“Why do you call me Lord?” Part 3: Defining kurios
Previous posts in this series:
In this post I want to simply give some definitions of kurios in the New Testament. I’ve simplified the information provided by these two very helpful sources.
Barclay Newman’s Greek Lexicion of the New Testament
“Lord (of God and Christ); master, lord, owner; sir (of address)”
Louw-Nida Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament based on Semantic Domains
a Lord (12.9)
“(a title for God and for Christ) one who exercises supernatural authority over mankind – Lord, Ruler, One who commands (see also 37.51).”
b owner (57.12)
“one who owns and controls property, including especially servants and slaves, with important supplementary semantic components of high status and respect – owner, master, lord.”
c ruler (37.51)
“one who rules or exercises authority over others – ruler, master, lord.”
d sir (87.53)
“a title of respect used in addressing or speaking of a man – sir, mister.”
Summary
As you can see from looking at these definitions. The word kurios is used for a variety of things. It can refer to God, slave owners, rulers, or simply be a polite form of address for a man. Do you agree with these definitions? Do you have another definition from a reference source that you like? If so, please share it with us in the comments on this post.
In my next post I’ll be discussing the cultural context of kurios in New Testament times. See you next Monday!
How about sovereign: a supreme ruler or head.
PS: I lovethis topic!
Great post. This ties directly into an exegetical question I’ve had for several years. Clearly the greek LXX uses kurios as a place holder for the diving name YHWH. What is to say that more often kurios is a placeholder for YHWH in the NT. Check out Romans 10. JW’s find it hard to argue with this passage. dt http://www.davetilma.com
PS–what if the title Jesus Christ the Lord is actually Jesus messiah YHWH? Food for thought.
divine–my bad
Good thoughts indeed, Dave. I have never liked the “small caps” convention or the fact that Lord is used for a catch-all term. This study invites us to think of what term we would use in English if we didn’t use Lord. No easy answers I’m afraid. Thanks for commenting.
Dave, I’m glad you corrected your typo. I thought maybe you thought YHWH was a “diving name” because you were confused by passages like Hebrews 1:1 KJV: “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake…” Divers manners include a special sign language for communicating underwater. But how can God be diving if he abominates divers weights, Proverbs 20:23 KJV? But of course from Mark 1:34 KJV we learn that Jesus healed “the bends”.
Love it Peter. You’re much to funny to be a boring Bible translator…