Oh, lord, no!

Lord, it’s so complicated! Yes, the use of the word ‘Lord’ in English Bibles is very complex. But before we go there, let’s think about how it’s used in modern English. Apart from being used by Christians to address Jesus and/or God the father (often not exactly clear which of the two is being addressed when someone’s praying), is the word ‘Lord’ used in mainstream English? Possibly as a verb, ‘to lord it over someone’, and possibly in a swear phrase like ‘Good lord!’ or to describe ‘a drug lord’. In England there’s a ‘House of Lords’ and so certain select men (I believe) do get awarded the title ‘Lord’, as well as the ‘Lord Mayor’, etc.

So all of that indicates that ‘Lord’ as used by Christians is completely different from the normal 21^st century use of the word. And then my experience at asking Christians to define the word ‘lord’ shows that most of us consider it to be a term to show respect to the greatness and holiness of God.

But in the New Testament era, that’s not what Greek κύριος (kurios) meant. In John 4:11, the Samaritan woman at the well called Jesus ‘κύριος/Lord’ even though she didn’t yet know who he was. It was the polite way for any woman to address a man, especially if he appeared to be of higher social standing. Because of that context, most translations change it to ‘Sir’ there, and the OET-RV uses ‘Mister’ (see Freely-Given.org/OBD/par/JHN/C4V11.htm).

In English Old Testament (OT) translations, it’s far more complex, because the early Greek translations of the Hebrew (and then the Latin and still now, many English translations) use LORD as a substitution (it’s NOT a translation) for the divine name YHWH. (It’s understandable why Jewish translators would make the substitution, because they have developed a culture of refusing to pronounce God’s name [which he’d told them so they’d know it], but that’s not a Biblical command so Christians aren’t obliged to follow.) The OET-RV uses ‘Yahweh’ for God’s revealed name.

As well as that, the OT word אָדוֹן (adon) which means ‘lord, master, boss, husband, owner’ can be translated as ‘lord/Lord’ in English translations, as well as בַּעַל (ba’al) which means ‘lord, owner, husband’.

On top of that, we don’t believe that modern readers understand the concept of a lord having total power over another person. We believe it’s become more of a meaning-less title for many Bible readers, and would have preferred to have translated it as ‘boss’, but since that seems a little too informal, the OET has chosen ‘master’ in order to force our readers out of their rut and to think about the meaning of the concept.

An attempt at a one-page summary of a complex issue
Robert Hunt, January 2024