Lord

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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 James 1:1

The author describes himself as a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ. In Greek it is possible to take both God and Lord as joint qualifiers of Jesus Christ, literally “servant of God and Lord Jesus Christ,” resulting in the translation “a servant of Jesus Christ, who is God and Lord.” It is doubtful, however, that this is the meaning intended here. The main reason is that it is extremely unusual in the New Testament to call Jesus “God” in such a direct way (John 20.28 is an exception). In order to explain this difficulty and apparent awkwardness, some early manuscripts added the word “Father” after “God” so as to distinguish “God” as “Father” and “Jesus” as “Lord.” Revised Standard Version and Good News Translation both avoid the apparent awkwardness by translating “of God and of the Lord…,” making clear that two persons are involved.

The word servant literally means “slave.” It indicates someone who belongs to a master. It is not a hired servant who is free to change his employer at will, but a slave who is the property of his master, not free to leave his owner. Such a person has no rights of any kind but must show complete obedience and loyalty to his owner. When James applies this term to himself, he obviously means that he is the property of God and of Jesus Christ, and that they have the right to command him and use him. The word, however, does not convey a sense of utter humiliation; it also has a sense of devotion and pride. To have God and Jesus Christ as Master is certainly an honor. In Old Testament times prophets are sometimes called “servants” (compare Jer 7.25; Amos 3.7). The term is also used of great leaders such as Moses (Josh 1.1-7) and David (2 Sam 7.18-29). In cultures where slaves are unknown, possible alternative translations of this first sentence may be the following: “I, James, who serve … with complete obedience and loyalty,” or even “I, James, who am God’s and the Lord Jesus Christ’s man.”

James regards himself as a servant also of the Lord Jesus Christ. This expression embodies the earliest Christian confessions, “Jesus is Christ,” “Jesus is Lord,” and “Jesus Christ is Lord.” The word Christ is the Greek translation of the Hebrew word “Messiah,” which means the “anointed one.” When the early Christians of Jewish background confessed Jesus as the Christ, they expressed their faith in Jesus as God’s anointed representative, equipped with God’s authority. For most of the Gentile Christians, however, “Jesus Christ” probably was no more than a proper noun. For this reason the preferred title applied to Christ was “Lord.” The basic meaning of the word Lord is “owner” or “master,” but in the Bible it has a special meaning. It is one of the most common titles for God in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament it is most frequently applied to Jesus. And as such it is a title of respect and of authority. In the context of this letter it is important to use the same term that is applied to Jesus in the Gospels, whenever he is addressed as “Lord.” In calling Jesus “Lord,” the honor and authority due to God is given also to him. It may be noted, however, that in the Letter of James, the title “Lord” is more frequently applied to God (for example, 1.7; 3.9; 4.10, 15; 5.4, 10, 11).

In some languages translators will need to use a term for Lord in combination with the name Jesus Christ that is merely a dignified title. This should be, however, a title that is normally reserved for deity or for persons of great authority; for example, “Great chief, Jesus Christ,” “Elder Brother, Jesus Christ,” and so on. It should not be the equivalent of “Sir” in English, if the term is merely a polite expression referring to someone of equal standing with the speaker. In some languages translators will need to express the meaning of Lord as, for example, “the one who controls” or “the one who commands”; for example, “Jesus Christ, the One who Controls us,” or “The One who Rules over us, Jesus Christ.”

James addresses his letter To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion. The people of Israel consisted of twelve tribes representing the twelve sons of Jacob. The twelve tribes is normally a comprehensive expression used to describe all the people of Israel, or the whole Jewish nation (compare Acts 26.7). In this letter the phrase obviously refers to Christians, not to Jews. It is possible that the reference is to Jewish Christians, but more likely it is to be taken figuratively as a description of the Christians, the new people of God who constitute the new Israel (compare Gal 6.16; also Matt 19.28). It is for this reason that Good News Translation renders the expression as “all God’s people,” and in many languages this will be a suitable translation. However, if a translator wishes to retain the expression twelve tribes, it will be helpful to include a footnote explaining the term. The footnote in Contemporary English Version reads: “twelve tribes scattered all over the world: James is saying that the Lord’s followers are like the tribes of Israel that were scattered everywhere by their enemies.”

The word Dispersion is sometimes used as a technical term for Jews living outside their historic homeland. Here, as in the understanding of the phrase “twelve tribes,” the reference is most probably not to the Jews living in other countries. It is possible that it refers to Jewish Christians living beyond their home country, mainly in Syria and Asia Minor. The most widely accepted understanding, however, is to take the term metaphorically as referring to Christians who are “strangers and exiles on the earth” (compare Heb 11.13; 13.14; 1 Peter 1.1, 17; 2.11), namely Christians “scattered over the whole world” (Good News Translation), or “dispersed throughout the world” (New English Bible and Revised English Bible [New English Bible/Revised English Bible]). Some languages will not be able to use the passive expression “dispersed.” In such cases we may say, for example, “to all God’s people [or, Christians] who are living as strangers in various places all over the world.” Just as it was possible to describe the Christian Church in terms of the “twelve tribes,” so it was possible to think of its widely scattered members in terms of a “new Dispersion.” It may be mentioned that scholars engaged in social analysis of New Testament texts have recently proposed the view that the term Dispersion should be understood not only as a religious designation, but also as a social designation, referring to the poor Christians who were prevented by their neighbors from taking part in community affairs because of their faith. This interpretation, while not impossible, may not be the central meaning intended here.

Greeting translates the infinitive form of a verb that also means “rejoice” or “be glad.” This word is also used as a formula of greeting when meeting people (compare Mark 15.18; Luke 1.28; John 19.3) and at the beginning of a letter (compare Acts 15.23; 23.26). Unlike Paul in his letters, James does not attempt to expand his greetings into a distinctive Christian salutation. Since this is a conventional greeting formula, it is all right to use an equivalent formula in translation. For example, the Japanese New Interconfessional Translation in its first edition published in 1978 has “How are you?” However, the use of the simple greeting may be intentional. It serves to link verse 2 to verse 1, as there is a similarity in sound between chairein (“rejoice,” or “greeting”) and charan (“joy”). If so, in languages where the standard greeting is, for example, “cheers” or “be happy,” it may be desirable to use such a formula.

An alternative translation model for this verse may be as follows:
• I, James, who serve God and the Lord Jesus Christ, write this letter to all the Christians who live all over the world. Greetings!

Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .