wanted, he again touches on the economy (of Christ), turning his speech to a lower subject: “The Lord, says, is at Your right hand” (), although he said above that He sits at the right hand of the Father. You see, there is no need stick to expressions alone? What does it mean: "The Lord is at Your right hand"? Touching upon the economy, he speaks of the flesh (Christ's) being strengthened. We see that Christ was "in the struggle... and His sweat was, and in such a sweat, like drops of blood falling", and was strengthened (). This is the nature of the flesh. "He will smite kings in the day of his wrath". The one who applies this both to the present enemies of the Church and to the future ones who will give account for their sins and wickedness will not sin. "He will do judgment on the nations will fill (ground) corpses, crush heads many on earth" (). What does it mean: "He will accomplish judgment of the nations"? He will judge, he says, he will condemn the demons themselves. And that He really judged them, listen to what Christ himself says: “Now is the judgment of this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out. And when I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw everyone to Me."(). If he uses a somewhat sensual expression, do not be tempted by this: such expressions are often used in Scripture. "Crush heads many on earth." If we take this in a figurative sense, then we can say that He will overthrow pride; and if we take it literally, then we can understand the disastrous fate of the Jews, whom He struck with great power.
“He will drink from the stream along the way, therefore he will lift up his head" (). Here the prophet points to the modest way of life of Christ, to His humble conversion, to the fact that He did all these things without any pomp, not having spearmen, not surrounding Himself with sensual splendor, but spending life itself simple, so simple that He even drank from the stream. As His food was, His drink was barley bread, and His drink was water from the stream. He led such a wise life in order to teach others to abstain from it. gluttony, despise pomp, turn away from vanity. Further, wanting to show the fruits of such a life, the prophet says: “therefore he will lift up his head.” This is the fruit of humility and strict life.
9. This is not said about the deity, but about the flesh of Christ, which drank from the stream, which was exalted. The simplicity of life not only did not cause her any harm, but also raised her to inexpressible heights. And you, beloved, having such examples, despise a life full of vanity and pomp, lead a simple and unrefined life, if you want to become glorious and great. Your Lord came to teach you to walk this path. Therefore, the prophet, having spoken about His deeds, adds this, and as it were says: when you hear about victory and trophies, then do not expect to see weapons, warriors, chariots, horses, horsemen, shield bearers, to hear noise and confusion; The one who does such things is so humble, so modest that he drinks water from the stream; yet, being such, He will accomplish all these things. Let those who have sumptuous tables, invent all kinds of dishes and seasonings, gather all kinds of cooks from everywhere, send sailors, helmsmen and rowers to bring them an unusual kind of wine, incense and sweets, and at the same time cast themselves into the abyss and do the most despicable things. It does not make a person high that he needs a lot, and it does not make him low that he is content with little. If you want, we will present examples of both. Let someone have a multitude of people who provide him with everything, sailors and helmsmen, artists and domestic servants, weavers and dyers, shepherds and cattle drivers, grooms and horse-watchers, and let them all render him great services; let another have nothing of the kind, but be content with just bread, water and simple clothing. Which one is tall and which one is short? Is it not clear that he who has only clothes is tall? He may not feel at all submissive even to the king himself, and he is the slave of everyone who provides him with what he needs; he humiliates himself, flatters, serves everyone, fearing that someone will leave him and thereby cause him significant harm. Truly, nothing makes a person a slave more than a multitude of needs; and nothing makes you free like contentment with only what is necessary. The same can be seen in dumb animals. What good is it for a donkey to be burdened with a heavy load, even if he could use it countless times? And what is the loss for another donkey, who is free from all burdens, if he has the necessary food? Therefore, Christ, wanting to make His disciples high, as those who were preparing to preach throughout the entire universe, freed them from all worries, and thus inspired them and made them harder than adamant. Truly, nothing gives the soul so much strength as freedom from worries, and nothing makes it weak as much as the burden of worries. Just as one cannot soon find sadness there, one cannot soon find pleasure here. One of them has many cruel and inhuman masters and mistresses; and the other does not serve anyone, but he himself rules over everyone, enjoying the rays of the sun with great freedom, using the air and not having anyone to upset him. He is not tormented by anger, envy, or hatred; he is not tormented by care, jealousy, vanity, pride, or anything else like that - but like a quiet pier, free from excitement, so his soul is in a calm state and easily strives towards heaven, not being delayed by anything real. So, in order for us to enjoy such freedom, tranquility in this life and serenity upon departure from it, let us lead such a life that we will be worthy of eternal blessings, surpassing all word, all mind and understanding, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
We answer the questions you asked in official group TV channel "Soyuz" on the social network "VKontakte".
Today in the program we will talk about the mystery of the Savior's revelation, but first - about the life choice of each person.
“Explain the words from the Gospel of Luke: When you go with your rival to the authorities, then on the road try to free yourself from him, so that he does not bring you to the judge, and the judge does not hand you over to the torturer, and the torturer does not throw you into prison(Luke 12:58).”
