Biblical Hebrew Forum

[Yigal Levin <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>]

Steve,

I think that the "MY Lord(s) is part of the same thing that Pere was
referring to: a sort of "royal 'we'". Of course, in places in which YHWH is
addressed directly by the speaker - as in the Psalms that you cited -
calling him "MY Lord(s)" is totally appropriate. This could have carried
over to other cases as well. This is also the vocalization of the proper
name YHWH. The translators of the LXX might have felt that this idiom was
not as appropriate in Greek, and thus translated just "Kurios". This in turn
influenced the Latin and then the English as well.

Yigal Levin



[Steve Miller] Pere, thanks for sharing that. I did not know it. Yes, I
agree. Translating it as "Lords" would not make sense. 

I still have the question about "my". The yod suffix makes it "my Lord"
rather than just "Lord". The yod was not added by the Masoretes. Why then is
it not always translated "my Lord"? It seems to me that "my Lord" would fit
just about all uses. But it is only translated "my Lord" in few places, like
in Ps 16:2 where the context almost demands it. Even the LXX rarely
translates it as "my Lord".

But if the word was written, adoni, with a chirik instead of a kamatz under
the nun, then it would be consistently translated, my lord.

Sincerely,
-Steve Miller
Detroit
www.voiceInWilderness.info
They shall come, and they shall declare
to a people to be born,
reveal His righteousness.
This deed which the Lord has done
they'll retell to everyone
that He may all peoples bless. (Psalm 22:31)