Lord: There are various Hebrew and Greek words so rendered.1. Heb. Jehovah, has been rendered in the English Bible LORD,
printed in small capitals. This is the proper name of the God of
the Hebrews. The form "Jehovah" is retained only in
(Exodus 6:3)
(Psalms 83:18; Isaiah 12:2; 26:4) both in the Authorized and the Revised
Version.
2. Heb. 'adon, means one possessed of absolute control. It denotes
a master, as of slaves
(Genesis 24:14,27) or a ruler of his subjects
(Genesis 45:8) or a husband, as lord of his wife
(Genesis 18:12) The old
plural form of this Hebrew word is 'adonai. From a
superstitious reverence for the name "Jehovah," the Jews, in
reading their Scriptures, whenever that name occurred, always
pronounced it 'Adonai.
3. Greek kurios, a supreme master, etc. In the LXX. this is
invariably used for "Jehovah" and "'Adonai."
4. Heb. ba'al, a master, as having domination. This word is applied
to human relations, as that of husband, to persons skilled in
some art or profession, and to heathen deities. "The men of
Shechem," literally "the baals of Shechem"
(Judges 9:2,3) These were
the Israelite inhabitants who had reduced the Canaanites to a
condition of vassalage
(Joshua 16:10; 17:13)
5. Heb. seren, applied exclusively to the "lords of the
Philistines"
(Judges 3:3) The LXX. render it by satrapies. At this
period the Philistines were not, as at a later period
(1 Samuel 21:10)
under a kingly government. (See)
(Joshua 13:3; 1 Samuel 6:18) There were
five such lordships, viz., Gath, Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, and
Ekron.