• Home
  • Parashah
  • Ask the Rabbi
  • Festivals
  • Freemasonry
  • Articles
  • About
  • Books
  • Media
  •  

    Please, my lord – Vayyiggash

    Several times the brothers address Joseph as Adoni, “My lord” – like the English “Milord”.

    Of course the English translations of HaShem address the Almighty as “The Lord”, though the term really means Merciful One, He who exercises middat harachamim, the attribute of Mercy.

    But there is a problem in Tehillim. Psalm 110:1 says, “The Lord said to my lord”. Christian interpreters think the second mention of lord refers to Jesus. Radak (R. David Kimchi), denies that this is possible or valid.

    Apart from rejecting Christian theology, Radak points out that since Christianity ascribes divinity to Jesus, the Christian view of the verse implies that God speaks to Himself, or at least one part of Him speaks to another.

    The most that Radak will say is that the second lord in the verse is David the psalmist.

    Comments are closed.