Lord

The Hebrew adonai in the Old Testament typically refers to God. The shorter adon (and in two cases in the book of Daniel the Aramaic mare [מָרֵא]) is also used to refer to God but more often for concepts like “master,” “owner,” etc. In English Bible translations all of those are translated with “Lord” if they refer to God.

In English Old Testament translations, as in Old Testament translations in many other languages, the use of Lord (or an equivalent term in other languages) is not to be confused with Lord (or the equivalent term with a different typographical display for other languages). While the former translates adonai, adon and mare, the latter is a translation for the tetragrammaton (YHWH) or the Name of God. See tetragrammaton (YHWH) and the article by Andy Warren-Rothlin in Noss / Houser, p. 618ff. for more information.

In the New Testament, the Greek term kurios has at least four different kinds of use:

  • referring to “God,” especially in Old Testament quotations,
  • meaning “master” or “owner,” especially in parables, etc.,
  • as a form of address (see for instance John 4:11: “Sir, you have no bucket”),
  • or, most often, referring to Jesus

In the first and fourth case, it is also translated as “Lord” in English.

Most languages naturally don’t have one word that covers all these meanings. According to Bratcher / Nida, “the alternatives are usually (1) a term which is an honorific title of respect for a high-ranking person and (2) a word meaning ‘boss’, ‘master’, or ‘chief.’ (…) and on the whole it has generally seemed better to employ a word of the second category, in order to emphasize the immediate personal relationship, and then by context to build into the word the prestigeful character, since its very association with Jesus Christ will tend to accomplish this purpose.”

When looking at the following list of back-translations of the terms that translators in the different languages have used for both kurios and adonai to refer to God and Jesus respectively, it might be helpful for English readers to recall the etymology of the English “Lord.” While this term might have gained an exalted meaning in the understanding of many, it actually comes from hlaford or “loaf-ward,” referring to the lord of the castle who was the keeper of the bread (source: Rosin 1956, p. 121).

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Following are some of the solutions that don’t rely on a different typographical display (see above):

  • Navajo (Dinė): “the one who has charge”
  • Mossi: “the one who has the head” (the leader)
  • Uduk: “chief”
  • Guerrero Amuzgo: “the one who commands”
  • Kpelle: “person-owner” (a term which may be applied to a chief)
  • Central Pame: “the one who owns us” (or “commands us”)
  • Piro: “the big one” (used commonly of one in authority)
  • San Blas Kuna: “the great one over all” (source for this and above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • Guhu-Samane: Soopara (“our Supervisor”) (source: Ellis Deibler in Notes on Translation July, 1967, p. 5ff.)
  • Balinese: “Venerated-one” (source: Reiling / Swellengrebel)
  • Yanesha’: “the one who carries us” (source: Nida 1952, p. 159)
  • Northern Emberá: Dadjirã Boro (“our Head”)
  • Rarotongan: Atu (“master or owner of a property”)
  • Gilbertese: Uea (“a person of high status invested with authority to rule the people”)
  • Rotuman: Gagaja (“village chief”)
  • Samoan: Ali’i (“an important word in the native culture, it derives from the Samoan understanding of lordship based on the local traditions”)
  • Tahitian: Fatu (“owner,” “master”)
  • Tuvalu: Te Aliki (“chief”)
  • Fijian: Liuliu (“leader”) (source for this and six above: Joseph Hong in The Bible Translator 1994, p. 329ff. )
  • Bacama: Həmə miye: “owner of people” (source: David Frank in this blog post )
  • Hopi: “Controller” (source: Walls 2000, p. 139)
  • Iyansi: Mwol. Mwol is traditionally used for the “chief of a group of communities and villages” with legal, temporal, and spiritual authority (versus the “mfum [the term used in other Bantu languages] which is used for the chief of one community of people in one village”). Mwol is also used for twins who are “treated as special children, highly honored, and taken care of like kings and queens.” (Source: Kividi Kikama in Greed / Kruger, p. 396ff.)
  • Ghomala’: Cyəpɔ (“he who is above everyone,” consisting of the verb cyə — to surpass or go beyond — and pɔ — referring to people. No human can claim this attribute, no matter what his or her social status or prestige.” (Source: Michel Kenmogne in Theologizing in Context: An Example from the Study of a Ghomala’ Christian Hymn )
  • Binumarien: Karaambaia: “fight-leader” (Source: Oates 1995, p. 255)
  • Warlpiri: Warlaljamarri (owner or possessor of something — for more information tap or click here)

