Psalm 110/Notes/Lexical.V. 6.672612
From Psalms: Layer by Layer
- The verb he will rule (יָדִין) may refer here to the execution of judgment (= punishment) against the nations.[1] The verb may also, however, refer to "broader tasks of establishing and maintaining order (through governing and administering)," and, in the Psalms, it sometimes refers to "God's sovereign rule over ... the nations in general."[2] Psalm 96:10, for example, says that when YHWH becomes king over the nations, he will rule them with justice (יָדִ֥ין עַ֝מִּ֗ים בְּמֵישָׁרִֽים). If the nations in Ps. 110 are distinguished from their wicked kings (as in Ps. 2), then v. 6a may say that YHWH, once he has destroyed the wicked kings, will rule justly over the nations.