Bible Lexicons

(1) κύριος is used in the wide sense of ";possessor,"; ";owner,"; as in Mark 13:35, in P Tebt I. 5.147 (B.C. 118) τοὺς κυρίους τῶν. . οἰκιῶν, ";the owners of the houses,"; and hence the meaning ";master,"; as in P Amh II. 135.11 (early ii/A.D.) ὁ κύριος τῇ γ ̄ προέγραψεν ἡμᾶς, ";the master wrote us on the 3rd";—with reference to certain instructions which the writer of the letter had received.

(2) From this the transition is easy to κύριος either as a title of honour addressed by subordinates to their superiors, or as a courteous appellative in the case of persons nearly related. (a) As exx. of the first class we may cite P Fay 106.15 (c. A.D. 140) ἐξησθένησα. . . κύριε, ";I became very weak, my lord";—a petition to a Prefect, and, more generally, ib. 129.1 (iii/A.D.) χαῖρε, κύριε τ [ι ]μιώτατ [ε, ib. 134.2 (early iv/A.D.) παρακληθεὶς κύριε σκῦλον σεαυτὸν πρὸς ήμᾶς, ";I entreat you, sir, to hasten to me"; (Edd.), P Lond 417.5 (c. A.D. 346) (II. p. 299, Selections, p. 124) γινώσκιν σε θέλω, κύριε, π [ερὶ ] Παύλω τοῦ στρατιότη περὶ τῆς φυγῆς —the village priest of Hermopolis to a military official with reference to a deserter named Paulus, and the Christian P Heid 6.6 (iv/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 125) κύριέ μου ἀγαπιτέ —a certain Justinus to a Christian ";brother"; Papnuthius. See also s.v. κυρία, and cf. Preisigke 1114.5 f. (A.D. 147–8) ἐκόψαμεν τοὺς μεγάλους λίθους. . εἰς τἠν πύλην τοῦ κυρίου Ἀπόλλω [νος καὶ ] τῆς κυρίας [ . (b) The designation is applied to near relatives, e.g. a father—BGU II. 423 .2 (ii/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 90) Ἀπίων Ἐπιμάχῳ τῷ πατρὶ καὶ κυρίῳ πλεῖστα χαίρειν, a mother—P Lips I. 110.1 (iii/iv A.D.) Σαραπίω ]ν ̣ . τῇ κ [υ ]ρίᾳ μου μητρὶ. . ., a brother—BGU III. 949.1 (c. A.D. 300) κυρίῳ μου ἀδελφῷ Ἡρᾷ a sister (and probably wife)—P Oxy IV. 744.1 (B.C. I) (= Selections, p. 32) Ἱλαρίωνα (l. —ίων) Ἄλιτι τῆι ἀδελφῆι πλεῖστα χαίρειν, and even a son—ib. I. 123.1 (iii/iv A.D.) κυρίῳ μου υἱῷ Διονυσοθέωνι.

(3) It is, however, with the religious use of κύριος that we are specially concerned, and in keeping with the conception of ";lordship,"; which was so characteristic of Oriental religions, we may begin by noticing its common use in connexion with the cult of the Egyptian God Sarapis. Letters frequently begin with some such formula as—πρὸ μὲν πάντων εὔχομαί σε ὑιαίνειν (l. ὑγ —) καὶ τὸ προσκύνημά σου ποιῶ παρὰ τῷ κυρίῳ Σαράπιδι, ";before all else I pray for your health, and I supplicate the lord Sarapis on your behalf"; (P Fay 127.5—ii/iii A.D.), and we may add, owing to the striking resemblance of phraseology to 1 Corinthians 10:21 such invitations to a ceremonial feast in the Serapeum as P Oxy I. 110.2 (ii/A.D.) ἐρωτᾷ σε Χαιρήμων δειπνῆσαι εἰς κλείνην τοῦ κυρίου Σαράπιδος ἐν τῷ Σαραπείῳ αὔριον, ἥτις ἐστὶν ι ̄ε ̄, ἀπὸ ὥρας θ ̄, ";Chaeremon requests your company at dinner at the table of the lord Sarapis in the Serapaeum to-morrow, the 15th, at 9 o’clock"; (Edd.), cf. ib. III. 523 (ii/A.D.) (= Selections, p. 97).