In this Gospel passage, the Lord speaks about the approaching Kingdom of God, which can only be entered by having a certain relationship with God. And for some, these relationships are manifested through an agreement or covenant, and for others, through court. And the person is called upon to make the right choice.
The allegory that the Savior uses in this case was understandable to every resident of Palestine. The lending system was no different in essence from the modern one. A person without funds borrowed from a wealthier person at a certain percentage, obliging to repay the money in installments at a certain time.
If the debtor did not pay the amount, the creditor brought him to court, which issued an indictment and placed the offender in a debt trap until his relatives paid the debt for him. Of course, the debtor himself could not pay the required amount from imprisonment, and therefore every reasonable person, before the trial, tried to agree with the creditor on acceptable terms for repaying the debt.
A person’s life in this parable is presented as a road. Our life path always involves a waste of Divine gifts (such as faith, love, mercy, talents, time), which we will certainly be asked about on the eve of entering eternity. But why should we wait for God’s judgment, where the facts will not be in our favor? Isn't it easier to come to an agreement with God? Start living according to His covenant, fulfilling His commandments, becoming not a debtor, but a friend? This is exactly what the Savior calls us to in this parable.
“Please explain the words from the Gospel of Matthew: The Lord said to my Lord, “At My right hand, how long will I make Your enemies Your footstool?” So if David calls Him Lord, how can He be his son?(Matthew 22:44–46).”
In order to talk more about these words, we should remember their context:
41. When the Pharisees had gathered, Jesus asked them:
42. What do you think about Christ? whose son is he? They say to Him: David.
43. He said to them: How is it that David, by inspiration, calls Him Lord when he says:
44. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make your enemies your footstool?
45. So if David calls Him Lord, how can He be his son?
46. And no one could answer Him a word; and from that day no one dared to ask Him.
(Matt. 22, 41–46)
These words of the Savior are truly difficult to understand. But the first thing the reader’s gaze falls on is the reverent fear and surprise of the people surrounding the Lord, and these were the scribes and Pharisees.
We have repeatedly read that the Lord forbade His disciples to proclaim Him as Christ until He instructed them to do so. What represents the true Kingdom of the Messiah. It was necessary to radically change their idea of the earthly Christ.
The most common title for the Messiah was "Son of David." Behind this lay the expectation that one day a great descendant of the line of David would appear who would destroy the enemies of Israel and lead the Jews to the conquest of all nations. Christ was usually thought of in purely nationalistic, political, military terms, in terms of power and glory. In the words of the Gospel read, there is another attempt of the Savior to change this idea.
He asked the Pharisees whose Son they thought Christ should be. The answer was what He expected: “Son of David.” Then the Lord quoted Psalm 109: The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand(Ps. 109:1).
No one denied that this psalm refers to Christ. “The Lord said to the Lord” - in other words, “God said to Christ.” And it is surprising that David equates God and Christ, calling them in one word - Lord. And if the psalmist calls Christ Lord, and at the same time Christ is the Son of David, a reasonable question arises: why does David call his son his Lord?
From this it clearly follows that Christ cannot be called simply “Son of David.” He is not the son of David; He is David's Lord. More than once in the Gospel we see the use of this title in relation to the Lord Jesus: And so, two blind men who were sitting by the road, hearing that Jesus was passing by, began to shout: have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!(Matt. 20, 30).
Many people spread their clothes along the road, and others cut branches from trees and spread them along the road; The people who preceded and accompanied exclaimed: Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest!(Matt. 21:8-9).
But in this conversation with the Pharisees, the Savior seems to be saying: “It is not enough to call Christ the son of David; It is not enough to talk about Him as a descendant from the line of David and as an earthly conqueror. Look above, for Christ is David’s Lord.” What exactly was the Lord talking about with this quote from the psalm of the prophet David?
He could only mean one thing by this: His true title is “Son of God.” "Son of David" is an inappropriate designation. And in this case, one must speak of Christ not as a conqueror from the line of David, but in terms of heavenly and sacrificial love. And here the Lord gives the greatest and highest revelation: Christ is not an earthly conqueror who will repeat the military victories of David, but the Son of God, who will show everyone the love of God on the Cross.
On that day, of course, only a few understood what the Savior wanted to say. But when the Lord uttered these words, even the most callous felt a trembling in the presence of the eternal mystery. They had a reverent feeling that they had heard the voice of God and for a moment saw the face of God Himself in Jesus Christ. You and I, dear brothers and sisters, have been given a wonderful opportunity to daily discover the Divine love and glory of our Savior, seeing face to face the God-Man Himself from the pages of books Holy Scripture. Help us in this, Lord.
