Psalm 110 – Part 1

Last Sunday after worship I headed over to Home Depot to pick a part I needed for my kitchen remodel.  Stopping by the Customer Service desk, I first returned an item .  .  . and I walked right up to the register.  That does not happen on a weekend afternoon. The young man working with me on my return said, “Boy, it has been like this all day. We’ve only averaged about five to ten people per hour all day.”

Within a few minutes I arrived in the hardware section where I knew I’d quickly find my much needed part.  I didn’t.  Scouring the various boxes, and checking the stock up above (I used to work in a parts warehouse so I know the drill), I still found nothing.  Two clerks stood talking behind me.  Sensing my desperation, one broke away from the conversation and said, “Can I help you?”

“Sure, I said.”  After telling him what I needed, I reached for exactly what I was looking for.

“Wow, thanks,” I replied as I took the item.

“You are welcome. I just love blessing people when they come in,” he responded.

“We’ll you have blessed me, but I was a blessed man when I walked in the door,” I stated.

“Oh, I am blessed too for God has blessed me greatly,” he joyously declared.

“I would agree.  God has blessed my life richly because I have followed His Word, and he has blessed me because I am a pastor” I offered to him, wondering how he would respond.

“You are a pastor? That is great. I am an Islamic Imam from Sierra Leon. I am so glad you are here right now for I don’t get to talk to Christian pastors,” he said to my surprise.  “Would you mind if I asked you some questions?”

Sometimes the Holy Spirit just puts low hanging spiritual fruit right in front of you, doesn’t He?  Looking at the opportunity to guide this man to Christ, I wasted no time saying, “No, go right ahead and ask your questions.”

“Since you are a man with degrees in the Old Testament (I told him my educational background), do you see Mohammed in any of the books?”  He smiled as he expectantly waited for me to say, “Yes.”

“No,” I answered.  “I have never seen Mohammed referenced in any part of the Torah, the Prophets, or the Historical Writings.”

His next follow-up question was most interesting, “Do you see Jesus in the Old Testament?”

“Why, yes,” I noted. “He is prophetically mentioned all over the place. The prophets tell us about the purpose of His mission to redeem us from our sin, they speak of His deity status, and even tell of the time of his coming.”

After spending some quality time diving into some Old Testament texts, I told him, “All of this is why we, as Christians, are not looking for another Savior.  The Savior has come and His name is Jesus, the Christ.”

About that time, a lady walked up needing some assistance, so I told Mohammed, “It was great talking with you.  I need to be going to for my wife is waiting for me in the car.  Next time I come in the store I will look you up.  Until then, I challenge you to think on the things we have discussed.”

Isn’t it interesting how God sets up evangelistic encounters in the most unusual places?  He even controlled the number of people in the store so I’d have quality time to speak with Mohammed.  What is our job? We are called to seize the moment and be a witness concerning the person and work of Jesus. Do you? Will you?

If you are wondering what you would tell a lost person about Jesus, a great place to start is in a prophetic passage because they are so precise and statistically improbable.  Psalm 110, which is touted in scholastic circles as “one of the most fascinating psalm in the entire collection,”^[1] and is the most cited psalm in the entire New Testament, is a good place to start your evangelistic presentation.

What does this royal prophetic psalm teach us?  It answers the pivotal question in all conversations about Jesus:

What Are The Roles Of The Messiah? (Psalm 110)

He’s The True King (Psalm 110:1-3)’

Honestly, the Messiah, was not just to be “a” king from the Davidic line, but he was to be “the” king, or the king of all kings who could eternally fulfill the eternal structure of the Abrahamic (Gen. 12:1-3; 17:1ff), Mosaic (Exodus-Deuteronomy), Palestinian (Deut. 30:1-10), Davidic (2 Sam. 7), and New Covenants (Jer. 30-31).  In order for Him to accomplish this proviso, He, by definition, had to be divine.

This is a concept Islam does not accept, of course.  They believe Jesus was a great prophet, but not divine. Hence, they reject the virgin birth, which establishes His divinity and divine sonship.  Jesus was a prophet of Allah, but he was not the Son of God, nor was he God in the flesh.  He was only a man used of God.  As Surah 4 declares,

171. O People of the Scripture! Do not exaggerate in your religion, and do not say about God except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, is the Messenger of God, and His Word that He conveyed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and do not say, “Three.” Refrain—it is better for you. God is only one God. Glory be to Him—that He should have a son. To Him belongs everything in the heavens and the earth, and God is a sufficient Protector (Surah 4).

