אָדוֹן H0136
Lord, master -- as divine title (Adonai, Lord God) and as respectful address to a human superior.
Adon is one of the most theologically weighty words in the Hebrew Bible. In its overwhelmingly dominant use, it serves as the divine title Adonai ('my Lord'), the spoken substitute for the Tetragrammaton YHWH, expressing God's sovereign lordship and personal covenant relationship with Israel (Gen 15:2, 'O Lord GOD'). The Masoretic vowel pointing deliberately distinguishes divine from human reference. In a handful of passages it retains its older secular meaning of 'lord' or 'master,' addressing a human superior with deference (Josh 3:11, 'the Lord of all the earth'; Judg 6:15, 'O my lord'). All major traditions uniformly render the divine sense with their supreme title: spa 'Senor,' fra 'Seigneur,' deu 'Herr.'
1. Lord (divine title) — The divine title Adonai, used 440 times to address or refer to God as sovereign Lord. This includes direct prayer address (Gen 15:2, 'O Lord GOD, what will you give me?'), prophetic invocations (Deut 3:24, 'O Lord GOD, you have begun to show your servant your greatness'), and liturgical declarations. The intensive plural form with first-person suffix (adonay) signals majesty. Cross-linguistically every tradition uses its highest title: spa 'Senor/Adonai,' fra 'Seigneur,' deu 'Herr,' reflecting the universal recognition of divine sovereignty. 440×
AR["أَدوناي","أَدُونَايْ","أَيُّهَا-الرَّبُّ","الرَّبَّ","الرَّبُّ","سَيِّدي","يَا-سَيِّدُ","يَا-سَيِّدِي"]·ben["প্রভু","হে-প্রভু"]·DE["Herr"]·EN["Adonai","Lord"]·FR["Seigneur"]·heb["אדוני"]·HI["प्रभु","मेरे-स्वामी","हे-आदोनाई","हे-प्रभु"]·ID["Tuanku","Tuhan","Tuhanku","Ya-Tuhan","ya-Tuhan"]·IT["Adonai","Signore","il-Signore"]·jav["Dhuh-Gusti","Gusti","dhuh-Gusti"]·KO["오-주여","주","주-여호와여","주님","주님을","주여","주인이시여","주인이여"]·PT["'Adonay,","Adonai","Senhor","meu-Senhor","¶ Ó-Senhor"]·RU["Адонай","Господи","Господин","Господь"]·ES["Adonai","Señor","el-Señor"]·SW["Bwana","Bwana-wangu"]·TR["Adonay","Adonay'i","Rab","Rabbim"]·urd["اے-خداوند","خداوند","خداوند-کے"]
Gen 15:2, Gen 15:8, Gen 20:4, Exod 15:17, Deut 3:24, Deut 9:26, Josh 7:7, Josh 7:8, Judg 6:22, Judg 16:28, 2 Sam 7:18, 2 Sam 7:19 (+38 more)
▼ 1 more sense below
Senses
2. lord (human superior) — A human lord, master, or superior addressed with deference, appearing only 5 times. Used with pronominal suffixes ('my lord,' 'his lord') to express social hierarchy or military command: the commander of YHWH's army (Josh 5:14, 'my lord'), the 'Lord of all the earth' in a context blending human and divine authority (Josh 3:11, 13), and Gideon's self-deprecating address (Judg 6:15). The multilingual glosses often add possessive markers -- spa 'mi-Senor,' deu 'mein-Herr,' fra 'mon-seigneur' -- reflecting the relational, deferential character of this secular usage. 5×
AR["سَيِّدي","سَيِّدُهُ","سَيِّدِ"]·ben["আমার-প্রভু","তার-প্রভু","প্রভুর"]·DE["Herr","Herr-von","mein-herr"]·EN["Lord-of","his-Lord","my-lord"]·FR["Seigneur-de","le-Seigneur","mon-seigneur"]·heb["אדון","אדוני","אדוניו"]·HI["उसका-आदोनाई","प्रभु","मेरे-प्रभु","मेरे-स्वामी"]·ID["Tuanku","Tuhan"]·IT["Signore","Signore-di","mio-signore"]·jav["Gusti","Gusti-kawula","dhumateng-piyambakipun"]·KO["그의-주가","나의-주가","나의-주인이여","주의"]·PT["Senhor-de","Senhor-dele","meu-Senhor","meu-senhor"]·RU["Адонай-его","Господин-мой","Господина"]·ES["Señor-de","mi-Señor","mi-señor","su-Señor"]·SW["Bwana","Bwana-wa","Bwana-wake","bwana-wangu"]·TR["Adonay'ı","Efendim","Rabbi","efendim"]·urd["آقا-میرا","اُس-کا-خداوند","خداوند","خداوند-میرے"]
Related Senses
H5921a 1. upon, on, over (spatial) (5443×)H0413 1. directional: to, toward (5366×)H1121a 1. son, male offspring, descendant (4914×)H3808 1. simple negation (not) (4839×)H4428 1. king, human ruler (2518×)G1722 1. locative: in, within (2442×)H1004b 1. house, dwelling, building (2015×)H6440 1. before, in front of (spatial) (1870×)G3756 1. not (negation particle) (1635×)H3027 1. physical hand (body part) (1596×)H1697 1. word, speech, utterance (1235×)H4480a 1. source or separation (1198×)H5892b 1. city, town (1093×)G1519 1. direction: into, to, toward (1061×)H3427 1. Qal: to dwell, inhabit (937×)G1537 1. from, out of (source/origin) (886×)H8034 1. Name (designation / identifier) (856×)G3361 1. subjective negation (not) (834×)G1909 1. on, upon (spatial surface) (757×)H0369 1. existential negation: there is not (738×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
אָדוֹן n.m. Mal 3:1 lord (Ph. אדן)—א׳ ψ 12:5 + cstr. אֲדוֹן Jos 3:11 +; pl. אֲדֹנִים Is 26:13 +; cstr. אֲדֹנֵי Dt 10:17 +; sf. אֲדֹנֵינוּ 1 S 25:14 + etc.; (אֲדֹנִי, אֲדֹנַי, אֲדֹנָי are variations of Mass. pointing to distinguish divine reference fr. human. Pl., with few except an intens. pl. of rank; word takes sf. as pl. in all other pers.; so doubtless here. Orig. reading prob. in all cases…