SPECIAL TOPIC: LORD

SPECIAL TOPIC: Lord (adon and kurios)

OT (adon, BDB 10, KB 12)
1. used of Israel's God (i.e., Gen. 15:2; 18:3,27; 20:4; Deut. 3:24; 9:26; 10:17; Josh. 3:11; 7:7; Jdgs. 6:22; 16:28; 2 Samuel 7; 1 Kgs. 2:26; 8:23; and many times in the Prophets (over 300), but not at all in Leviticus or Chronicles
2. often in combination with YHWH (i.e., Gen. 15:8; Exod. 23:17; Josh. 7:7)
3. also used of the male fertility god of Canaan (i.e., Ba'al, BDB 127)
4. basic meaning of
  1. master (i.e., Jdg. 3:25; 4:18)
  2. owner (i.e., Gen. 23:6,11,15)
  3. husband (i.e., Gen. 18:12)
  4. king (ANE royal title; i.e., Gen. 40:1; Isa. 16:8)
  5. father (i.e., Gen. 31:35)
  6. brother (i.e., Gen. 32:4; Exod. 32:22)
  7. governmental official (i.e., Gen. 42:10; 44:5)
  8. angels (i.e., Gen. 19:2,18)
  9. pare-incarnate Christ (i.e., Josh. 5:14-15)
5. later rabbinical usage
  The OT (Hebrew, adon, BDB 10, KB 12) usage of the term came from the later Jews' reluctance to pronounce the covenant name for God, YHWH, which was a form of the Hebrew VERB "to be" (cf. Exod. 3:14; see SPECIAL TOPIC: NAMES FOR DEITY, D.). They were afraid of breaking the Commandment which said, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" (cf. Exod. 20:7; Deut. 5:11). Therefore, they thought if they did not pronounce it, they could not take it in vain. So when they read the Scripture, they substituted the Hebrew word adon.
NT (kurios)
1. the word had the same connotations as the Hebrew term (see C. above).
2. NT usage
  1. for the Father ‒ Matt. 9:38; 11:25; Acts 17:24; Rom. 10:13; Rev. 4:11
  2. for the Son ‒ Luke 1:43; 2:11; John 13:13-14; 20:28; Acts 2:36; Rom. 10:9; 1 Cor. 2:8; Phil. 2:11; James 2:1
    SPECIAL TOPIC: SON OF GOD
  3. ambiguity, possibly purposeful ambiguity ‒ Acts 1:24; 2:47; 8:39; 9:31; 11:21; 13:10-12; 16:14; 20:19; 21:14
    SPECIAL TOPIC: THE TRINITY
  4. for an Angel of the Lord ‒ Matt. 1:20; Luke 1:11; 2:9; 9:2; Acts 8:19; 8:26; 12:7,23; 27:23;
    SPECIAL TOPIC: THE ANGEL OF THE LORD
  5. polite address, "sir" (i.e., John 4:11; in the OT, Gen. 24:18)
  6. theological emphasis on the deity of Jesus of Nazareth following the OT substitution (LXX) for YHWH (i.e., John 9:36,38; Acts 2:36; 10:36; 11:20; 2 Cor. 4:5; Col. 2:6)
  7. the phrase "Jesus is Lord" came to be the early church's baptismal formula denoting personal faith in Jesus the Messiah and "God-man" (cf. Rom. 10:9-13; 1 Cor. 12:3; Phil. 2:11)
    SPECIAL TOPIC: CHRIST JESUS AS LORD