Word study
Lord
8 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: lord, lords, lording. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “lord” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- יְהֹוָה YehôvâhYahwehtranslated this way 6,378 times of its 6,473 uses · Strong’s H3068Noun · Translated: lord 6,171, LORD's 127, surely as the lord 39, god 10Full study and all 5,509 verses →
Genesis 2:4 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.
Exodus 3:2 There the angel of the LORD appeared to him in a blazing fire from within a bush. Moses saw the bush ablaze with fire, but it was not consumed.
- אֲדֹנָי Ădônâylordtranslated this way 440 times of its 441 uses · Strong’s H136Noun · Translated: Lord 438, lords 1, surely as the lord 1Full study and all 425 verses →
Genesis 15:2 But Abram replied, “O Lord GOD, what can You give me, since I remain childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus?”
Exodus 4:10 “Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
- אָדוֹן âdônlordtranslated this way 185 times of its 320 uses · Strong’s H113Noun · Translated: lord 174, master 94, master's 25, lord's 6Full study and all 282 verses →
Genesis 18:3 “My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by.
Exodus 23:17 Three times a year all your males are to appear before the Lord GOD.
- יָהּ YâhhJahtranslated this way 23 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H3050Noun · Translated: lord 23, god 1Full study and all 23 verses →
Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise Him, my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
Psalm 68:4 Sing to God! Sing praises to His name. Exalt Him who rides on the clouds— His name is the LORD— and rejoice before Him.
- סֶרֶן serentyrant, lordtranslated this way 7 times of its 22 uses · Strong’s H5633Noun · Translated: rulers 11, lords 7, leaders 3, axles 1Full study and all 20 verses →
Judges 16:5 The lords of the Philistines went to her and said, “Entice him and find out the source of his great strength and how we can overpower him to tie him up and subdue him. Then each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver.”
Judges 16:8 So the lords of the Philistines brought her seven fresh bowstrings that had not been dried, and she tied him up with them.
- מָרֵא mârêmastertranslated this way 4 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s H4756Noun · Translated: Lord 4Full study and all 4 verses →
Daniel 2:47 The king said to Daniel, “Your God is truly the God of gods and Lord of kings, the Revealer of Mysteries, since you were able to reveal this mystery.”
Daniel 4:19 For a time, Daniel, who was also known as Belteshazzar, was perplexed, and his thoughts alarmed him. So the king said, “Belteshazzar, do not let the dream or its interpretation alarm you.” “My lord,” replied Belteshazzar, “may the dream apply to those who hate you, and its interpretation to your enemies!
- הוּא hûhe, shetranslated this way 3 times of its 1,425 uses · Strong’s H1931Pronoun · Translated: he 269, it 151, that 114, on that 87Full study and all 1,320 verses →
- צָוָה tsâvâhlay charge (upon), give charge (to), charge, command, ordertranslated this way 2 times of its 491 uses · Strong’s H6680Verb · Translated: commanded 271, command 41, gave 16, instructed 13Full study and all 473 verses →
Greek words (New Testament)
- κύριος kýrioslord, Lord, master, sirtranslated this way 570 times of its 713 uses · Strong’s G2962Noun · Translated: Lord 549, of 55, master 42, Lord's 18Full study and all 658 verses →
Matthew 1:22 All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet:
Mark 2:28 Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”
- κυριεύω kyrieúōI have authority, rule overtranslated this way 4 times of its 7 uses · Strong’s G2961Verb · Translated: lord 3, dominion 1, master 1, authority 1Full study and all 7 verses →
Luke 22:25 So Jesus declared, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them call themselves benefactors.
Romans 14:9 For this reason Christ died and returned to life, that He might be the Lord of both the dead and the living.
- κατακυριεύω katakyrieúōI exercise authority over, overpowertranslated this way 3 times of its 4 uses · Strong’s G2634Verb · Translated: lord 2, overpowered 1, lording 1Full study and all 4 verses →
Matthew 20:25 But Jesus called them aside and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them.
Mark 10:42 So Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their superiors exercise authority over them.
- δεσπότης despótēsa lord, master, or princetranslated this way 3 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s G1203Noun · Translated: masters 4, Master 3, Sovereign Lord 2, Lord 1Full study and all 10 verses →
Luke 2:29 “Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You now dismiss Your servant in peace.
Acts 4:24 When the believers heard this, they lifted up their voices to God with one accord. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them.
- κυριακός kyriakósof the Lordtranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G2960Adjective · Translated: Lord's 2Full study and all 2 verses →
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about lord: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.