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provoked me to wrath … and I repented not: So again have I thought in these days to do
well unto Jerusalem and to the house of Judah: fear ye not.”
LORD
(
$
, 113), or
(
$
, 113), “lord; master; Lord.” Cognates of this
word appear in Ugaritic and Phoenician. The form
appears 334 times, while the
form
(used exclusively as a divine name) appears 439 times.
Basically,
means “lord” or “master.” It is distinguished from the Hebrew word
, which signifies “possessor” or “owner.”
*
basically describes the one who
occupies the position of a “master” or “lord” over a slave or servant: “And the servant put
his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master …” (Gen. 24:9). It is used of kings and
their most powerful aides. Joseph told his brothers: “So now it was not you that sent me
hither, but God: and he hath made me a father [i.e., an adviser] to Pharaoh, and lord of all
his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt” (Gen. 45:8; cf. 42:30). Only once
is this word used in the sense of “owner” or “possessor” (1 Kings 16:24).
*
is often used as a term of polite address. In some cases, the one so named
really occupies a position of authority. In Gen. 18:12 (the first occurrence) Sarah called
Abraham her “lord.” On the other hand, this may be a purely honorary title by which the
speaker intends to indicate his submission to the one so addressed. Jacob instructed his
slaves to speak to “my lord Esau” (Gen. 32:18); i.e., Jacob called his brother Esau “lord.”
In places where the speaker is addressing someone calling him “lord,” the word virtually
means “you.”
When applied to God,
is used in several senses. It signifies His position as the
one who has authority (like a master) over His people to reward the obedient and punish
the disobedient: “Ephraim provoked him to anger most bitterly: therefore shall he leave
his blood upon him, and his reproach shall his Lord return unto him” (Hos. 12:14). In
such contexts God is conceived as a Being who is sovereign ruler and almighty master.
The word is often a title of respect, a term of direct address usually assuming a specific
concrete lord-vassal or master-servant relationship (Ps. 8:1). In some cases the word
appears to be a title suggesting God’s relationship to and position over Israel: “Three
times in the year all thy males shall appear before the Lord God” (Exod. 23:17). In such
contexts
is a formal divine name and should probably be transliterated if the proper
emphasis is to be retained. In the form
the word means “Lord” par excellence or
“Lord over all,” even as it sometimes does in the form
(cf. Deut. 10:17, where God
is called the “God of gods, and Lord of lords”; Josh. 3:11, where He is called the “Lord
of all the earth”).
The word
appears in Gen. 15:2: “And Abram said, Lord God, what wilt thou
give me, seeing I go childless,.…” This word frequently appears in Psalms (Ps. 68:17;
86:3) and Isaiah (Isa. 29:13; 40:10).
(
(
&
, 3068), “Lord.” The Tetragrammaton
'BCB
appears without its
own vowels, and its exact pronunciation is debated (Jehovah, Yehovah, Jahweh,
Yahweh). The Hebrew text does insert the vowels for
, and Jewish students and