Bible Strands
Luke 20:44
Thus David calls Him ‘Lord.’ So how can He be David’s son?”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Jesus speaks to the crowds and His disciples in the Temple courts immediately after confronting the chief priests and scribes about His authority. He poses a rhetorical question to expose a theological tension in their understanding of the Messiah.
The words — κύριον (kurion) translates literally to “Lord,” indicating sovereign authority, while πῶς (pōs) means “how,” structuring the logical challenge of the question.
The thread — Jesus quotes the Psalm from Luke 20:43, and the dual Davidic identity appears in Revelation 22:16, while Isaiah 7:14 and Matthew 1:23 provide the prophetic and genealogical framework for His birth.
Why it lands — The text states that David addresses the Messiah as Lord, which forces the listener to reconcile the Messiah’s human descent from David with His divine authority surpassing David’s. It requires the reader to accept that the promised descendant operates on a level that transcends ordinary genealogical categories.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
David therefore calleth him Lord, how is he then his son?
Cross-references
- Revelation 22:16 “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”
- Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will be with child and give birth to a son, and will call Him Immanuel.
- Matthew 1:23 “Behold, the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call Him Immanuel” (which means, “God with us”).
- Luke 1:31 Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.
- Luke 2:11 Today in the city of David a Savior has been born to you. He is Christ the Lord!
- Romans 9:5 Theirs are the patriarchs, and from them proceeds the human descent of Christ, who is God over all, forever worthy of praise! Amen.
- Galatians 4:4 But when the time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law,
- 1 Timothy 3:16 By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.