    We have come to rely on another term which emphasizes God’s essential nature as YHWH, namely jukurrarnu (see tetragrammaton (YHWH)). This word is built on the same root jukurr– as is jukurrpa, ‘dreaming.’ Its basic meaning is ‘timelessness’ and it is used to describe physical features of the land which are viewed as always being there. Some speakers view jukurrarnu in terms of ‘history.’ In all Genesis references to YHWH we have used Kaatu Jukurrarnu. In all Mark passages where kurios refers to God and not specifically to Christ we have also used Kaatu Jukurrarnu.

    New Testament references to Christ as kurios are handled differently. At one stage we experimented with the term Watirirririrri which refers to a ceremonial boss of highest rank who has the authority to instigate ceremonies. While adequately conveying the sense of Christ’s authority, there remained potential negative connotations relating to Warlpiri ceremonial life of which we might be unaware.

    Here it is that the Holy Spirit led us to make a chance discovery. Transcribing the personal testimony of the local Warlpiri pastor, I noticed that he described how ‘my Warlaljamarri called and embraced me (to the faith)’. Warlaljamarri is based on the root warlalja which means variously ‘family, possessions, belongingness’. A warlaljamarri is the ‘owner’ or ‘possessor’ of something. While previously being aware of the ‘ownership’ aspect of warlaljamarri, this was the first time I had heard it applied spontaneously and naturally in a fashion which did justice to the entire concept of ‘Lordship’. Thus references to Christ as kurios are now being handled by Warlaljamarri.” (Source: Stephen Swartz, The Bible Translator 1985, p. 415ff. )

