NT Text: Luke 20:42-43
OT Source(s):
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Direct Quotation
Connection Method(s): Promise-Fulfillment
Anchor Text: Psalm 110 — The Right-Hand Session and the Melchizedekian Priest
Significance: Luke's version of the Davidssohnfrage. Jesus introduces the quotation with the most explicit citation formula of the three Synoptic parallels: "For David himself says in the book of Psalms" (Luke 20:42) — naming both the human author and the canonical location. Then the prosopological puzzle: David, speaking in the Psalter, calls a future figure "my Lord," so "how can He be David's son?" (20:44). If David himself addresses the Messiah as Lord, the Messiah cannot be merely David's descendant — he must be David's superior, enthroned at God's right hand. Luke alone among the Synoptics follows the LXX wording "footstool" (ὑποπόδιον) exactly — the same text-form Peter will quote at Pentecost (Acts 2:34-35), where Luke's two-volume work records the puzzle's resolution: the risen and exalted Jesus is the Lord whom David called Lord.
Prosopological Shift: As in the Markan parallel (Mark 12:36), the speaker remains David, but Jesus's exegesis exposes that David speaks prophetically of a Messiah whom David himself calls "my Lord." Luke completes the logic across his two volumes: the question posed in Luke 20:41-44 is answered in Acts 2:34-36, where Peter declares that David "himself says" what only the ascended Christ fulfills.