I recently read a journal article concerning the vocative use of the phrase "Lord, Lord." For those of you who may not know, the vocative case is the case of direct address.
For example Luke 10:41: But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things."
The phrase "Lord, Lord " occurs four times in the New Testament.
Matt. 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
Matt. 25:11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
We are going to need a little background before we move on to the next point. The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. Many N.T. quotes of O.T. passages align with the Septuagint. It is a very important source.
So this journal article examined the use of the double vocative "Lord, Lord" in the Septuagint and there are several. Next the article compared this verse with those of the Hebrew text and this is where it gets very interesting.
Just so you know the double vocative form in Greek look like this Κύριε, Κύριε.
Example One Ezek. 20:49 (21:5)
καὶ εἶπα Μηδαμῶς Κύριε Κύριε· αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν πρὸς μέ Οὐχὶ παραβολή ἐστιν λεγομένη αὕτη;
If we compare it to the Hebrew we can see which two nouns the above phrase translates.
וָאֹמַ֕ר אֲהָ֖הּ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֑ה הֵ֚מָּה אֹמְרִ֣ים לִ֔י הֲלֹ֛א
מְמַשֵּׁ֥ל מְשָׁלִ֖ים הֽוּא
That is the phrase "Adonai YHVH" (i.e. Lord + tetragrammaton). As I said above, there are several examples of the double vocative "Lord, Lord" in the Septuagint so this is no mere coincidence. However, full disclosure, I have not check every example, but it does seem very consistent. I could provide others if necessary.
So what does this mean and why is it important? The N.T. phrase Κύριε, Κύριε goes back to Septuagint usage, and that both Matthew and Luke understood that Jesus himself uses the emphatic “Lord, Lord” to refer to himself as "Adonai YHVH." Thus the view Jesus never claimed to be deity is clearly false given the use of double vocative. In others words, Jesus knew very well what he was saying and what it meant.
Please know that I discussed this thread with bobinfaith concerning the content and ask for his advice.
For example Luke 10:41: But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things."
The phrase "Lord, Lord " occurs four times in the New Testament.
Matt. 7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’
Matt. 25:11 Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us.’
Luke 6:46 “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you?
We are going to need a little background before we move on to the next point. The Septuagint is the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. Many N.T. quotes of O.T. passages align with the Septuagint. It is a very important source.
So this journal article examined the use of the double vocative "Lord, Lord" in the Septuagint and there are several. Next the article compared this verse with those of the Hebrew text and this is where it gets very interesting.
Just so you know the double vocative form in Greek look like this Κύριε, Κύριε.
Example One Ezek. 20:49 (21:5)
καὶ εἶπα Μηδαμῶς Κύριε Κύριε· αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν πρὸς μέ Οὐχὶ παραβολή ἐστιν λεγομένη αὕτη;
If we compare it to the Hebrew we can see which two nouns the above phrase translates.
וָאֹמַ֕ר אֲהָ֖הּ אֲדֹנָ֣י יְהוִ֑ה הֵ֚מָּה אֹמְרִ֣ים לִ֔י הֲלֹ֛א
מְמַשֵּׁ֥ל מְשָׁלִ֖ים הֽוּא
That is the phrase "Adonai YHVH" (i.e. Lord + tetragrammaton). As I said above, there are several examples of the double vocative "Lord, Lord" in the Septuagint so this is no mere coincidence. However, full disclosure, I have not check every example, but it does seem very consistent. I could provide others if necessary.
So what does this mean and why is it important? The N.T. phrase Κύριε, Κύριε goes back to Septuagint usage, and that both Matthew and Luke understood that Jesus himself uses the emphatic “Lord, Lord” to refer to himself as "Adonai YHVH." Thus the view Jesus never claimed to be deity is clearly false given the use of double vocative. In others words, Jesus knew very well what he was saying and what it meant.
Please know that I discussed this thread with bobinfaith concerning the content and ask for his advice.
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