  • Mairasi: Onggoao Nem (“Throated One” — “Leader,” “Elder”) or Enggavot Nan (“Above-One”) (source: Enggavoter 2004)
  • Obolo: Okaan̄-ene (“Owner of person(s)”) (source: Enene Enene)
  • Angami Naga: Niepu (“master,” “owner”)
  • Lotha Naga: Opvui (“owner of house / field / cattle”) — since both “Lord” and YHWH are translated as Opvui there is an understanding that “Opvui Jesus is the same as the Opvui of the Old Testament”
  • Ao Naga: Kibuba (“human master,” “teacher,” “owner of property,” etc.) (source for this and two above: Nitoy Achumi in The Bible Translator 1992 p. 438ff. )
  • Seediq: Tholang, loan word from Min Nan Chinese (the majority language in Taiwan) thâu-lâng (頭儂): “Master” (source: Covell 1998, p. 248)
  • Thai: phra’ phu pen cao (พระผู้เป็นเจ้า) (divine person who is lord) or ong(kh) cao nay (องค์เจ้านาย) (<divine classifier>-lord-boss) (source: Stephen Pattemore)
  • Arabic often uses different terms for adonai or kurios referring to God (al-rabb الرب) and kurios referring to Jesus (al-sayyid الـسـيـد). Al-rabb is also the term traditionally used in Arabic Christian-idiom translations for YHWH, and al-sayyid is an honorary term, similar to English “lord” or “sir” (source: Andy Warren-Rothlin).
  • Tamil also uses different terms for adonai/kurios when referring to God and kurios when referring to Jesus. The former is Karttar கர்த்தர், a Sanskrit-derived term with the original meaning of “creator,” and the latter in Āṇṭavar ஆண்டவர், a Tamil term originally meaning “govern” or “reign” (source: Natarajan Subramani).
  • Burunge: Looimoo: “owner who owns everything” (in the Burunge Bible translation, this term is only used as a reference to Jesus and was originally used to refer to the traditional highest deity — source: Michael Endl in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 48)
  • Yagaria: Souve, originally “war lord” (source: Renck, p. 94)
  • Aguacateco: Ajcaw ske’j: “the one to whom we belong and who is above us” (source: Rita Peterson in Holzhausen / Riderer 2010, p. 49)
  • Konkomba: Tidindaan: “He who is the owner of the land and reigns over the people” (source: Lidorio 2007, p. 66)
  • Chichewa: Ambuye Ambuye comes from the singular form Mbuye which is used to refer to: (1) someone who is a guardian or protector of someone or group of people — a grandparent who has founded a community or village; (2) someone who is a boss or master over a group of people or servants and has absolute control over them; (3) owner of something, be it a property, animals and people who are bound under his/her rule — for people this was mostly commonly used in the context of slaves and their owner. In short, Mbuye is someone who has some authorities over those who call him/her their “Mbuye.” Now, when the form Ambuye is used it will either be for honorific when used for singular or plural when referring to more than one person. When this term is used in reference to God, it is for respect to God as he is acknowledged as a guardian, protector, and ruler of everything. (Source: Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero Back Translation).
  • Hdi uses rveri (“lion”) as a title of respect and as such it regularly translates adon in the Old Testament. As an address, it’s most often with a possessive pronoun as in rvera ɗa (“my lion” = “my lord” or “sir”). So, for example, Genesis 15:2 (“O Lord God”) is Rvera ɗa Yawe (“My lion Yahweh”) or Ruth to Boaz in Ruth 2:13: “May I find your grace [lit. good-stomach] my lion.” This ties in nicely with the imagery of the Lord roaring like a lion (Hosea 11:10; Amos 3:8; Joel 3:16). Better still, this makes passages like Revelation 5:5 even richer when we read about rveri ma taba məndəra la Yuda, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah”. In Revelation 19:16, Jesus is rveri ta ghəŋa rveriha “the lion above lions” (“lord of lords”). (Source: Drew Maust)

Law (2013, p. 97) writes about how the Ancient Greek Septuagint‘s translation of the Hebrew adonai was used by the New Testament writers as a bridge between the Old and New Testaments: “Another case is the use of kurios referring to Jesus. For Yahweh (in English Bibles: ‘the Lord‘), the Septuagint uses kurios. Although the term kurios usually has to do with one’s authority over others, when the New Testament authors use this word from the Septuagint to refer to Jesus, they are making an extraordinary claim: Jesus of Nazareth is to be identified with Yahweh.”

See also Father / Lord.

Translation commentary on Ephesians 3:8

In Greek this verse begins a sentence which goes to the end of verse 12. The Greek text may be represented as follows: see Handbook translation|fig:Table_EPH3-8.jpg.

Again the writer refers to “the grace” that God gave him; here, as in the other passages (3.2, 7), Good News Translation takes it as a particular endowment, gift, responsibility, which God in his grace has given the writer; compare New English Bible “he has granted of his grace the privilege.” And Beare speaks of “a concrete sense, of the mission entrusted to Paul.”

God gave me this privilege may be rendered in some instances as “God gave me this valuable task” or “God was good to me in giving me this task.” The privilege obviously refers to a particular activity which is defined as taking to the Gentiles the Good News, but the special value and importance of such a task must also be indicated if the full implications of privilege are to be understood.

He calls himself “the lesser of the least,” a comparative form of the superlative “the least”; Barth tries to reproduce the effect of this in English by “smallester” or “leaster.” See the superlative in 1 Corinthians 15.9 “I am the least of the apostles.”

