“Why do you call me Lord?” Part 1: Introduction
Over the next couple weeks I’d like to do a series of posts on the word kurios in the New Testament. I don’t in any way mean this to be an exhaustive study on the term but I do hope that together with commenters we can look at some of the big issues surrounding this word. If you have a specific topic regarding the translation of this word that you are especially passionate about I encourage you to post an article on your own blog and link it back to this post.
Introduction
κύριος (transliterated: kurios) is a Greek word used extensively in the New Testament. It occurs 717 times in various forms. In most English versions of the Bible it is translated “lord” or “master.” It is used in the following ways:
- As a title for God
- As a title for Jesus
- Referring to masters of slaves
- Referring to the head of a household
- Referring to a chief or leader
The core meaning of kurios is “one who commands.”
In the next post I’m going to look at the tendency of English translations to use different words for kurios depending on whether it is referring to God or a man.