Surah 9 goes even further in denying the divinity of the Messiah of which Psalm 110 speaks,

30. The Jews said, “Ezra is the son of God,” and the Christians said, “The Messiah is the son of God.” These are their statements, out of their mouths. They emulate the statements of those who blasphemed before. May God assail them! How deceived they are (Surah 9)!

Jesus, supposedly, was not the Son of God, and to say so implies Allah had sexual relations, which is blasphemous. God, of course, did not have a son, who would be the Messiah, for the Messiah, as Psalm 110 reveals,  possessed eternal divinity.

But just in case you missed the Islamic argument in the Koran against Jesus’s deity, here is Surah 5:

17. They disbelieve those who say, “God is the Christ, the son of Mary.” Say, “Who can prevent God, if He willed, from annihilating the Christ son of Mary, and his mother, and everyone on earth?” To God belongs the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth and what is between them. He creates whatever He wills, and God has power over everything. . . . 73. They disbelieve those who say, “God is the third of three.” But there is no deity except the One God. If they do not refrain from what they say, a painful torment will befall those among them who disbelieve. (Surah 5).

The truth is they who disbelieve that Jesus, the Messiah, is the second member of the Holy Trinity and divine (Col. 1:16-17, Heb. 1:3) are the ones who will experience eternal torment.

What did God prophesy about the person and position of the coming Messiah?  Verses 1 through 3 could not be more specific:

A Psalm of David . The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet." ² The LORD will stretch forth Thy strong scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of Thine enemies." ³ Thy people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Thy youth are to Thee as the dew.

Since this is a “Psalm of David,” this means it was written between 1011-971 B.C, or almost one thousand years before the birth of the Messiah.  With the opening verse, the divinely inspired king, David, says, “The LORD says to my Lord.” This is Yahweh, God, speaking to Adonai, God (Adonai equals God in the OT, cf. Gen. 18:27; Job 28:28).  So much for the strict, inferior monotheism of Islam where God is reduced to a simple oneness, not a complex oneness as denoted by the Trinity.

Interestingly, Jesus used this text several times in His debates with the Pharisees who, like Muslims, did not accept His deity.  Matthew’s historical account is reflected in the other gospel writers (Mark 12:36ff; Luke 20:42ff). After Jesus effectively handled the combative question of a legal expert sent by the Pharisees (Matt. 22:34-40), He went on the apologetic offense and asked them a probing, perplexing question:

⁴¹ Now while the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them a question,

⁴² saying, "What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?" They said to Him, "The son of David." ⁴³ He said to them, "Then how does David in the Spirit call Him 'Lord,' saying, ⁴⁴ 'The Lord said to my LORD, "Sit at My right hand, Until I put Thine enemies beneath Thy feet "'? ⁴⁵ "If David then calls Him 'Lord,' how is He his son?" (Matt. 22).

The Pharisees knew from the prophecy of Psalm 110 that the Messiah would be an earthly son of David. What they couldn’t understand was the divinity of this particular and precious regal son.  To underscore His divinity, Jesus asked a simple question, “If David then calls Him ‘Lord,’ or Adonai which is used for God, then how in the world is the Messiah also David’s son?”  The point should have been well-taken: Jesus, who met al of the messianic credentials of the coming Davidic king, was more than a human son.  He was a divine son, too. Islam, like Pharisaism, still illogically and willfully trips all over the identity of the Messiah.  Do you? You shouldn’t because His divinity was clearly foretold in Psalm 110.

As the God/man, the Davidic Messiah would be completely qualified to be, as I have said, the eternal king over the prophesied Davidic kingdom to be erected on earth after man’s kingdoms run their course (Dan. 2, 7).  The ensuing verses spell all of this out most powerfully:

A Psalm of David . The LORD says to my Lord: "Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet." ² The LORD will stretch forth Thy strong scepter from Zion, saying, "Rule in the midst of Thine enemies." ³ Thy people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Thy youth are to Thee as the dew.