(4) From this it is easy to see how the title came to be applied to sovereigns or rulers in the East. Thus, to confine ourselves to the period immediately preceding the Christian era, Deissmann (LAE p. 356) cites the description of Ptolemy XIII. as τοῦ κυρίου βασιλ [έ ]ος θεοῦ, ";the lord king god,"; from an inscr. of 12th May B.C. 62 (OGIS 186.8), and another inscr. from Alexandria of B.C. 52 where Ptolemy XIV. and Cleopatra are called οἱ κύριοι θεοὶ μέγιστοι, ";the lords, the most great gods"; (cf. Berl. Sitzungsberichte, 1902, p. 1096). Similarly, as the same writer points out (LAE, p. 357), κύριος is applied to Herod the Great (B.C. 37–34) in OGIS 415.1 Βα ]σιλεῖ Ἡρώδει κυρίῳ, and to Herod Agrippa I. (A.D. 37–44) in ib. 418.1 ὑπὲρ σωτηρίας κυρίου βασιλέως Ἀγρίππα, al.

There is no evidence that the title was applied to the Roman Emperors in the West before the time of Domitian. Indeed it was specially disclaimed by Augustus and Tiberius as contrary to the Roman conception of the ";Principate"; (see Ovid Fast. ii. 142, Suet. Aug. 53, Tac. Ann. ii. 87, Suet. Tib. 27, cited by Hatch JBL xxvii. 2, p. 139). In the East, on the other hand, it was bestowed on Claudius, and becomes very common in the time of Nero. For Claudius we may cite the official report of certain events which had taken place—ζ ̄ (ἔτους) Τιβερίου Κλαυδίου Καίσαρος τοῦ κυρίου (P Oxy I. 37i. 6—A.D. 49 (= Selections, p. 49)), and Ostr 1038.6 (A.D. 54) ιδ ̄ (ἔτους) (Τιβερίου) Κλαυδίου. . . τοῦ κυρίου. Numerous other ostraca in Wilcken’s collection show the designation as applied to Nero e.g. 16.4 (A.D. 60) (ἔτους) ζ ̄ Νέρωνος τοῦ κυρίου Χοίαχ ε ̄, 17.4, al. : cf. also for the absence of the art., as in Luke 2:11, Colossians 3:17, Meyer Ostr 39.4 (A.D. 62) ἔτος η ̄ Νέρονος κυρίου Παῦνι η ̄. From the papyri it is sufficient to quote P Oxy II. 246.30 (A.D. 66) in which a registration of cattle is certified as having taken place—(ἔτους) ι ̄β ̄ Νέρωνος τοῦ κυρου (l. κυρίου), and from the inscrr. Syll 376.31 (Boeotia—A.D. 67), where Nero is hailed as ὁ τοῦ παντὸς κόσμου κύριος Νέρων : cf. .55. To later dates belong such passages as Meyer Ostr 17.3 (A.D. 74–5) Οὐεσπασιανοῦ τοῦ κυρίου, Magn 192.8 (time of Antoninus) τειμηθέ [ντα ] ὑπὸ τῶν κυρίων Ἀν [τωνεί ]νου καὶ Κομόδου κα [ὶ Λουκί ]ου Οὐήρου, and Priene 230.5 (A.D. 196–212), where a proconsul is described as ὁ τῶν κυρίων ἐπίτροπος, the κύριοι being Septimius Severus and Caracalla or Caracalla and Geta. See further the material collected by Roscher Ausf. Lex. d. griech. u. röm Mythologie ii. I, p. 1755 ff., Kattenbusch Das apostclische Symbol ii. p. 605 ff., Lietzmann HZNT iii. I, p. 53 ff., and especially the full investigation in W. Bousset’s Kyrios Christos, Göttingen, 1913.

(5) It lies outside our immediate purpose to examine the Pauline usage of κύριος in detail (cf. Thess. p. 136 ff.) beyond remarking that while that usage was doubtless primarily influenced by the LXX, which employed κύριος to render the tetragrammaton, there is good reason for finding in the Apostle’s insistence upon ";the name (of κύριος) which is above every name"; (Philippians 2:9) a protest against the worship of ";the gods many and lords many (θεοὶ πολλοὶ καὶ κύριοι πολλοί)"; (1 Corinthians 8:5), with which Christianity found itself confronted. See especially Deissmann’s illuminating discussion in LAE p. 353 ff., which has been freely drawn upon here, and for the Pauline idea of κύριος the art. by Böhlig in ZNTW xiv. (1913), p. 23 ff.

