What’s in a Vowel Point? Psalm 110:1 - Page 2
The Example of a Similar Case – AVEER Versus ABEER
The OT has little ways of distinguishing words, which have momentous importance in terms of their meaning. Let me give you another example. The word AVEER (=strong or powerful). From the New International Dictionary of OT Theology and Exegesis, Vol. 1, p. 232: "It is widely believed that the reason why the OT has two forms of the adjective AVEER is that the guardians of the text (Massorites) wished to distinguish the use of the word when applied to Yahweh from its use in other contexts…."
When NOT used of the One God, the form has an extra dot inside the ‘V’ and is then pronounced ABEER.. ABEER (with the dot) always refers to a mighty man, sometimes to the "stout of heart," once to an angel and sometimes to a bull or a mighty steed.
The lack of a dot makes a huge difference. AVEER refers to God. ABEER is a non-divine reference.
So it is with the forms of Lord, ADONAI and ADONI. ADONAI is reserved for the One God alone. No human is addressed as ADONAI. On the other hand ADONI (adonee) is reserved for human superiors. The Messiah is called ADONI, the lord of David, but never ADONAI, the One God.
Now note this interesting fact. The KJV always wrote ADONAI as "Lord" (with initial capital ‘L’). It wrote YAHWEH as "LORD" (all capitals). With regard to Adoni, on 194 occasions it wrote ADONI as lord (small l) or master. But on one occasion only it broke its own rule and put a capital on Lord, in Ps. 110:1. But the word is not ADONAI, but ADONI. The RV corrected the error and wrote "lord" (small letters).
Only One is God
Jesus is ADONI the Messiah, not ADONAI, the One God. The One God is one person only. How do we know this (apart from Ps 110:1)? The One God of Hebrew monotheism (the monotheism of Jesus, Mark 12:28ff.) is described by personal pronouns IN THE SINGULAR ("I, me, him, thou, thee, thy, my, his") thousands upon thousands of times.
The One God is distinguished as ADONAI (449 times) from Adoni, a human lord, (195 times). This gives you 644 opportunities to see the difference between God and man, based on the word "lord." The Messiah, Son of God, is designated as Adoni, not Adonai.
Singular personal pronouns always tell you a simple fact. They describe a being who is ONE PERSON, not two or three. God is One Singular and single Person.
"There is One God, the Father" (Paul, I Cor. 8:4, 6). There are two Lords (Ps 110:1) The Father is the One Lord God and Jesus is the Lord MESSIAH, the Son of God (Matt. 16:16). Belief that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God is the whole point of John’s Gospel (John 20:31). It is also the whole point of the whole Bible. And Jesus describes the One God, his Father, as "the only true God" (17:3) and "the one who alone is God" (5:44). "The one who alone is God" is another way of saying "the only one who is God." Jesus was talking about the Father. If the Father is "the only one who is God," and Jesus is a different person, Jesus cannot be the One God.
Do we believe with Jesus that the Father is "the only one who is God"? (John 5:44; 17:3)
The Father is called God 1326 times in the NT. The word "God" is used of Jesus twice (for certain). But don’t forget that in the world of the first century AD elevated humans were sometimes called "God." This is also true in the Bible. The judges of Israel were called "Gods" (Ps 82:6). Jesus used that verse to demonstrate that he was claiming to be the Son of God, not God Himself (John 10:34-36).
Psalm 2 is a perfect parallel to Psalm 110:1. In that psalm the One God Yahweh speaks to "MY KING/ MY SON. That person, who is as distinct from Yahweh as any son is distinct from his father, is also called "the LORD’s Messiah." The Jesus of the Bible is: the Son of the One God, "the Lord Messiah" (Luke 2:11), "the Lord’s Messiah" (Luke 2:26). Note that in the NT God is called "the God of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Eph. 1:3, etc.). That should show one that Jesus and his Father are not coequal. There is One Lord God and one Lord Messiah.
In Scripture Jesus and his Father are separate individuals, working in the closest harmony. The Messiah is the obedient Son of his Father. His Father is the One God (John 17:3).
If you would like to contact Anthony Buzzard directly you may email him at:
anthonybuzzard@mindspring.com
Website: restorationfellowship.org