05 Adonai

05 Adonai (ad-o-noy’)
Lord, Master

Use in the Bible: In the Old Testament Adonai occurs 434 times. There are heavy uses of Adonai in Isaiah (e.g., Adonai Jehovah). It occurs 200 times in Ezekiel alone and appears 11 times in Daniel Chapter 9. Adonai is first used in Genesis 15:2.

Variant spellings: None
TWOT Reference:H27
Strong’s Reference:H136

Adonaiin the Septuagint:kurios - Lord, Master

Meaning and Derivation:Adonai is the verbal parallel to Yahweh and Jehovah. Adonai is plural; the singular is adon. In reference to God the plural Adonai is used. When the singular adon is used, it usually refers to a human lord. Adon is used 215 times to refer to men. Occasionally in Scripture and predominantly in the Psalms, the singular adon is used to refer to God as well (cf.Exodus 34:23). To avoid contravening the commandment "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain" (Exodus 20:7), sometimes Adonai was used as a substitute for Yahweh (YHWH). Adonai can be translated literally as, "my lords’ " (both plural and possessive).