What did Jesus try to say in Matthew 22:45?

Question

https://biblehub.com/text/matthew/22-45.htm

If then David calls him Lord, how is he his son?”

Is Jesus saying that Mesiah is not David's son? What?

Answer 1

First, most English translations translate Psalms 110:1 as,

¹ [[A Psalm of David.]] The LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. ^{KJV, ©1769}

Notice how one word is all capitalized (i.e., LORD), while the other only has the initial letter L capitalized (i.e., Lord). However, when we look at the Hebrew, the two words are quite different:

The Hebrew word in red is the Tetragrammaton Yahveh, the name of God. Obviously, this is only used in reference to God Himself. The Hebrew word in purple is אָדוֹן (adon), with a 1st person, singular number, pronominal suffix attached (“my”). Altogether, this word means “my lord.” It is typically used in reference to men.

The Hebrew word אָדוֹן, like the Greek word κύριος, means “master,” as in the master of a slave,¹ or owner, as in the owner of a house.² It can also be used as a honorary term, like the English word “sir.”³ Hence, it is a term with which a wife calls her husband⁴ or a son calls his father, just like many English-speakers call their fathers “sir” out of respect.

The son of David, the Messiah, would be expected to call his father, David, “my lord” (אֲדֹנִי), since David is his elder (father). Instead, it is David who calls his son, the Messiah, “my lord.” The reason that the Pharisees were stumped by the question is because they denied that the son of David, the Messiah, was God. If the Messiah is God, even if he were also human, he would be afforded the honor due to God. Accordingly, David would indeed call his son “my lord.”

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Footnotes

¹ cf. Eph. 6:5
² cf. Luke 14:21
³ cf. John 20:15
⁴ Gen. 18:12 cf. 1 Pet. 3:6