Semantics 101: The Lord is My Shepherd
Monday, July 19th, 2004 01:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rolanniAs 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?
The Divine Name
Date: 2004-07-21 07:59 am (UTC)The use of 'Lord' arises from the ancient prohibitions against using the Divine Name. You *cannot* speak or read the Divine Name, so other, more generic terms get substituted. This is the sort of sacred name-type magical thinking that you see in a lot of literature (e.g. Ursula K. LeGuin makes much of sacred names in her _Earthsea_ books).
There are two words in the Bible that appear in the place of the Divine Name, that are translated into the word 'lord':
1. Ba'al, which literally means master in the sense of a husband is his wife's master (my husband's example, not mine - wishful thinking on his part!). This name itself is an usurpation of the divine name Ba'al, the storm god.
2. Adon (pronounced Ah' don (like don't)), and it's variations Adonay (Ah' don (like don't) ay) and Adoni (Ah' don ee) which means lord in a more colloquial sense, the way you'd say sir in polite company or social interations. This again is a comandeered word from the Greek Adonis.
There is also a generic word for god: elohin (aloe-heen).
The reason that you associated the word Lord with the divine, says my hubby, is that language is dynamic and meanings migrate. As the Bible has aged, so to speak, the substitute names have become divine in themselves, and are now increasingly substituted with non-divine names again (for example, many Bibles now use the word G-d in place of God). So where once the word Lord was used to cloak the original Divine Name 'Yaweh', it has now taken on divine status of it's own with all the powers and magic associated with such Names.
If you need more info from a Biblical Scholar and linguist, I can put you in touch with my hubby. You can reach me via a Yahoo user group called Amazons at amazons@yahoogroups.com. (If you want to read some worshipful reviews of your work, you might want to take a minute to read the postings.)
I hope this helps!
Norah.
Re: The Divine Name
Date: 2004-07-29 06:55 am (UTC)The internet is awesome! Thank you and your husband; I'm in your debt (debts?). Not only does this explain Certain Matters (Me, I'd thought elohim "meant" angel), but it clarifies a story point that had been nagging at me.
Did you, btw, find the reading list you were looking for?