King-Priest of Psalm 110 in Hebrews, The

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Sep 2002 by Bateman, Herbert W

The King-Priest of Psalm 110 in Hebrews. By David R. Anderson. Studies in Biblical Literature 21. New York: Peter Lang, 2001, 342 pp., $65.95.

Although it is never stated, The King-Priest of Psalm 110 in Hebrews was originally presented to Dallas Theological Seminary in 1998 as a dissertation entitled "The Royal and Priestly contribution of Psalm 110 to the Book of Hebrews." Other than the title, differences between the two documents are virtually undetectable. Like the dissertation, The King-Priest of Psalm 110 in Hebrews consists of seven chapters (and bibliography) to examine the use of Ps 110:1 and 4 in the book of Hebrews as a means to "delineate the present ministry of Christ" (p. 4).

After his introduction (chap. 1), Anderson offers a presentation of "Sacral Kingship" (chap. 2) in the ancient Near East whereby he resolves that "the history of pre-exilic Israel is begging for any clear evidence that any of the Israelite kings was also a king-- priest" (p. 27, cf. pp. 279-80). This separation of king from priest becomes a driving force for Anderson in his subsequent analysis of "Psalm 110" (chap. 3). In summarizing the historical background for Psalm 110, he argues that sometime during David's reign David addresses the psalm to the Messiah about the Messiah's ultimate victory, and thereby Anderson determines the psalm to be directly messianic (pp. 61, 280-82).

Moving from OT historical and literary contexts, Anderson overviews Ps 110:1 in the NT (chap. 4), namely, the Synoptics (Matt 22:41-46, 26:62-65; Mark 12:35-37, 14:62-64a; Luke 20:41-44, 22:66-71), Acts (2:32-36, 5:31-32, 7:55-56) and the epistles (Rom 8:34-35a, 1 Cor 15:25, Eph 1:20-23, Col 3:1, 1 Pet 3:22). Not surprisingly, he muses that "the understanding of both the religious community in Jerusalem and the early church was that the primary referent of Psalm 110 was the Messiah" (p. 113). Thus the epistles identify the Messiah of this directly messianic psalm to be Jesus whose authority and power is "already, not yet" (pp. 282-85).

The preliminaries completed, Anderson attends to the royal contribution (chap, 5) and priestly contribution (chap. 6) of Ps 110:1 and 4 in the book of Hebrews. Ps 110:1 in Heb 1:3d and 13 identifies Jesus as the Son promised to David, who has inaugurated the Davidic Kingdom (pp. 173, 291; cf. pp. 285-88), and Ps 110:4 in Heb 5:6-7:28 identifies Jesus as Melchizedekian Priest (pp. 236, 291; cf. pp. 288-90). These two separate offices are thereby joined together in one person, Jesus, the Son (pp. 231-36). Thus Psalm 110 primarily serves to identify the Son as both a king and a priest. The present ministry of Jesus, the Son, is that of a king-priest who actively exercises his authority and power while awaiting the future consummation of his kingdom.

In conclusion (chap. 7), Anderson summarizes each chapter (pp. 277-90), identifies various inductive, deductive, and unwarranted conclusions (pp. 290-96), and suggests some theological implications and areas for future study (pp. 296-97).

Evangelicals will have mixed reactions to Anderson's book. In general, the book's lack of indexes limits its usefulness as a resource for further reference. More significantly, disappointment exists in the overdependence on secondary sources, particularly when addressing sacral kingship. Primary sources warrant excavation and citation to substantiate more clearly his resolve for separating king from priest in preexilic Israel. For instance, based upon secondary sources Anderson says, "on one aspect of Hittite kingship there is a distinct consensus of scholarship: the king was the High Priest" (p. 17). Granted, the OT Davidite was not the "high" priest; nevertheless, interaction between the petitions of Hittite kings on behalf of and as a representative of their people (KUB, xiv, 8; xxiv, 1; op. cit., Pritchard, ANET, 394, 397) and the similar petition of King David (2 Sam 24:10-17) warrant discussion.

Although differences may exist between the king-priests of the ancient Near East and Israel, the OT Davidic king executes priestly functions, though they were not primary activities of the Davidite. (David offered sacrifices [2 Sam 6:13, 17-18; 2 Sam 24:1825; 1 Chr 21:18-281, David exercised authority over the priesthood [2 Samuel 61, and David's sons were called priests [2 Sam 8:18].) Neglecting firsthand interaction with the OT priestly activities of the royal Davidite and the absence of any comparative study with ancient Near Eastern texts concerning priesthood issues weaken Anderson's perspective of sacral kingship.

Dependence on secondary material also permeates Anderson's exposition of Hebrews 1. His dependence on J. P. Meier's ring structure, however, reveals solid examination of the text (pp. 139-76). Nevertheless, Meier's twentieth-century structural analysis could afford firsthand interaction with first-century Jewish literature, theology, and exegesis. In addition, a disproportionate amount of time is spent in Hebrews 1 for the psalm's two occurrences (64 pp.) in comparison with the psalm's nine other allusions and direct quotations in the rest of Hebrews (72 pp.).