the Week of Proper 28 / Ordinary 33
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Bible Dictionaries
Dominion
Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
or This word is used, though not invariably, in the translation of three Gr. expressions: (1) the verb κυριεύειν, ‘to be lord of,’ ‘to have dominion over’ (Romans 6:9; Romans 6:14; Romans 7:1 Authorized Version and Revised Version ; 2 Corinthians 1:24, Authorized Version , where Revised Version has ‘have lordship’); (2) τὸ κράτος; (3) κυριότης.
τὸ κράτος is rendered thus in the doxologies in 1 Peter 4:11; 1 Peter 5:11, Judges 1:25, Revelation 1:6; Revelation 5:13 (Revised Version ). In the only other doxology where it occurs (1 Timothy 6:16) Revised Version strangely retains ‘power’ of Authorized Version . Lightfoot (on Colossians 1:11) says that ‘the word κράτος in the NT is applied solely to God,’ Thayer (s. v. δύναμις), more cautiously, that the word is used ‘in the NT chiefly of God’; Hebrews 2:14 is an exception.
κυριότης) is found in four passages, viz. Ephesians 1:21, Colossians 1:16 (plural), Judges 1:8, 2 Peter 2:10; Revised Version in all cases gives ‘dominion,’ Authorized Version in the first three, and in the margin of 2 Peter 2:10 (text, ‘government’). In Eph. and Col. a class of angels is meant (Milton’s ‘Dominations’) with which compare 1 Corinthians 8:5, where angels are called κύριοι (Thayer Grimm’s Gr.-Eng. Lexicon of the NT, tr. Thayer , Lexicon, s.v. κυριότης). The meaning of the word in Peter and Jude presents some difficulty. (a) Many suppose that here also angels are referred to, which 2 Peter 2:11 and the reference to the sin of the Sodomites seem to support. Cremer (Lexicon, s.v. κυριότης) says that in Peter evil angels are implied from the context, though not in Jude. But, as Bennett (Century Bible: ‘The General Epistles,’ 1901, p. 334) points out, ‘it does not seem likely that blasphemy against angels would be so conspicuous a sin of licentious men as to call forth this emphatic condemnation.’ (b) κυριότης may be understood of the power and majesty of God (Bigg, St. Peter and St. Jude [International Critical Commentary , 1901], p. 279), or the Lordship of Christ, in support of which 2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 2:6, Judges 1:4; Judges 1:15 may be quoted. (c) It may refer to authorities in the Church whose legitimate power these men despised and spoke against. Bennett inclines to this interpretation in Jude and regards it as included also in 2 Peter, where he gives the general principle of the argument thus: when good angels withstand dignities, i.e. evil angels, although the good are the more powerful, they do not abuse their opponents; how absurd and wicked for evil men to abuse good angels, or perhaps even the legitimate Church authorities. J. R. Lumby (in Speaker’s Commentary: ‘Heb. to Rev.,’ 1881, p. 395) combines (b) and (c) above: ‘the railing at dignities, though its first exhibition might be made against the Apostles and those set in authority in the Church, yet went further and resulted in the denial of our only Master, God Himself, whose dominion these sinners were disregarding, and our Lord Jesus Christ, whose glory these men speak evil of or rail at.’
In the Revised Version of 1 Timothy 2:12 αὐθεντεῖν ἀνδρός is translated ‘to have dominion over,’ Authorized Version ‘to usurp authority over.’ See also article Principality.
W. H. Dundas.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Dominion'. Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdn/d/dominion.html. 1906-1918.