The statement I am less than the least of all God’s people is a humble exaggeration, and it is extremely difficult in some languages to speak of less than the least, since logically this is impossible. In some languages the closest equivalent is “I am the smallest of all God’s people.” In these, of course, “smallest” must refer to someone who is least important. In some languages the status of being less than the least may be expressed as “I am behind all of God’s people” or “I am the last of all of God’s people.”

All God’s people: for “the saints” (Revised Standard Version). The earliest copy of Ephesians (third century A.D.), omits hagiōn “saints,” so that its text reads “lesser than the least of all (people).” But it is the only Greek manuscript to do so, and it seems likely that the copyist omitted the word accidentally.

“To proclaim … the Good News” translates the same verb used in 2.17. In some languages it would be strange to translate literally taking to the Gentiles the Good News, since the Good News would not be something which could be carried or taken along. A more satisfactory rendering may be “speaking to the Gentiles about the Good News” or “telling the Good News to the Gentiles.”

“Unfindable” translates a word which means “that cannot be tracked down,” meaning “beyond exploring,” that is, illimitable, infinite; see its use in Romans 11.33.

For riches see 1.7, 18. A strictly literal translation of the phrase about the infinite riches of Christ may be completely misleading, for this might imply that Christ was himself an extremely wealthy person. In some languages the infinite riches may be spoken of as “riches which cannot be imagined” or “riches without limit.” But these riches must not be related to material wealth. Accordingly, in some languages the riches of Christ is rendered as “how wonderful Christ is.” In other instances the riches of Christ may be “what is valuable which we receive from Christ” or “the unimaginable good which we have from knowing Christ.” What is to be avoided is a statement which would imply valuable objects which Christ had hoarded.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert C. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1982. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Ephesians 3:8

3:8a

Though: The Berean Standard Bible has supplied the word Though in order to emphasize Paul’s amazement that God would choose him to do this task. The Greek text begins 3:8a with an emphatic “To me,” as in the Revised Standard Version. Try to find a natural way in the language to show this emphasis. Some other versions do this by adding “but” or “yet” at the beginning of 3:8b. For example:

I am the least of all God’s people. Yet, God showed me his kindness… (God’s Word)
-or-
I am the least important of all God’s people. But God was kind… (Contemporary English Version)

I am less than the least: The phrase less than the least is a strong statement that means “the very least” or “the most unimportant.”

Paul humbly said that he was not important. Try to find a strong expression in your language. Be careful that your translation does not mean that Paul was physically smaller or weaker than other believers. In some languages the correct idea can be expressed by an idiom, such as:

I am behind all God’s people
-or-
I am lower than all God’s people

If your language makes comparisons by contrasting one phrase with another, you may need to translate this phrase in a different way. For example:

All of God’s people might have a name, but I have no name, I am underneath everyone.

all the saints: A literal English translation of the Greek is “holy ones.” It means “people set apart for God.” This Greek word refers to every believer. See how you translated this same expression in 2:19b.

See Holy, Meaning 1, special use in the Glossary for more information.

3:8b

this grace was given me: This clause is a passive. God gave this grace to Paul.

this grace: The meaning of grace here is “privilege, special work.” Here it refers to Paul’s work as an apostle and preacher of the gospel.

The phrase this grace is a short way of saying the same thing Paul just said in 3:7a: “This work of preaching the gospel that God in his grace gave me.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

he graciously gave me the privilege (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
God showed me his kindness by allowing me (God’s Word)

See grace, Meaning 4 in the Glossary for more information.

3:8c

to preach: The word preach means to publicly tell or announce a message. See how you translated “preached” in 2:17a.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

to announce
-or-
to declare publicly

to the Gentiles: Here the word Gentiles refers to people who are not Jews. See how you translated Gentiles in 3:6c.

unsearchable riches of Christ: The word unsearchable means “too great/big to be understood or imagined.”

riches of Christ: The phrase riches of Christ refers to the spiritual blessings of Christ, not just to material wealth. These spiritual riches may refer to:

(1) riches which Christ gives. For example:

endless treasures available to them in Christ (New Living Translation (2004))

(2) riches which Christ possesses, that is, his divine glory and perfection.

