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Lord

From: Concise Bible Dictionary: L By: George A. Morrish

• 2 min. read • grade level: 8

1. adon, κύριος. These words are commonly translated “lord.” They are used as a term of respect as between man and man, as seen in the children of Heth to Abraham (Gen. 23:6⁶Hear us, my lord: thou art a mighty prince among us: in the choice of our sepulchres bury thy dead; none of us shall withhold from thee his sepulchre, but that thou mayest bury thy dead. (Genesis 23:6)); between servants and masters, and once by a wife to her husband (Gen. 18:12¹²Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also? (Genesis 18:12); Luke 16:3,5³Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig; to beg I am ashamed. (Luke 16:3)
⁵So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? (Luke 16:5); 1 Pet. 3:6⁶Even as Sara obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose daughters ye are, as long as ye do well, and are not afraid with any amazement. (1 Peter 3:6)). The title “Lord” is applied to God (Psalm 90:1¹<<A Prayer of Moses the man of God.>> Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. (Psalm 90:1), Adonai), and in the New Testament to the Lord Jesus, not only as a term of respect, but as owning His constituted lordship (Acts 2:36³⁶Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:36); Phil. 2:11¹¹And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:11)). He is emphatically the Lord as eclipsing every other for the Christian, who delights to appropriate Him as “My Lord” (Luke 1:43⁴³And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? (Luke 1:43); John 20:13¹³And they say unto her, Woman, why weepest thou? She saith unto them, Because they have taken away my Lord, and I know not where they have laid him. (John 20:13); Phi. 3:8). To believers collectively He is “Our Lord Jesus Christ.”

There is also in this title the idea of administration which it is of great consequence to observe. As Man the Lord Jesus is mediator between God and men, and receives blessings for men which are administered through Him as Lord. “To us there is....one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things, and we through Him” (1 Cor. 8:6⁶But to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him. (1 Corinthians 8:6)). See Rom. 5:1-2,11,17,21¹Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: ²By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. (Romans 5:1‑2)
¹¹And not only so, but we also joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement. (Romans 5:11)
¹⁷For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.) (Romans 5:17)
²¹That as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 5:21) and other scriptures.

The same Greek word is often used in the LXX for the Hebrew name Jehovah, and is transferred to the New Testament without the article. It stands as a proper name in the sense of Jehovah, as in Matthew 1:20,22,24²⁰But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. (Matthew 1:20)
²²Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, (Matthew 1:22)
²⁴Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: (Matthew 1:24), though the English requires it to be translated “the Lord.” See GOD.

2. δεσπότης, signifying “owner, master,” as a man who owns slaves. It is applied to God and to the Lord Jesus (Luke 2:29²⁹Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: (Luke 2:29); Acts 4:24²⁴And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: (Acts 4:24); 2 Pet. 2:1¹But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. (2 Peter 2:1); Jude 4⁴For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. (Jude 4); Rev. 6:10¹⁰And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? (Revelation 6:10)); and in 2 Timothy 2:21²¹If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work. (2 Timothy 2:21) is translated “master.”

3. ραββονί, a word similar to Rabbi, a term of respect among the Jews, signifying “teacher.” It is applied to the Lord by the blind man in Mark 10:51⁵¹And Jesus answered and said unto him, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee? The blind man said unto him, Lord, that I might receive my sight. (Mark 10:51); and by Mary in John 20:16¹⁶Jesus saith unto her, Mary. She turned herself, and saith unto him, Rabboni; which is to say, Master. (John 20:16), where it is untranslated.

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