Hieromonk Pimen (Shevchenko)
Psalm 109 is prophetic and messianic. Its entire content cannot be attributed to any historical person, since the subject of the psalm here is depicted as having a Divine nature and properties. Since every revelation is given by God in connection with and regarding some historical events, then the following could be the reason for writing the psalm. In the first three verses of the psalm, the Lord is depicted as the conqueror of all enemies, and in the last four - as the high priest. In accordance with the content of the psalm, the reasons for writing its first part could be some victory won by David, and the second could be the promise of the origin of a great Descendant from him, called to serve the human race. David’s thoughts moved from specific historical facts to the region of the distant future and here they found clear and precise answers to questions about the service and the final result of the service of his Descendant. Words 1 tbsp. are directly applied to Himself by Christ (;), and other writers also attribute them to Him (;)
The Lord said to the other Lord, “I give You power over your enemies. The Lord will send You His rod from Zion for dominion, and the people will appear before You in the day of Your power in splendor; You were born of Me like dew” (1-3). The Lord appoints You to be a priest according to the order of Melchizedek. He will crush all Your enemies. This Lord will be glorified according to the order of Melchizedek (4–7).
. The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.
One God said to another God: sit at the right hand. To sit “at the right hand” means to enjoy not only equal honor, but also power. – "Until I put down my enemies". By the very content of this passage, the expression “until” means an indefinite, or rather an infinite distance of time: if one Lord gives another power equal to Himself at a time when it is disputed by enemies, then it is natural that after the defeat of these enemies, when no one He will even be able to threaten to take away power, the latter remaining forever with Him. “Until” is often used in the Bible to mean infinite duration (;).
. The Lord will send the rod of Your strength from Zion: rule among Your enemies.
“Rod of power” - the rod is a symbol of power, i.e. the first Lord transfers power over all enemies to the second Lord.
. In the day of Your power Your people are ready in the splendor of holiness; From the womb before the morning star, your birth was like dew. .
“The Day of Power” is the day of the solemn discovery of Your power and strength over the world. – “Your people are ready in the splendor of the sanctuary”, that is, the people will either meet You in solemn, sacred vestments and in a solemn religious ceremony, or they will discover “holy splendor”, great moral height, testifying to a deep and heartfelt search and service to You. Victory must belong to To you: You were born from the being ("from the womb") of God before the appearance of light ("Daystar"), that is, before the creation of the world, just as dew contains all the properties of the moisture from which it came, so does the one who is born have in himself. the nature of the One who gave birth. The last expression indicates that the second Lord is true God by his very nature; but he is not a separate and independent God, but the Son of God, the Second Person of the One God. By “he has power” we can then understand the moment of the Last Judgment. all the enemies of the Lord will be destroyed, and the righteous will receive a reward before the whole world. This judgment will be a solemn manifestation and recognition of the power of this Lord over the whole world. As can be seen from the last verses of the psalm, this victory and headship of the Son of God is given to Him in His human nature.
. The Lord has sworn and will not repent: You are a priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.
“The Lord has sworn and will not repent”– The Lord gives an oath that cannot be revoked, that is, the Lord gives an irrevocable determination or decree. It is in the appointment of the Son of God to be a priest "forever according to the order of Melchizedek", the ministry of the Son should be high priestly in the image of Melchizedek. The latter was a servant of the true God, was the king of Salem (later Jerusalem), just as the Son of God fulfilled the will of the One True God, and is the king of heavenly Jerusalem, where all who believe in Him will gather under His authority. Ap. Paul in Hebrews 7. () explains in great detail the educational significance of Melchizedek and the superiority of the ministry of Jesus Christ to his ministry.
. The Lord is at Your right hand. He will smite kings in the day of His wrath;
. will bring judgment upon the nations, will fill land corpses, he will crush his head in a vast land.
By “the day of wrath” we mean the general judgment, when all kings and peoples will see the manifestation of the power of the Son of God over them, and which the evangelists talk about at length (; ).
. He will drink from the stream along the way, and therefore will lift up his head.
“He will drink from the stream along the way”. “Way” is activity; to drink on the way from the stream is to be strengthened in activity to achieve the goal of one’s ministry. It can also be understood as an indication of the suffering of Christ, because He Himself prayed to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane: “Even though it is possible to eat, let this cup pass from me”(), meaning by the cup the suffering that awaits Him. – “For this sake he will lift up the head”(glory) - either as a natural consequence of reinforcement, when the forces arrive and therefore victory is won, or - as the opposite (with the second understanding): for the fact that He endures suffering, the Lord will “exalt Him”, give Him victory, elevate Him above everything world and peoples. Both understandings of this passage found exact fulfillment in the activity of the Messiah - Christ: He steadily fulfilled His purpose, receiving reinforcement from the Father (voice from heaven: “I have glorified and will glorify again”) (), the appearance to Him at the transfiguration of Moses and Elijah, or the Angel in the Garden of Gethsemane; for his humiliated service on earth and shameful death, he was awarded glory - sitting with God on the throne, spreading His teachings and subsequently judgment over the whole world.
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