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 Micah 1:2

Although most of the book of Micah has been translated as prose in Good News Translation, verses 2-4 have been translated as poetry. The translators probably felt the picture of the Lord speaking from heaven and walking on the mountains would sound better in English as poetry than as a rather complicated prose comparison. In many languages the translators will prefer to translate verses as prose, just like the rest of the book.

When changing from Hebrew poetry to prose, it is important to be aware of parallel lines and ideas. One important feature of Hebrew poetry is that two lines are often parallel to each other. This means that almost the same thing may be said in both lines by using different words with similar meanings. Or it may be that the second line will repeat most of the meaning of the first line, but add another idea as well. Many languages use types of expression like this, even in prose, but the translator should know what he is doing and not say something twice simply because it is said twice in Hebrew. Often it will be better to say it only once. This may mean leaving one of the lines out completely if does not add anything to the meaning of the other line. Or it may mean combining the ideas from both lines into a single line in the translation.

Verse 2 opens with two clauses that are parallel in meaning. In the first the prophet calls all … nations to Hear (compare 3.1; 6.1), and in the second he literally calls the “earth, and all that is in it” (Revised Standard Version) to listen. Good News Translation all who live on earth makes it clear that this is primarily a reference to the people who are the inhabitants of the earth, though it is not necessarily limited to people. Jerusalem Bible takes a wider meaning with “earth, and everything in it.”

If the second line of verse 2 is understood as referring to all people who live on earth, then it does not add anything to the meaning of the first line, and the two lines together mean listen to this, all who live on earth. If the second line is understood as referring to everything on earth, not only the people, then the meaning of the two lines together may be translated as “Listen to this, you people of every country, and everything else on the earth.”

This and to this after Hear and listen in Good News Translation seem to refer to what the prophet is saying. He is asking the people to listen to him as he tells that the Lord is going to speak. In other versions the meaning seems to be that the people should listen to the Lord as he speaks, and this sense may be the better one to follow. One may say something like “You people of every country, listen to the Lord as he testifies against you.” Translators should note, however, that the Lord’s own words do not begin until verse 6. This may make a difference in the way the sentence is worded.

The prophet of course does not expect that everyone on earth can really hear him speaking, but this type of exaggeration is common in poetry. If the Lord speaks, on the other hand, we can assume that everyone can hear him. So if necessary the verse may be rearranged to say that the Lord will speak to everyone, and they all must listen to him.

The people are to listen because The Sovereign LORD will testify or give evidence as a witness against them. For the translation of Sovereign LORD, see the comments on Obadiah verse 1a.

Will testify against you uses the picture of God being a witness against the people of the world in a court of law. If there is no special term for being a witness in a court, the meaning is “to speak about the bad things you have done.” This picture of God as witness must not be taken too literally, since God himself is of course the judge. If this will be a serious problem in some languages, the picture may be dropped, and the plain meaning may be given that God will speak about their bad deeds.

Listen! is repeated in Good News Translation in the last line of verse 2 for the poetic effect. The word does not appear at this point in the Hebrew.

He speaks from his heavenly temple: the last line of verse 2 says literally “the Lord from his holy temple” (Revised Standard Version). Jerusalem Bible connects this to the idea of verse 3, that the Lord is coming, and translates “the Lord, as he sets out from his sacred palace.” Most translations, however, understand this as referring to the place where the Lord is when he is testifying against the people. In many languages it will be necessary to put this line before the third line and say “the Lord is in his temple and speaks as a witness against you.”

His heavenly temple: the Hebrew refers to “his holy temple” here (Revised Standard Version), but the meaning is heaven, not the temple in Jerusalem, and it will probably be necessary to make this clear in the translation, as Good News Translation has done. “Holy” in this context does not really add much to the meaning, as it simply means something that especially belongs to God. If there is no good word for “holy” that fits this passage, the meaning is really covered by saying it is God’s temple.

Temple can be translated as “the Lord’s house” or “the Lord’s big house.” If “heaven” is a problem, an expression like “up above” may be helpful. The Old Testament writers sometimes refer to God having a temple in heaven (Psa 11.4; 18.6; Jonah 2.7; Hab 2.20), and even if this is really just a picture for something spiritual (see 1 Kgs 8.27), it is probably best to translate it literally. However, if a temple in heaven is a serious problem for some reason, it would be enough just to say “heaven” here.

