[B-Greek] QEOS and KURIOS : a strange choice of words?

Doug Hoxworth dhoxworth at charter.net
Mon Sep 15 13:21:08 EDT 2003


><Ted>
>...the NT neither translates nor transliterates the Hebrew names of Deity. That is, instead of calling the Deity Yahweh, Elohim, Adonai, El Shaddai, etc., or "I am that I am", "Almighty God", etc., the words QEOS and KURIOS are used. (Certainly, some of the reasons for this go back to the LXX, with which I am unfamiliar.)

<doug>
i wonder if the discussion has touched on what you were 
looking for. i would sort of like to veer this back on 
topic (away from discussions on the nomina sacra, 
tetragram, etc.). what do you think we should expect here? 
at the exclusion of YHWH, it seems that the others could 
have easily been translated from Hebrew to Greek. the 
question is, "is QEOS a good translation of ELOHIM (or any 
EL form) and is KURIOS a good translation of ADONAI?" i 
don't expect that we should necessarily expect to see the 
specialized names given to God in specific historical 
contexts reiterated in the NT (e.g., EL SHADDAI, 
YHWH-NISSI, etc.). if the "main" terms/names given to God 
in the OT are YHWH, ELOHIM, and ADONAI i don't see it as 
any surprise that ELOHIM be approximated by QEOS and 
ADONAI be approximated by KURIOS. as for YHWH, perhaps the 
superstition that surrounded the utterance of this divine 
name prevented an attempt to translate or transliterate 
it. as for speculations of whether the nomina sacra was 
left in Hebrew in the "original" LXX and NT MSS that is 
all that it is--speculation. since we don't possess the 
original or the commentary of the translators of why 
things were chosen, we may never know the answer to this 
question.

><Ted>
>I find this strange. The word QEOS seems generic -- and this for a God who demands exclusivity. The Greeks had used QEOS for centuries without referring to Yahweh. And KURIOS doesn't even require the concept of Deity: it's also used where our own English would use "boss" or "mister".

<doug>
again, what would you expect to find here since it seems 
strange to you? what translation do you think we should 
look for from "a God who demands exclusivity"? in that 
case, should the term ADONAI or even ELOHIM be applied to 
God in the OT? were these terms also not used for the 
other gods of other nations? i guess i'm not really seeing 
your dilemma here since it seems that the Hebrew words can 
also have a broader reference base that just to the 
exclusive God of Abraham. perhaps you could elaborate on 
your difficulty here or be more specific about what seems 
strange here to you.



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