Section 22:41–46 Jesus asked a question about the Christ
In the final section of this chapter, Jesus is the one who asked a question. Many of the Jews, including the Pharisees, expected God to send the Christ (Messiah) at some point. They knew that there were several passages in the Scriptures (our Old Testament) which pointed towards the Messiah. In this section, Jesus asked them a question about the ancestry of the Messiah. Then he used Psalm 110 to suggest that they did not really understand who the Messiah was. The problem he brought up was related to who called whom “Lord.”
The word “Lord” occurs in the ancient Greek translation of the Old Testament to refer to Yahweh. The word “lord” is also the translation for a human master.
Some English versions use the word Lord (in all capital letters)
In Exodus 3:14 God identified himself to Moses with a name. This name is sometimes written in English as Yahweh. That name occurs throughout the Old Testament. However, the Jews had a strong prohibition against pronouncing it out loud since they might make a mistake and violate the third commandment (see Exodus 20:7). So whenever they read an Old Testament passage that contained this name, they substituted the Hebrew word for “lord/master.” In the ancient Greek translations of the Old Testament that the New Testament authors used, the word that the English Standard Version translates as lord was substituted. In the rest of the New Testament the same Greek word is often used to refer to God. Many English versions have followed the same pattern, although they will use all caps when it refers to God (Lord) but not when it refers to a person (Lord).
Here are some other possible headings for this section:
Whose son is the Messiah? (New Living Translation (2004))
There are parallel passages for this passage in Mark 12:35–37 and Luke 20:41–44.
Paragraph 22:41–42
22:41
Now: The Greek conjunction that the English Standard Version here translates as Now is the one which can indicate a change. Here there is a change of person asking a question. In the previous section, one of the Pharisees asked Jesus a question. Here Jesus asked them a question.
Many English versions do not translate this conjunction. You should do what is natural in your language to begin a new section.
Here is another way to begin this section:
Then (New Living Translation (2004))
while the Pharisees were gathered together: This clause refers to the same gathering of the Pharisees as in 22:34b. It means that the following conversation happened during the same meeting as the previous section. Here is another way to translate this clause:
while the Pharisees were still gathered together
Jesus asked them a question: In Greek, this clause is more literally “Jesus asked them” (as in the New International Version). The phrase a question was added by the English Standard Version for clarity.
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