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''Kyrios'' or ''kurios'' ( grc, κύριος, kū́rios) is a Greek word which is usually translated as "
lord Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power (social and political), power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the Peerage ...
" or "master". It is used in the
Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond t ...
translation of the Hebrew scriptures about 7000 times, in particular translating the name God YHWH (the Tetragrammaton), and it appears in the
Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...
New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...
about 740 times, usually referring to
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
.''The Christology of the New Testament'' by Oscar Cullmann 1959 pages 234-23

/ref>


Classical Greece

In Classical Athens, the word ''kyrios'' referred to the head of the
household A household consists of two or more persons who live in the same dwelling. It may be of a single family or another type of person group. The household is the basic unit of analysis in many social, microeconomic and government models, and is i ...
, who was responsible for his wife, children, and any unmarried female relatives. It was the responsibility of the ''kyrios'' to arrange the marriages of his female relatives, provide their dowries, represent them in court, if necessary, and deal with any economic transactions they were involved in worth more than a ''medimnos'' of barley. When an Athenian woman married, her husband became her new ''kyrios''. The existence of the system of ''kurioi'' elsewhere in ancient Greece is debated, and the evidence is not clear-cut, but Cartledge has argued that in
Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referr ...
''kurioi'' existed, although in
Gortyn Gortyn, Gortys or Gortyna ( el, Γόρτυν, , or , ) is a municipality, and an archaeological site, on the Mediterranean island of Crete away from the island's capital, Heraklion. The seat of the municipality is the village Agioi Deka. Gorty ...
they do not appear to have done. The term "κύριος" is still in use in the
Modern Greek language Modern Greek (, , or , ''Kiní Neoellinikí Glóssa''), generally referred to by speakers simply as Greek (, ), refers collectively to the dialects of the Greek language spoken in the modern era, including the official standardized form of th ...
and is the equivalent to the English terms " mister" (title conferred on an adult male), " master" (someone who has control over something or someone), and " sir" (an address to any male). For example, the English term "Mr. Smith" is translated to "" (''kyrios'' Smith) in Greek.


New Testament

''Kyrios'' appears about 700 times in the New Testament, usually referring to
Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
. The use of ''kyrios'' in the New Testament has been the subject of debate among modern scholars, and three schools of thought exist on that topic. The first school is that based on the
Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond t ...
usage, the designation is intended to assign to Jesus the Old Testament attributes of God. The reasoning here is that at the time that the Septuagint was written, when reading out loud Jews pronounced ''
Adonai Judaism considers some names of God so holy that, once written, they should not be erased: YHWH, Adonai, El ("God"), Elohim ("God," a plural noun), Shaddai ("Almighty"), and Tzevaot (" fHosts"); some also include Ehyeh ("I Will Be").This is th ...
'', the Hebrew word for "Lord", when they encountered the name of God, " YHWH", which was thus translated into Greek from 3rd century CE onwards in each instance as ''kyrios'' and ''theos''.George Howard.
The Tetragram and the New Testament
, included in ''The Anchor Bible Dictionary'', Volume 6, Edited by David Noel Freedman Anchor Bible: New York. 1992
Also, the
early Christians Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewis ...
, the majority of whom were speakers of Greek, would have been deeply familiar with the Septuagint. The second school is that as the early Church expanded,
Hellenistic In Classical antiquity, the Hellenistic period covers the time in Mediterranean history after Classical Greece, between the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and the emergence of the Roman Empire, as signified by the Battle of Actium in ...
influences resulted in the use of the term. The third is that it is a translation of the
Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...
title ''Mari'' applied to Jesus.''Mercer dictionary of the Bible'' by Watson E. Mills, Roger Aubrey Bullard 1998 pages 520-52

/ref> In everyday Aramaic, ''Mari'' was a very respectful form of polite address, well above "teacher" and similar to
rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...
. In Greek this has at times been translated as ''kyrios''. While the term Mari expressed the relationship between Jesus and his
disciples A disciple is a follower and student of a mentor, teacher, or other figure. It can refer to: Religion * Disciple (Christianity), a student of Jesus Christ * Twelve Apostles of Jesus, sometimes called the Twelve Disciples * Seventy disciples in t ...
during his life, Christians eventually came to interpret the Greek ''kyrios'' as representing lordship over the
world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...
.''The Christology of the New Testament'' by Oscar Cullmann 1959 page 20