Here, post resurrection, the Father invites the glorified, victorious Son, to sit at his right hand until He subdues His ancient enemies.  Interestingly enough, the word “says” in Hebrew is the word for divine oracle.  This is significant because a divine oracle is, ispo facto, a truth which will occur because it is founded and grounded upon the character of God Almighty (Joel 2:12; Isa. 49:18; 56:8).  The oracle here promises the Messiah that the Father would progressively and assuredly  work in human history to eventually dominate and destroy all of those who would dare reject, ridicule, and oppose the messianic God/man.

From what we know of New Testament revelation, Jesus, the Messiah, ascended to the right of the Father, as prophesied.  Jesus told Caiaphas during His trumped up trial:

⁶³ But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, "I adjure You by the living God, that You tell us whether You are the Christ, the Son of God." ⁶⁴ Jesus said to him, "You have said it yourself; nevertheless I tell you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven."

⁶⁵ Then the high priest tore his robes, saying, "He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy; (Matt. 26).

Christ’s words were not blasphemous because He was, as Psalm 110 prophesied along with other texts like Isaiah 1:14, 9:6ff, and Micah 5:1-3, in fact, the divine Messiah.

Peter later rightly affirmed Christ’s location prior to the establishment of His glorious and prophesied Davidic earthly empire with these words,

. . . Jesus Christ, ²² who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, after angels and authorities and powers had been subjected to Him (1 Pet. 3).

The unnamed writer of Hebrews adds to this:

³ And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high; (Heb. 1).

Here we learn that not only does Jesus reflect the shekinah glory of God because He is God, He is the “exact representation” of [God’s] nature because He is God, and He, also, as God, holds the massive cosmos together by His mere powerful word (Col. 1:16-17).  The Greek word for “exact representation” is charaktar (χαρακτὴρ) and it denotes an engraving tool, or an impress made by a die or a seal . . . something akin to the crafting of an ancient coin.[2]  Jesus, the Messiah, therefore, is no ordinary or even an exceptional prophet.  He was, and is, the very essence of divinity as the Davidic King of Kings.

Once more, this is where Islam is theologically off-base, as are all of those who deny and reject the divine person of Jesus.  Psalm 110, coupled with the various NT texts just mentioned, tell a completely different story and communicate a completely different truth.  The risen and seated Messiah was/is God himself, and it would be from His divine throne He would watch while His Father systematically subdued all the forces of evil be they militaristic or even ideological.  To make your enemies your footstool speaks of total domination.  I find this most ironic, don’t you? The very forces of evil at work (overtime) in our godless day and age, are seeking to dominate the voice and teaching of believers because we, of all people, speak truth and truth is a challenge to the longevity and acceptance of their entire wicked, sinful system.  From this inspired text we learn of how ironic this all is. Those who seek to dominate the saints of the King, will one day be completely dominated by Him.  This concept is an Old Testament motif we call lex talionis, or an eye for an eye.  Justice and righteousness will prevail so have hope in what God is currently doing to set the world stage for the glorious arrival of the King of Kings, Jesus, His Son (Matt. 24). 

                  The preposition “until” informs us of this divine process to subdue evil:

‎ לְדָוִ֗ד מִ֫זְמ֥וֹר נְאֻ֤ם יְהוָ֙ה׀ לַֽאדֹנִ֗י שֵׁ֥ב לִֽימִינִ֑י עַד־אָשִׁ֥ית אֹ֜יְבֶ֗יךָ הֲדֹ֣ם לְרַגְלֶֽיךָ׃

For the Hebrew students among us, the imperfect, “I will make,” a’it (אָשִׁ֥ית ) can be classified as the habitual use of the imperfect thereby denoting continual, progressive action. Because God is the one doing it, NO ONE or NOTHING can stop, thwart, or interrupt His action, not even the infighting between the Republicans or Demonstrates, the totalitarian desires of Critical Race Theorists, the hopes of social meltdown by Antifa, and so on and so forth. God is in FULL control of our descent before the great ascent into His kingdom.

Ostensibly, this causes us to ponder, “How will this process to play out?

