In Psalm 110:3 (109:3 LXX) it mentions the begetting of David’s Lord:
Greek LXX: “The Lord said to my lord (Eipen ho Kyrios to Kyrio mou), ‘Sit on my right until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ A rod of your power the Lord will send out from Sion. And exercise dominion in the midst of your enemies! With you is rule on a day of your power among the splendors of the holy ones. From the womb, before Morning-star, I brought you forth (egennesa se).” Psalm 109:3
Latin Version: “The Lord said to my Lord: Sit thou at my right hand: Until I make thy enemies thy footstool. The Lord will send forth the sceptre of thy power out of Sion: rule thou in the midst of thy enemies. With thee is the principality in the day of thy strength: in the brightness of the saints: from the womb before the day star I begot thee.” Psalm 109:1-3 Douay-Rheims 1899
Syriac/Aramaic Version: “LORD JEHOVAH said to my Lord, ‘Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies as a stool for your feet.’ LORD JEHOVAH will send the scepter of power to you from Zion and he will rule over your enemies. Your people are glorious in the day of power; in the glories of holiness from the womb, from the first, I have begotten you, Son.” Psalm 110:1-3 Peshitta Holy Bible Translation
“THE LORD said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand until I make thine enemies thy footstool. The LORD will send forth the sceptre of his power out of Zion, and he will rule over thine enemies. Thy people shall be glorious in the day of thy power; arrayed in the beauty of holiness from the womb, I have begotten thee as a child from the ages.” George Lamsa Bible
Psalm 110 presents a striking claim about the Davidic king, declaring that he was begotten before the sun and the stars. This reading, preserved in the Greek Septuagint and echoed in the Latin tradition, enjoys broader textual support in both Syriac versions, and it is also attested in a significant number of Hebrew Masoretic manuscripts. Although this psalm is absent from the surviving Dead Sea Scrolls, the combined witness of the Greek, Latin, Syriac, and multiple Hebrew manuscripts strengthens the case that this was an early and well-established reading.
This background helps explain why leading critical scholars such as John Collins and Adela Collins argue that yelidtika (“I have begotten you”) should be regarded as the preferred vocalization of the Hebrew consonants in Psalm 110:3. They note that this rendering has been accepted by many commentators and fits naturally within the wider stream of ancient textual evidence:
For our present purposes, the main focus of interest in Psalm 110 is the notoriously corrupt verse 3b: bahadre qodesh merechem mishchar laka tal yaldutheka
The corresponding Greek (Ps 109:3) reads: en tais lamprostesin ton hagion ek gastros pro heosphorou exegennesa se.
The MT points the last word as yaldutheka, “your youth.” The NRSV translates accordingly: From the womb of the morning, like dew, your youth will come to you.
MANY Masoretic manuscripts, however, read yelidtika, the reading presupposed by the Greek, and also supported by the Syriac. In view of the consonantal spelling in the MT, and the parallel in Psalm 2, this reading should be preferred and is accepted by many commentators.84
By re-pointing the Masoretic text, but making no changes to the consonants we read: In sacred splendor, from the womb, from dawn, you have the dew wherewith I have begotten you.85
(Adela Yarbro Collins & John J. Collins, King and Messiah as Son of God: Divine, Human, and Angelic Messianic Figures in Biblical and Related Literature, 1. The King as Son of God, pp. 16-17)
As the Collinses observe, the form yelidtika—attested in many Masoretic manuscripts of Psalm 110:3 and reflected in the Greek, Latin, Aramaic, and Syriac traditions—also appears in Psalm 2. That psalm has long been recognized as a messianic text, and it contains the well-known divine declaration: “You are my son; today I have begotten you (yelidtika).” (Ps 2:7) The recurrence of the same verb in both psalms underscores the thematic link between royal sonship and divine begetting in early biblical interpretation.
Early Christian writers were aware that Jewish textual traditions were not uniform, and some accused their opponents of altering the Hebrew text to blunt Christian arguments. Justin Martyr, in particular, claimed that certain Jewish scribes intentionally modified their copies—especially by manipulating vowel markings in what later became known as the Masoretic tradition—to undermine Christian appeals to passages such as Psalm 110:3, which Christians read as affirming the eternal begetting of Christ:
Justin: But I am far from putting reliance in your teachers, who refuse to admit that the interpretation made by the seventy elders who were with Ptolemy [king] of the Egyptians is a correct one; and they attempt to frame another. And I wish you to observe, that they have altogether taken away many Scriptures from the translations effected by those seventy elders who were with Ptolemy, and by which this very man who was crucified is proved to have been set forth expressly as God, and man, and as being crucified, and as dying; but since I am aware that this is denied by all of your nation, I do not address myself to these points, but I proceed to carry on my discussions by means of those passages which are still admitted by you.
Chapter 71. The Jews reject the interpretation of the Septuagint, from which, moreover, they have taken away some passages
Here are some early witnesses that used Psalm 109:3 LXX to prove Christ’s eternal begetting:
Hippolytus of Rome
16…No more than two, in sooth, have been put in trust to give the account of His generation after the flesh; and are you then so bold as to seek the account (of His generation) after the Spirit, which the Father keeps with Himself, intending to reveal it then to the holy ones and those worthy of seeing His face? Rest satisfied with the word spoken by Christ, viz., “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit,” (Jn 3:6) just as, speaking by the prophet of the generation of the Word, He shows the fact that He is begotten, but reserves the question of the manner and means, to reveal it only in the time determined by Himself. For He speaks thus: “From the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten Thee.” (Psa 109:3 LXX) AGAINST THE HERESY OF ONE NOETUS
Clement of Alexandria
Chapter 1. Exhortation to Abandon the Impious Mysteries of Idolatry for the Adoration of the Divine Word and God the Father.
You have, then, God’s promise; you have His love: become partaker of His grace. And do not suppose the song of salvation to be new, as a vessel or a house is new. For “before the morning star it was;” and “in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” John 1:1 Error seems old, but truth seems a new thing. (Exhortation to the Heathen; source)
Chapter 9. “That Those Grievously Sin Who Despise or Neglect God’s Gracious Calling.”
… “Awake,” He says, ” you that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light,” Ephesians 5:14 —Christ, the Sun of the Resurrection, He “who was born before the morning star,” and with His beams bestows life… (Source)
Melito of Sardis
Fragments of Melito of Sardis IV. On Faith.
We have collected together extracts from the Law and the Prophets relating to those things which have Been declared concerning our Lord Jesus Christ, that we may prove to your love that this Being is perfect reason, the Word of God; He who was begotten before the Morning Star; He who is CREATOR together with the Father; He who is the Fashioner of man; He who is all in all (source)