Quoted with permission from Clark, David J. et al. A Handbook on Micah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1982, 1993. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .

SIL Translator’s Notes on Micah 1:2

Division 1:2–2:13

First message: The LORD will punish his people, but later he will gather them together again.

See “Overall structure of the book” in the Introduction for more details about the three divisions.

Section 1:2–7

The LORD will punish the people in Samaria

In the first paragraph of this section (1:2–5), Micah is the speaker. He began by telling the entire earth, with all its inhabitants, (1:2) to listen because the LORD would soon come down from heaven to accuse them. In 1:3–4, he continued to use vivid, figurative language to describe the LORD’s coming. In 1:5, he warned the whole nation of Israel, naming both Samaria and Jerusalem, that the LORD would judge them because of their idolatry and other sins. In the second paragraph (1:6–7), the speaker is the LORD. The LORD warned Samaria that he would completely destroy the city.

The Notes have separate section headings for 1:2–7 and 1:8–16. Here are some other examples of section headings for 1:2–7:

Judgment on Samaria (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
Judgment pronounced against Samaria (New Revised Standard Version)

Several other English versions use a section heading for 1:2–16. You may follow either pattern. Here are some other examples of section headings for 1:2–16:

The Coming Destruction (English Standard Version)
-or-
Grief over Samaria and Jerusalem (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
The capital cities of Israel and Judah destroyed (God’s Word)

Paragraph 1:2–5

1:2

Verses 1:2a and 1:2b are parallel commands. Verse 1:2c gives the reason for the commands in 1:2a–b.

1:2a–b

Notice the parallel parts that are similar in meaning:

a
Hear, O peoples, all of you ;

b
listen, O earth, and everyone in it !

Hear…listen: These parallel commands both mean “listen carefully” or “pay attention.” Micah used the same Hebrew word for Hear in 3:1, 3:9, 6:1, and 6:2.

all of you…and everyone in it!: These phrases emphasize and/or clarify the commands to “Hear” and “listen.”

1:2a

Hear, O peoples, all of you: In Hebrew, the first phrase is literally “Hear, peoples.” The second phrase, all of you, adds emphasis. It refers here to all the people groups or nations of the world. In some cases, these “people groups” may be described in terms of different languages. For example:

groups of people who speak mutually different languages

Many English versions supply a word such as “you” (New International Version) or O to indicate that Micah is addressing the peoples directly and wants them to start listening to his words.

In some languages, it may not be natural to address people groups in this way. Here are some ways to address the people directly as well as to emphasize all of them:

All of you people must listen!
-or-
Listen, everybody!

In some languages, it may be necessary for a verb like “hear” to have an object. If that is true in your language, here are some ways to make an object explicit:

Hear this message …
-or-
Listen to what God says …

1:2b

listen, O earth, and everyone in it: The phrase and everyone in it is literally “and its fullness” or “and what fills it.” There are two main ways to interpret this verse part:

(1) Micah is using a poetic way to address all the people on the earth. For example:

…listen, earth and all who live in it. (New International Version (2011))
-or-
…earth and everyone on it (New Jerusalem Bible)

(2) Micah is addressing the earth and all created things on it, including people, animals, mountains, trees, rivers, etc. For example:

listen, O earth, and all it contains (New American Standard Bible)
-or-
Earth and everything on it, pay close attention. (Contemporary English Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1). There are at least two reasons:

(a) The parallel line (1:2a) clearly refers to the people groups or nations of the world rather than to the earth or other created things. With interpretation (1), the parallel parts in 1:2b have the same reference.

(b) The context that follows these parallel commands deals primarily with Israel and Judah and with other nations. It assumes that Micah’s audience will be able to pay attention and respond to this first message.

General Comment on 1:2a–b

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine and/or reorder these two parallel lines. For example:

All you people on earth, you from all the nations, listen carefully.

1:2c

May the Lord GOD bear witness against you: In this verse part, Micah implied that the people should listen to the testimony that the Lord was about to give. Some of these words are found in 1:6–7.