• A worldwide apostasy, or falling away from truth, will cover the earth (2 Thess. 2:1-2). I’d say we are there.
• Jerusalem and Jews will be the focus of worldwide hatred (Zech. 12:1-2a). I’d say we are there as we witnessed in the last battle of Israel with Islamic radicals in the Gaza sector. Never has there been so much hatred of Israel and Jews in our country as we saw just a few short weeks ago.
• The Church will be raptured into heaven (1 Thess. 4:13-18).
• God will deal with Israel and unbelievers during the seven-year tribulation (Revelation 4-19).
• Jesus, the Davidic/Messianic King will appear a second time at the end of the tribulation and definitively destroy the armies of the godless who will invade Palestine (Zech. 14:1-2). After this time, He will separate the sheep/saved from the goats/unsaved and send the sheep, or those who survived the tribulation, into His earthly Davidic empire (Matt. 25).
• Jesus will bind the Devil and cast him into the bottomless pit for 1,000 years (Rev. 20).
• Jesus will rule and reign from His glorious Davidic throne in the millennial temple in Jerusalem (Ezek. 40:1ff; Isa. 2; Matt. 25:31; Rev. 5:13; Luke 1:32; Ezek. 21:25-27), and His saints will rule with Him (Rev. 20:6).
• At the end of the kingdom age, the Devil will be loosed one final time. He will deceive those children born to those who walked into the kingdom because they were saved and survived the tribulation [More on this in a moment].  God will immediately and definitely put down this final coup de’tat and rebellion against His political power, resulting in the Devil and His followers being cast forever into the Lake of Fire (Rev. 20:7-15).  Those who attempt to cancel Christ himself will, in turn, be cancelled (and corralled). How utterly ironic.
• At this juncture, God’s long-awaited Davidic empire will merge with His eternal empire, and together we will all enjoy God’s eternal kingdom and all it has to offer.

So far, God has worked strategically overtly and covertly since man’s fall in the Garden to not only finally subdue Satan (Gen. 3:15), but to bring all world powers to naught so His kingdom will be THE kingdom of true peace, righteousness, and justice.

When God, through twenty-one judgments as revealed in Revelation, destroys the forces of evil at the Battle of Armageddon at His glorious appearance as the Davidic warrior (Rev. 19), He will, in fact, “stretch forth [His] strong scepter from Zion” (Psalm 110:2), and he will at that time “rule in the midst of Thine enemies.”  Zion, of course, is the ancient name for Jerusalem.  It is also the ancient name for the holy Temple mount (Psalm 2:6; 9:11; 74:2; Isa. 818; 10:12; 18:7; 24:23; Joel 2:23; Zec. 1:14).  Ezekiel gives us all the architectural details of how the millennial temple will look (Ezek. 40-43). Isaiah tells us that the Davidic Messiah, whom we now know is Jesus, will use this temple as the headquarters of His empire of peace.

² Now it will come about that in the last days, the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains, and will be raised above the hills; and all the nations will stream to it. ³ And many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; that He may teach us concerning His ways, and that we may walk in His paths." For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ⁴ And He will judge between the nations, and will render decisions for many peoples; and they will hammer their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not lift up sword against nation, and never again will they learn war (Isa. 2).

Isaiah’s words merely demonstrate that the Messiah’s scepter of legal and regal rulership over His new Davidic world-wide kingdom will be in Zion . . . just as David had prophesied in Psalm 110.

Why will the Messiah “rule in the midst of . . . enemies” (Psalm 110:2) if they are defeated at Armageddon? Again, I think the simple and logical answer is those sheep/saints who walk into the kingdom at the end of the seven-year tribulation will still be able to have children, and those children will still possess the original sin of Adam (Rom. 5:12-21).  Even without the Devil around to stir them up for rebellion, we know they will slowly and surely start to rebel against the Messiah.  Zechariah tells us this much:

⁶ Then it will come about that any who are left of all the nations that went against Jerusalem will go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to celebrate the Feast of Booths. ¹⁷ And it will be that whichever of the families of the earth does not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, there will be no rain on them. ¹⁸ And if the family of Egypt does not go up or enter, then no rain will fall on them; it will be the plague with which the LORD smites the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths. ¹⁹ This will be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all the nations who do not go up to celebrate the Feast of Booths (Zech. 14).

