Lord

From BibleEncyclopedia.Net

There are various Hebrew and Greek words so rendered.

(1) Heb. YHWH, 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 “YHWH” is retained only in Exodus 6:3; Psalm 83:18; Isaiah 12:2; Isaiah 26:4, both in the King James Version and the Revised Version.

(2) Heb. 'adon, means one possessed of absolute control. It denotes a master, as of slaves (Genesis 24:14, Genesis 24:27), 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 “YHWH,” the Jews, in reading their Scriptures, whenever that name occurred, always pronounced it 'Adonai.

(3) Greek kurios, a supreme master, etc. In the Septuagint this is invariably used for “YHWH” 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, Judges 9:3). These were the Israelite inhabitants who had reduced the Canaanites to a condition of vassalage (Joshua 16:10; Joshua 17:13).

(5) Heb. seren, applied exclusively to the “lords of the Philistines” (Judges 3:3). The Septuagint 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.