By Greg Deuble
For readers wishing to follow further this little-recognized distinction between the two Lords in the Hebrew Scriptures, the following will supply a good spring-board for thoughtful reflection. There are many examples scattered throughout the OT. One or two examples of quite heavy concentration should be sufficient.
The first interesting example concerns the time Abigail begs David for mercy on account of the stupidity of her husband Nabal. I quote from the NASB which makes the correct distinction between God and man. The Hebrew text actually has the Tetragrammaton – YHWH -- which is God's Personal Name Yahweh (or Jehovah) but is usually translated into English as though it were Adonai by capitalizing Jehovah as “the LORD”. The human lord (in this case the man David) appears in lower case as “my lord”...
The first interesting example concerns the time Abigail begs David for mercy on account of the stupidity of her husband Nabal. I quote from the NASB which makes the correct distinction between God and man. The Hebrew text actually has the Tetragrammaton – YHWH -- which is God's Personal Name Yahweh (or Jehovah) but is usually translated into English as though it were Adonai by capitalizing Jehovah as “the LORD”. The human lord (in this case the man David) appears in lower case as “my lord”...
When Abigail saw David, she hurried and dismounted from her donkey, and fell on her face before David, and bowed herself to the ground. And she fell at his feet and said, “On me alone, my lord, be the blame. and please let your maidservant speak to you, and listen to the words of your maidservant. Please do not let my lord pay attention to this worthless man, Nabal...but I your maidservant did not see the young men of my lord whom you sent. Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD lives, and as your soul lives, since the LORD has restrained you from shedding blood, and from avenging yourself by your own hand, now let your enemies, and those who seek evil against my lord, be as Nabal. And now let this gift which your maidservant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who accompany my lord. Please forgive the transgression of your maidservant; for the LORD will certainly make for my lord an enduring house, because my lord is fighting the battles of the LORD, and evil shall not be found in you all your days. And should anyone rise up to pursue you and to seek yourlife, then the life of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of the living with the LORD your God and it shall come about when the LORD shall do for my lord according to all the good that He has spoken concerning you, and shall appoint you ruler over Israel, that this will not cause grief or a troubled heart to my lord, both by having shed blood without cause and by my lord having avenged himself. When the LORD shall deal well with my lord, then remember your maidservant (1 Sam. 25:23-31).
The reader is encouraged to take a highlighter and continue on throughout the rest of chapter 25 and on into chapter 26. Some surprises are no doubt in store. Note particularly verses 15 to 19 of 1 Samuel 26 where King Saul is called “your lord the king” and “my lord the king” and even [as per Psalm 110:1] ”your lord, the LORD'S anointed (that is, Jehovah's Messiah/Christ), which is significant when we come to the New Testament with its designation of Jesus as “our Lord the Messiah/Christ/king”. The astute reader should also note the correlation between this very Hebrew way of designating a human superior with that of Thomas' affirmation that the risen Jesus is 'my Lord and my god”, but more of this later.
Should the reader still require more evidence of the two Hebrew Lords, s/he could try 2 Samuel 14 or even 2 Samuel 19. The highlighter will get a good workout!
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