Most versions use words that could be understood either way. If you must choose, follow interpretation (1).

In your translation, avoid any word that refers only to material wealth.

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

immeasurable wealth of Christ (God’s Word)
-or-
because of Christ there are blessings that cannot be measured (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
the riches of Christ, which are too great to understand fully (New Century Version)
-or-
The unimaginable blessings of Christ

Also, see how you translated riches in 1:7c and 1:18c.

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Commentaire sur la traduction de la lettre aux Éphésiens 3.8

En grec, ce verset commence une phrase assez longue qui ne se conclura qu’au Éph. 3.12.

Moi, qui suis : Paul utilise encore une fois le pronom indépendant, Moi. Voir Éph. 3.1. Les traducteurs devraient essayer de rendre cette insistance.

qui suis le dernier des derniers de tous les saints : pour mieux faire ressortir le fait que la grâce de Dieu n’est pas méritée, ni par lui, ni par les autres, Paul se décrit comme « le moindre de tous les saints » (Nouvelle Bible Segond, Bible de Jérusalem). Ceci est une forme comparative dont la forme superlative se trouve également en 1 Cor 15.9 : « je suis le moindre des apôtres » (Nouvelle Bible Segond) ou « le plus petit » (Traduction œcuménique de la Bible). L’affirmation est une exagération fondée dans l’humilité. Paul n’est pas le plus petit en taille, mais il se considère comme le plus petit en statut ou importance. Pour rendre dernier des derniers, on pourra dire « je suis le moins important », « le tout dernier » « le moins digne (parmi les croyants) ». Les traducteurs pourraient avoir à leur disposition une expression idiomatique qui convient ici.

de tous les saints : les saints est une référence au peuple de Dieu, c’est-à-dire, aux croyants chrétiens. Voir Éph. 1.1.

J’ai reçu cette grâce d’annoncer aux païens l’impénétrable richesse du Christ : comme dans Éph. 3.2 et Éph. 3.7, Paul parle de nouveau de la grâce qu’il a reçue de Dieu. Dans le présent contexte, cette grâce est donnée dans le but d’annoncer les richesses de la Bonne Nouvelle aux autres. C’est pourquoi certaines versions parlent de « privilège » (Good News Bible) ou de « faveur » (Bible en français courant). La Parole de Vie dit : « j’ai reçu ce don ». Il ne s’agit pas d’un don ordinaire, mais d’un don spécial de Dieu.

La grâce reçue par Paul consiste dans la mission d’annoncer ou de prêcher aux non-Juifs l’impénétrable richesse du Christ. annoncer rend le verbe grec qui est littéralement « évangéliser », de la même racine que « la Bonne Nouvelle ». Les traducteurs pourront suivre la Bible en français courant ou dire « Dieu m’a accordé la faveur de prêcher à propos des richesses… » ou « partager le message des richesses… »

Pour l’impénétrable richesse du Christ, il faudrait tout d’abord éviter l’impression qu’il s’agirait de richesses matérielles ou l’idée que le Christ aurait été une personne très riche. Il s’agit de la richesse spirituelle du Christ. Si le mot richesse dans la langue cible indique exclusivement les richesses matérielles, il est à éviter. Dans ce cas, on pourra parler, par exemple, « des très bonnes choses », « du très bon don », ou « des bienfaits » du Christ.

impénétrable veut dire « insondable », « incompréhensible », « ce que l’esprit humain ne peut pénétrer ». L’implication peut aussi être que cette richesse est sans limite. On pourrait alors parler des « bonnes choses qu’on ne peut s’imaginer qu’on reçoit de Christ » ou des « bienfaits inimaginables que nous avons parce que nous connaissons le Christ ».

Source: Zogbo, Lynell. La lettre aux Éphésiens – Manuel de traduction – Commentaire linguistique et exégétique de la Bible. Alliance biblique universelle, 2011.