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Semantics 101: The Lord is My Shepherd
Monday, July 19th, 2004 01:15 pmAs mentioned elsewhere, I was raised up Roman Catholic, and my first conscious notice of the word "Lord" was in first grade, when Sister Noel was trying to pound (sometimes literally) the Basic Prayers and Catechisms into my punkin haid so that I wouldn't embarrass her during First Communion.
Thus, I early came to understand the word "Lord" to be synonymous with "God."
A few years after surviving both Sister and First Communion, it came to my attention that there had been Mere Mortals referred to as "Lords," and the audacity of it quite took my breath away. A little later, I came to realize that those who had translated the Bible Sister Noel had represented as the One True, had used the closest word they had for a being that held Total Dominion over the lives of others. Fair enough.
But.
Now that I'm in my dotage, I wonder what the original word -- the Greek and/or Aramaic -- actually was -- how free the translation was, in other words.
Anybody help me out?
Thus, I early came to understand the word "Lord" to be synonymous with "God."
A few years after surviving both Sister and First Communion, it came to my attention that there had been Mere Mortals referred to as "Lords," and the audacity of it quite took my breath away. A little later, I came to realize that those who had translated the Bible Sister Noel had represented as the One True, had used the closest word they had for a being that held Total Dominion over the lives of others. Fair enough.
But.
Now that I'm in my dotage, I wonder what the original word -- the Greek and/or Aramaic -- actually was -- how free the translation was, in other words.
Anybody help me out?
