God’s co-enthronement of Jesus at his right hand is one of the foundational concepts of earliest Christianity. There is general agreement that the Hebrew Bible text from which this idea is taken is Ps 110:1 (C.H. Dodd, According to the Scriptures: The Sub-Structure of New Testament Theology, 120–21; Jean Daniélou, Études d’exégèse judéo-chrétienne (Les Testimonia), 42–49; Barnabas Lindars, New Testament Apologetic: The Doctrinal Significance of The Old Testament Quotations, 45–51; Ferdinand Hahn, The Titles of Jesus in Christology: Their History in Early Christianity, 129–35; David M. Hay, Glory at the Right Hand: Psalm 110 in Early Christianity; W.R.G. Loader, “Christ at the Right Hand—Ps CX.1 in the New Testament,” NTS 24 (1977): 199–217; Terrance Callan, “Psalm 110:1 and the Origin of the Expectation that Jesus Will Come Again,” CBQ 44 (1982): 622–36; Gerhard Dautzenberg, “Psalm 110 im Neuen Testament,” in Liturgie und Dichtung: Ein interdisziplinäres Kompendium I, Historische Präsentation, 141–72; Martin Hengel, “Psalm 110 und die Erhöhung des Auferstandenen zur Rechten Gottes,” in Anfänge der Christologie: Festschrift für Ferdinand Hahn zum 65. Geburtstag, 43–73; Hengel, “‘Sit at My Right Hand!’ The Enthronement of Christ at the Right Hand of God and Psalm 110:1,” in Studies in Early Christology, 119–225; Lukas Bormann, “Ps 110 im Dialog mit dem Neuen Testament,” Psalm 110, 171–205; Richard Bauckham, Jesus and the God of Israel: God Crucified and Other Studies on the New Testament’s Christology of Divine Identity, 172–81; Larry W. Hurtado, “Two Case Studies in Earliest Christological Reading of Biblical Texts,” in All That the Prophets Have Declared: The Appropriation of Scripture in the Emergence of Christianity, 5–14; Hurtado, “Early Christological Interpretation of the Messianic Psalms,” in Ancient Jewish Monotheism and Early Christian Jesus-Devotion: The Context and Character of Christological Faith, 575–8).

The number of quotations of and allusions to Ps 110:1 in first century CE Christian documents total twenty one, making it the most quoted and alluded to verse from the Hebrew Bible in the whole of extant first century Christian texts (1Cor 15:25; Matt 22:44; Mark 12:36;Luke20:42–43;Acts 2:34–35;Heb 1:13. Forallusions see: Rom 8:34;Col 3:1; Eph 1:20;1Pet3:22; Heb1:3;8:1;10:12;12:2; Matt 26:64;Mark 14:62; Luke 22:69;Acts 2:33;5:31; 7:55–56).

here are, however, three issues regarding use of Ps 110:1 among earliest Christ-confessors.The first is the paucity of non-Christian Second Temple Jewish references to the text,the resultofwhich is adisagreement as to whether Jews of the period interpreted Ps 110:1 messianically. The second is when, where, why, and how the earliest Christ-confessors first used Ps 110:1.And the third issue is whythe text became so widespread in earliest Christianity.Inthis chapter,Iex amine the first and second of these three issues. Given earlyJew ish scribal activity,the translation of the Hebrew Psalter into Greek, the Davidi zation of Psalms, and the historical Jesus’sprobable messianic interpretation of Ps 110:1 that some Second Temple Jews probablyinterpreted Ps 110:1 messiani cally. JewishChrist-confessors in Jerusalem first began to use the text to explicate what they believed happened to Jesus at Easter,God had exalted and co-en throned him at his right hand. The use of this text also allowed the earliest Jew ish Christ-confessors to honor Jesus while safeguardingGod’soneness by distin guishing Jesus from God. In addition, the earliest Christ-confessors derivedthe kyrios title for Jesus from the psalm and allusions to Ps 110:1 as interpretingJe sus’sheavenlyco-enthronement circulated in no longer extant written testimo nies. These conclusions, however, donot explain the third issue related to Ps 110:1,how use of it became so widespread among the earliest Christ-confes sors. the reason for this can be traced to royal and imperial temple and throne sharing.

Psalm 110:1 in Second Temple Judaism

Some argue that Jews of the period did not interpret the text messianically (Jean Daniélou, Études d’exégèse judéo-chrétienne, 42–49; Martin Hengel, “‘Sit at My Right Hand!’,” 134; Martin C. Albl, “And Scripture Cannot be Broken” The Form and Function of the Early Christian Testimonia, 221–22; Tilly, “Ps 110,” 169; Larry W. Hurtado, “Two Case Studies,” 5–8; Hurtado, “Early Christological Interpretation,” 575–81). There are problems with both approaches,however. The formerdoes not give adequate attention to Second Temple Jewishscribal ac tivity, the translation of the Psalter into Greek, its Davidization, and messianic readings of other royal psalms. Aboveall, it appears that adesire to establish the uniqueness of earliest Christianity vis-à–vis Second Temple Judaism drives the conclusion that Ps 110:1 was not interpreted messianically (Hurtado, “TwoCase Studies,” 5–14;Hurtado, “EarlyChristological Interpretation,” 575–81). On the other hand, using rabbinic materialstoargue for aSecond Temple Jewish messianic interpretation of Ps 110:1 is methodologicallyunwise. Evidence from the Mishnah and the Talmud are not helpful for reconstructing Second Temple Jewish theol ogybecause of their late date and questionable historical reliability (LawrenceH.Schiffman (“EarlyJudaism and Rabbinic Judaism,” in DictionaryofEarly Juda ism,ed. John J. Collins and Daniel C. Harlow [Grand Rapids:Eerdmans, 2010], 279–90).

Given that the earliest Christ-confessors believed that Jesus’s resurrection fulfilled Ps 110:1, they adopted the title given to the royal figure in the psalm, kyrios. A reference to Ps 110:1 explaining its relation to Christ’s heavenly co-enthronement probably circulated among the earliest Christ-confessors in no longer extant written testimonies. These conclusions do not provide an adequate e planation either for the widespread use of Ps 110:1 among earliest Christ-confessors or the grammatical formulationofsome allusions to Ps 110:1 in first century CE Christian sources, which are probably taken from written testimonies.

Widespread Use of Psalm 110:1 among Earliest Christians

The first is the fulfillment proposal in which Doddargues that the text became widelyused among earliest Christ-confessors because Jesus’s exaltation is the prophetic fulfillment of Ps 110:1 (Dodd’s According to the Scriptures,120–21). Thesecond is the functional proposal in which Haycontends that the earliest Christ-confessors used Ps 110:1 because the text allowed them to honor Jesus, while distinguishing him from God, which resulted in widespread Christian use of the verse (Hay, Glory at the Right Hand ,158–61).