/ref> The
Gospel of John The Gospel of John ( grc, Εὐαγγέλιον κατὰ Ἰωάννην, translit=Euangélion katà Iōánnēn) is the fourth of the four canonical gospels. It contains a highly schematic account of the ministry of Jesus, with seven "sig ...
seldom uses ''kyrios'' to refer to Jesus during his ministry, but does so after the
Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, whic ...
, although the vocative ''kyrie'' (meaning sir) appears frequently. The Gospel of Mark never applies the term ''kyrios'' as a direct reference to Jesus, unlike Paul who uses it 163 times. When Mark uses ''kyrios'' (e.g., in 1:3, 11:9, 12:11, etc.) it is in reference to YHWH/God. Mark does, however, use the word in passages where it is unclear whether it applies to God or Jesus, e.g., in 5:19 or 11:3.''The Gospel to the Romans: the setting and rhetoric of Mark's Gospel'' by Brian J. Incigneri 2003 pages 168-169 ''Kyrios'' is a key element of the
Christology In Christianity, Christology (from the Greek grc, Χριστός, Khristós, label=none and grc, -λογία, -logia, label=none), translated literally from Greek as "the study of Christ", is a branch of theology that concerns Jesus. Diff ...
of Apostle Paul. Most scholars agree that the use of ''kyrios'', and hence the Lordship of Jesus, predated the Pauline Epistles, but that Saint Paul expanded and elaborated on that topic. More than any other title, ''kyrios'' defined the relationship between Jesus and those who believed in him as
Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...
: Jesus was their Lord and Master who was to be served with all their hearts and who would one day judge their actions throughout their lives. The ''kyrios'' title for Jesus is central to the development of New Testament Christology, for the early Christians placed it at the center of their understanding and from that center attempted to understand the other issues related to the Christian mysteries.''Christology: Biblical And Historical'' by Mini S. Johnson, 2005 pages 229-23

/ref> ''kyrios'' is also essential in the development of the
Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God th ...
as well as New Testament
Pneumatology Pneumatology refers to a particular discipline within Christian theology that focuses on the study of the Holy Spirit. The term is derived from the Greek word ''Pneuma'' ( πνεῦμα), which designates "breath" or "spirit" and metaphoric ...
(the study of the Holy Spirit). 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 says:
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.
The phrase "The Lord is the Spirit" in verse 17 is ' (). In verse 18 it is ' (). In some cases, when reading the
Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
'' Adonai Judaism considers some names of God so holy that, once written, they should not be erased: YHWH, Adonai, El ("God"), Elohim ("God," a plural noun), Shaddai ("Almighty"), and Tzevaot (" fHosts"); some also include Ehyeh ("I Will Be").This is th ...
(my Lord) for the Tetragrammaton, and they may have also substituted ''Kurios'' when reading to a Greek audience.
Origen Origen of Alexandria, ''Ōrigénēs''; Origen's Greek name ''Ōrigénēs'' () probably means "child of Horus" (from , "Horus", and , "born"). ( 185 – 253), also known as Origen Adamantius, was an early Christian scholar, ascetic, and the ...
refers to both practices in his commentary on Psalms (2.2). The practice was due to the desire not to overuse the name of God. Examples of this can be seen in
Philo Philo of Alexandria (; grc, Φίλων, Phílōn; he, יְדִידְיָה, Yəḏīḏyāh (Jedediah); ), also called Philo Judaeus, was a Hellenistic Jewish philosopher who lived in Alexandria, in the Roman province of Egypt. Philo's de ...
.''Encountering the manuscripts: an introduction to New Testament paleography'' by Philip Comfort 2005 page 209 A few translations of the New Testament render ''kyrios'' in a particular way when it occurs within an Old Testament quotation. These include "Jehovah" (
New World Translation The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; it is used and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses. The New Testament portion was released first, in 1950, ...
), "" ( New Living Translation), "" ( Complete Jewish Bible), and "Eternal One" ('' The Voice'').


See also

* Dominus (title) * I am (biblical term) * Kyriarchy * Kyrie eleison * Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament * Pater familias * '' Theos Kyrios'' * Chi Rho


References


External links

* {{Titles of Jesus Ancient Greek titles Christian terminology Greek words and phrases Septuagint words and phrases