(6) One or two miscellaneous exx. of the title may be added. Thus, in view of Lightfoot’s statement (Phil..2 p. 312 n..3) that κύριε is not used in prayer to God before apostolic times, we may quote P Tebt II. 284.6 (i/B.C.) καὶ ὡς θέλει ὁ Σεκνεβτῦ (νις) ὁ κύριος θεὸς καταβήσομαι ἐλευθέρω ̣̓—the writer had received an oracular response : cf. Preisigke 1068 παρὰ τῷ κυρίῳ θεῷ Βησᾷ. In OGIS 655.3, an inscr. from Socnopaei Nesus in the Fayûm of date March 17 B.C. 24, mention is made of a building dedicated τῶι θεῶι καὶ κυρίῳ (cf. John 20:28) Σοκνοπαίωι. And for the Septuagint formula ";lord of the spirits"; (cf. Numbers 16:22; Numbers 27:16) cf. the Jewish prayer for vengeance Syll 816 (ii/i B.C.—see LAE p. 423 ff.), which commences—ἐπικαλοῦμαι καὶ ἀξιῶ τὸν θεὸν τὸν ὕψιστον, τὸν κύριον τῶν πνευμάτων καὶ πάσης σαρκός, and the magic P Lond 46.467 (iv/A.D.) (= I. p. 80) ἐπικαλοῦμαί σε τὸν κτίσαντα γῆν καὶ ὀστᾶ καὶ πᾶσαν σάρκα καὶ πᾶν πνεῦμα. . . θεὸς θ [ε ]ῶν ὁ κύριος τῶν πνευμάτων.

(7) There are two other usages of κύριος, which are not found in the NT, but which are so common in our documents that they may be mentioned here for the sake of completeness. (a) The first is the application of ὁ κύριος to the legal ";guardian"; of a woman, which occurs as early as B.C. 139 in P Grenf II. 15i . 13 μετὰ κυρίου τοῦ αὐτῆς ἀνδρὸς Ἑρμίου : cf. from Roman times P Oxy II. 255.4 (A.D. 48) (= Selections, p. 46), a census-return παρὰ Θερ [μου ]θαρίου τῆς Θοώνιος μετὰ κυρίου Ἀπολλω (νίου) τοῦ Σωτάδου, BGU I. 22.5 (A.D. 114) (= Selections, p. 74), a petition from a woman who states that at the moment she has no guardian—τὸ παρὸν μὴ ἔχοντα κύριον P Fay 32.8 (A.D. 131), a property return by Sambous μετὰ κυρίο (υ) τοῦ ὁμοπατρίο (υ) καὶ ὁμομητρίου ἀδελφοῦ Ἀλλο ̣θω ̣νος, ";under the wardship of her full brother on both the father’s and mother’s side, Allothon (?)"; (Edd.), and the late P Lond V. 1724.70 (A.D. 578–82). See further Wenger Stellvertretung, p. 173 ff., Archiv iv. p. 78 ff., v. p. 471 ff. (b) The second is its usage as an adj. = ";valid,"; e.g. P Eleph 1.14 (B.C. 311–310) (= Selections, p. 4) ἡ δὲ συγγραφὴ ἥδε κυρία ἔστω πάντηι πάντως, ";and let this contract be valid under all circumstances,"; P Tebt I. 104.41 (B.C. 92) Διονύσιος ἔχω κυρίαν, ";I, Dionysius, have received the contract, which is valid,"; P Oxy II. 275.33 (A.D. 66) (= Selections, p. 57) κυρία ἡ διδασκαλική, ";the contract of apprenticeship is valid,"; al

 

 

θεοῦ θεῷ Ἰησοῦς και Κυριε Κύριε Κύριέ κυριοι κύριοι κυριοις κυρίοις Κυριον κυριόν κυρίον Κύριον κύριόν κύρίον ΚΥΡΙΟΣ κυριός κύριος κύριός κυριου κυριού Κυρίου κύριου κυρίους κυριω κυρίω κυρίῳ ΚΥΡΙΩΝ κυρίων κυρόυ Κύρου Χριστόν Χριστοῦ Christon Christón Christou Christoû Iesous Iesoûs Iēsous Iēsoûs Kurie kurio kuriō kurioi kuriois Kurion KURIŌN KURIOS Kuriou Kyrie Kýrie Kýrié kyrio kyriō kyrioi kyríoi kyríōi kýrioi kyriois kyríois Kyrion KYRIŌN kyríon kyríōn Kýrion kýrión KYRIOS kýrios kýriós Kyriou Kyríou theo theō theôi theō̂i theou theoû