Study Zechariah closely and contextually and you will learn how this kingdom observance  follows the Second Coming of Jesus.  At this point, Christ will have fulfilled all of the other six Israelite feasts (Passover, Lev. 23:4-8; John 1:29; Unleavened Bread, Lev. 23:6; John 6:35; First fruits, Lev. 23:10, 1 Cor. 15:20; Feast of Weeks/Pentecost, Lev. 23:16, Acts 1-2; Feast of Trumpets, Lev. 23:24, 1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 Cor. 15:52; Day of Atonement, Lev. 16; 23:26-32; Heb. 9:12).  Obviously, Tabernacles will be observed in the kingdom period so we can rejoice in God’s provision for us as we walked in the wilderness of the world on our journey to THE Promised Land.

Not everyone will want to worship the Messiah during this feast.  Imagine the audacity and arrogance of these sinners.  With Christ in front of them, they will rebel and reject Him.  How hard is the human heart. Psalm 66, which details the worldwide worship of the Messiah,  tells us that some at that time will not be excited about worship opportunity:

³ Say to God, "How awesome are Thy works! Because of the greatness of Thy power Thine enemies will give feigned obedience to Thee (Ps. 66).

The word translated “feigned” in the NAB and “cringe” in the NIV is cachash (  כָּחַשׁ  ).  Here are its lexical meanings:

piel: pf. כִּחֵשׁ, כִּ֫חֶשׁ Lv 5₂₂ Jb 8₁₈, כִּחֲשׁוּ; impf. יְכַחֵשׁ, יְכַ֫חֶשׁ Ho 9₂, וַתְּכַחֵשׁ, יְכַחֲשׁוּ, תְּכַחֲשׁוּן; inf. כַּחֵשׁ Zc 13₄: — 1. deny Gn 18₁₅: w. b® of thing Lv 5₂₂, w. b® of person to whom denial is made Lv 5₂₁; — 2. conceal Jos 7₁₁; — 3. a) lie, deceive (by false show) Zc 13₄; b) w. l® tell (s.one) lies 1K 13₁₈; — 4. leave in the lurch, fail to appear (out of deceit) Ho 9₂; — 5. deny, disown, w. b®: a) obj. of b® men Jb 8₁₄; b) obj. of b® God Jos 24₂₇, w. l® Jb 31₂₈; — 6. feign submission Ps 18₄₅.[3]

These people will stand before God and lie to His face that they are enjoying the worship opportunity.  He, who knows all things, will waste no time disciplining the countries which they represent by withholding rainfall.  It is interesting that Egypt is mentioned specifically.  Could it be this Islamic epicenter will rise in the kingdom age, seeking to throw off messianic reign?  Possibly. But let the point not be missed that the Messiah will tolerate no dissension and disobedience when He reigns, for His reign will be known for peace, and He will keep the peace (Psalm 2:10; Rev. 19:15; Isa. 29:20-21; 65:20; 66:24).

Because there is so much peace, the Psalm prophesies that the Messiah’s people will be stepping all over themselves to be active parts of His glorious empire.

³ Thy people will volunteer freely in the day of Thy power; in holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Thy youth are to Thee as the dew (Psalm 110).

Yes, when Jesus, the Davidic King of King, receives the kingdom (Dan. 7:14; Luke 1:32), godly people will line up to be part of the empire. They will just appear en masse like the dew on the grass in the morning, and no one will fear of reprisals either, no one will fear being canceled, or having their personal life doxed, as in our day.   Isaiah 32:11 tells us that the Messiah will have princes:

¹ Behold, a king will reign righteously, and princes will rule justly (Isa. 32).

Similarly, in Matthew 19:28, Jesus gives this kingdom promise to the disciples:

²⁸ And Jesus said to them, "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel (Matt. 19).

The Parable of the King’s Servants in Luke 19:11-27 clearly reveals that lesser authorities will rule over numerous cities within the empire, and the extent of their rule will be related to their faithfulness on their earthly sojourn. Zechariah 3:7 also develops this point.

Judges and political advisors will be given new, exciting jobs as well:

²⁶ "Then I will restore your judges as at the first, And your counselors as at the beginning; After that you will be called the city of righteousness, A faithful city." (Isa. 1).

Let me ask you, if you are a worshipper of the King of Kings, Jesus, the Christ, Wouldn’t you be  jumping up and down to get the opportunity to be a viable part of the greatest political kingdom ever established on this old sin-stained planet?” Who would want to miss this? Who wouldn’t want to be a leader under Christ?  Who wouldn’t want some responsibility as peace, righteousness, holiness, and truth becomes the norm, not the exception?  Count me in.