There are textual and interpretation issues that affect the function of this verse part and its relationship to Micah’s commands in 1:2a–b to listen carefully. The Notes will discuss these issues together. Here are the main interpretations:

(1) This verse part is a statement that the Lord GOD will testify against the people. For example:

The Lord GOD will be a witness against you (New Century Version)

(2) This verse part is an indirect, third-person request. It expresses Micah’s prayer or desire that the Lord GOD will testify against the people. For example:

and let the Lord GOD be a witness against you (English Standard Version)

It is recommended that you follow interpretation (1) along with most versions. In this context, this kind of jussive constructive (“and let…”) normally functions like an imperfect (non-past) verb. With both interpretations, it is implied from 2:1a–b that the people should listen carefully to the Lord’s testimony against them.

There is more than one way to interpret the relationship between Micah’s commands in 1:2a–b that the people listen and the statement in 1:2c that the Lord GOD would testify against them:

(1) The connection is not explicit. It should be left implied. For example:

Yahweh intends to give evidence against you (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
The Sovereign Lord will testify against you. (Good News Translation)

(2) The statement in 1:2c gives the reason why Micah told the people to listen in 1:2a–b. For example:

for I AM will become a witness against you

(3) The statement in 1:2c gives the purpose why the people should heed the commands in 1:2a–b. For example:

that the Sovereign Lord may witness against you (New International Version)

The Display will follow interpretation (1) along with most versions. It will leave the relationship unspecified. You may follow either interpretation (1) or (2). In many languages, a reason will be implied whether or not 1:2c is introduced with a word such as “for” or “because.”

One reason not to follow interpretation (3) is that a purpose word or phrase like “that” or “so that” may wrongly imply that if the people did not listen, the LORD would not testify.

Lord GOD: In Hebrew, this double name, ʿadonay yhwh, is used over 280 times in the Old Testament to refer to God. The word ʿadonay means “lord/master.” The word yhwh is God’s personal name.

Most English versions follow the tradition of using “LORD” instead of “Yahweh” (yhwh). Since it is awkward to have an expression such as Lord LORD, most English versions use one expression to indicate God’s authority and another one to translate his own name. For example:

Sovereign Lord (New Living Translation (2004))
-or-
Lord GOD (New Century Version)
-or-
Almighty Lord (God’s Word)

See the note on “Yahweh, the LORD” in the Introduction.

bear witness against you: This phrase is usually used in a courtroom. It figuratively describes God as a lawyer who is presenting a case in a trial. Micah told all people to listen to the evidence that God will present. This evidence will prove that all people were guilty of doing evil.

In some languages, this courtroom language may be confusing, because God is the judge as well as the lawyer. If this is true in your language, you may want to use a more general expression. For example:

The Almighty LORD accuses/judges you
-or-
The Lord Yahweh will declare that what you have done wrong

the Lord from His holy temple: The word Lord here is ʿadonay, the same as in the first part of 1:2c. The Lord was in His holy temple when he spoke as a witness against the people. He would speak from that location.

This phrase contains implied information from the first part of 1:2c. In some languages, it may be more natural to make this information explicit. For example:

The Lord will be a witness from his holy temple. (God’s Word)
-or-
Listen! He speaks from his holy temple. (adapted from Good News Translation)

His holy temple: This phrase refers here to heaven, the LORD’s dwelling place, not to the temple in Jerusalem. In 1:3, Micah described God leaving “his place” (“his home” in the New Jerusalem Bible) and coming down to the earth. So it is logical that the phrase His holy temple in 1:2c also refers to heaven, the place where God lives. If possible, do not specify in your translation that the temple is in heaven or in Jerusalem.

holy: God’s temple is called holy because it is special, set apart to be his dwelling place. In most languages, you will be able to use the same term for holy that you used for “holy temple” or “holy place” elsewhere in Scripture.

temple: The Hebrew word that is translated here as temple refers to a large magnificent building. In some OT passages, it refers to a palace, the home of a king. In this verse, where it refers to the home of the great king, God, there is little practical difference between “palace” and temple. Almost all English versions translate it as temple. Here are some other ways to translate “his holy temple”:

his holy house/home
-or-
the holy place where he lives
-or-
the special place that is set apart as his own home

General Comment on 1:2c

In some languages, it may be more natural to combine the first and last phrases of this verse part. For example:

The Lord Yahweh accuses you from his holy temple. (adapted from the Contemporary English Version).

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