Of course, all of this exciting conversation really leads to a logical question: Is Jesus your King or not? If He is your king, you will be in the kingdom. If He is not your king, you will not be part of the kingdom.  At this precise moment, the Lord of glory is calling out to you, as He called out to Mohammed last Sunday afternoon, to not only recognize who He is, but to place your faith in Him as the King of your life.

While we sing this old worship song, I’ll pray you make the right decision concerning Jesus:

I'm forgiven because You were forsaken
I'm accepted, You were condemned
And I'm alive and well, Your spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again

I'm forgiven because You were forsaken
I'm accepted, You were condemned
I'm alive and well, Your spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again

Amazing love, how can it be
That You, my King, should die for me?
Amazing love and I know it's true
And it's my joy to honor You, in all I do to honor You

I'm forgiven because You were forsaken
I'm accepted, You were condemned
I'm alive and well, Your spirit is within me
Because You died and rose again

Amazing love, how can it be
That You, my King, should die for me?
Amazing love and I know it's true
And it's my joy to honor You, in all I do to honor You
In all I do to honor You

©  2003, Billy James Foote

                  ^[1] Allen P. Ross, A Commentary on the Psalms (90–150): Commentary, vol. 3, Kregel Exegetical Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2016), 339.

            [2] Friberg, Analytical Greek Lexicon; Frederick William Danker, Greek New Testament Lexicon (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1979), 1077-1078: χαρακτήρ, ῆρος, ὁ (fr. χαράσσω ‘engrave’ via χάραγμα; Aeschyl., Hdt.+; ins, pap, LXX; TestSol 11:6; TestSim 5:4 [‘copy’, of the Book of Enoch]; ApcSed 7:4; EpArist; Philo; Jos., Ant. 13, 322; Just.; Tat. 17, 2 [in the two last, of letters of the alphabet]; loanw. in rabb.).

① a mark or impression placed on an object

ⓐ of coinage impress, reproduction, representation (Eur., El. 559; Aristot., Pol. 1, 6, Oec. 2; Diod S 17, 66, 2; OGI 339, 45; in imagery Polyb. 18, 34, 7; Philo, Plant. 18) in imagery IMg 5:2ab.

ⓑ of a distinguishing mark trademark τὸ κεφαλοδέσμιον … χαρακτῆρα ἔχει βασιλικόν the headpiece bears a royal trademark (i.e. the logo of a manufacturer for the imperial establishment; s. deStrycker ad loc. and AJohnson, Roman Egypt to the Reign of Diocletian ’36, 332–33; 626–27) GJs 2:2. S. 3 below.

② someth. produced as a representation, reproduction, representation, fig., of God ἄνθρωπον ἔπλασεν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ εἰκόνος χαρακτῆρα (God) formed a human being as reproduction of his own identity/reality (s. εἰκών 2) 1 Cl 33:4 (cp. OGI 383, 60 of a picture χ. μορφῆς ἐμῆς; 404, 25; Philo, Det. Pot. Ins. 83 calls the soul τύπον τινὰ καὶ χαρακτῆρα θείας δυνάμεως). Christ is χαρ. τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ an exact representation of (God’s) real being Hb 1:3 (ὑπόστασις 1a).

③ characteristic trait or manner, distinctive mark (Hdt. et al.; Diod S 1, 91, 7; Dionys. Hal., Ad Pomp. 3, 16; 2 Macc 4:10) ἐν ἀποστολικῷ χαρακτῆρι in apostolic fashion of an epistolary greeting ITr ins; cp. 1b above.

④ an impression that is made, outward aspect, outward appearance, form (ApcSed 7:4 ὁ δὲ ἥλιος καὶ Ἀδάμ, μίαν χαρακτῆρα ἦσαν perh. read without the comma: ‘Now, the sun and Adam were alike in appearance’, in contrast to Eve who was more brightly beautiful than the moon) εὐειδέσταται τῷ χαρακτῆρι exceptionally beautiful in appearance Hs 9, 9, 5.—JGeffcken, Character: ET 21, 1910, 426f; AKörte, Her 64, 1929, 69–86 (semantic history).—DELG s.v. χαράσσω II 4. M-M. TW. Sv.^[2]

                  [3] Holladay, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the OT.