Sovereign , i.e. controller (human or divine)
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אָדוֹן (adon) is the Hebrew word for 'lord' or 'master' — the one who has authority, the one to whom service and allegiance belong. It spans from the household master (Potiphar as Joseph's adon, Gen 39:2) to the sovereign of all the earth (adon kol ha-aretz, Josh 3:11).
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Full entry for אָדוֹן (H113) · Open the biblical lexicon
אָדוֹן (adon) is the Hebrew word for 'lord' or 'master' — the one who has authority, the one to whom service and allegiance belong. It spans from the household master (Potiphar as Joseph's adon, Gen 39:2) to the sovereign of all the earth (adon kol ha-aretz, Josh 3:11).
The BSB source-word alignment has 333 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include My lord (82), my master (21), his master (17), of my lord (12), our lord (11).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 18:3. Its strongest book concentrations include Genesis (72), 2 Samuel (52), 1 Samuel (38), 2 Kings (37).
אָדוֹן (adon) is the Hebrew word for 'lord' or 'master' — the one who has authority, the one to whom service and allegiance belong. It spans from the household master (Potiphar as Joseph's adon, Gen 39:2) to the sovereign of all the earth (adon kol ha-aretz, Josh 3:11). At its theological peak, it becomes Adonai (אֲדֹנָי) — the divine title that Jewish readers substitute for the unutterable name YHWH, making it one of the most liturgically significant words in all of Hebrew Scripture.
Psalm 110:1 gives adon its most theologically loaded use: 'YHWH said to my adon: sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.' David's 'adon' here is the Messiah: the one to whom YHWH says 'sit at my right hand.' This is the single most quoted OT verse in the NT — Jesus uses it in the Synoptics (Matt 22:44, Mark 12:36, Luke 20:42) to confound the Pharisees' too-small messianism: if David calls the Messiah 'my Lord (adon),' how is the Messiah merely David's descendant? Peter quotes it at Pentecost (Acts 2:34-35) as proof of the resurrection and ascension: Jesus is now seated at YHWH's right hand — the throne-position of the Psalm.
Joshua 3:11-13 gives adon its ark-carrying form: 'Behold, the ark of the covenant of the adon of all the earth (adon kol ha-aretz) is about to cross before you into the Jordan.' The title appears three times in Joshua 3 as Israel crosses the Jordan — the ark is going first, and the ark bears the name of the one who is adon over every river, every border, every nation. The title 'Lord of all the earth' is the OT's sovereignty-claim in its most expansive form: not the god of Israel only, but the adon of the whole earth.
Genesis 39:2-4 gives adon its household form: 'YHWH was with Joseph and he became a successful man. He was in the house of his master (adon), the Egyptian. His master saw that YHWH was with him and that YHWH caused all he did to prosper. So Joseph found favor in his eyes and attended him; and he made him overseer of his house and put him in charge of all he had.' The adon-servant relationship here is the frame through which YHWH's blessing moves: YHWH prospers Joseph within the adon-structure, not by overriding it. The theology of adon includes the affirmation that legitimate authority structures can be vessels of divine blessing.
Amos 7:1-8 gives adon its prophetic-address form: 'Thus Adonai YHWH showed me (koh hir-ani Adonai YHWH).' Amos uses the combined title Adonai YHWH seven times in chapter 7 as he recounts his visions — each vision is a display of what the sovereign Lord (Adonai YHWH) intends. The combination of Adonai + YHWH is the most formal address to the divine sovereign in the prophetic corpus: Ezekiel uses it 217 times. The preacher who reads these prophetic texts is addressed by the prophet on behalf of the Adonai who sends him.
For the preacher, אָדוֹן (adon) gives the congregation their vocabulary for divine sovereignty: the God they worship is not merely creator or father but adon — the Lord to whom they owe allegiance, service, and the full orientation of their lives.
אָדוֹן (adon) has about 329 H113 occurrences in the local index, ranging from human master (Gen 39:2) to divine sovereign (Ps 110:1). As Adonai (with plural-of-majesty suffix), it is the liturgical substitute for YHWH (~449 occurrences). As adon kol ha-aretz (Lord of all the earth), it asserts YHWH's universal sovereignty at covenant-crossing moments (Josh 3:11-13, Ps 97:5, Mic 4:13).
As Adonai YHWH (the combined title), it is the primary prophetic address form (Amos 7:1-8, Ezekiel 217 times). Psalm 110:1 is the theological peak: YHWH addressing 'my adon' — the Messiah at his right hand.
The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at My right hand until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
YHWH addresses the Messiah as adon: 'YHWH said to my adon: sit at my right hand (shev liymini).' David's adon is the messianic king to whom YHWH assigns the throne at his right hand — the position of co-regent, of highest honor, of shared sovereign authority. The NT applies this to the ascended Christ: he has ascended to the right hand of YHWH (Acts 2:33-35, Heb 1:3, Heb 10:12-13).
The Hebrews author quotes it twice to establish the Son's superiority to angels: no angel was ever told 'sit at my right hand.' The most-quoted OT verse in the NT comes from the bare word adon.
Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth will go ahead of you into the Jordan.
Adon kol ha-aretz at the Jordan: 'the ark of the covenant of the adon of all the earth is crossing before you.' The Jordan-crossing moment is introduced by this universal sovereignty title. The ark goes first — the adon of all the earth leads the way, and the river stops (v. 13). The title 'Lord of all the earth' connects to Psalm 97:5 ('the mountains melt like wax before YHWH, before the adon of all the earth') and Micah 4:13 ('I will consecrate their gain to YHWH, their wealth to the adon of all the earth').
The same God who parts the river rules the nations.
And the Lord was with Joseph, and he became a successful man, serving in the household of his Egyptian master.
YHWH with Joseph in the adon's house: 'YHWH was with Joseph; he became a successful man; he was in the house of his Egyptian adon.' The irony is structural: Joseph has been sold as a slave, but YHWH causes him to prosper within the adon-servant structure. The Egyptian master recognizes that 'YHWH was with him' (v. 3) — the pagan adon can see YHWH's blessing on his Hebrew servant.
YHWH does not override the adon-structure but works through it: the adon gives Joseph greater responsibility (v. 4), and the blessing expands until Joseph is over all of Egypt (Gen 41:40-41).
This is what the Lord God showed me: He was preparing swarms of locusts just after the king’s harvest, as the late spring crop was coming up.
Adonai YHWH in the vision-reports: 'Thus Adonai YHWH showed me.' Amos's seven-fold use of Adonai YHWH in chapter 7 is the formal prophetic invocation of the sovereign Lord — the one who shows the prophet what he intends, who responds to prophetic intercession (v. 2-3: 'I cried: Adonai YHWH, forgive! How can Jacob stand? He is so small. YHWH relented about this'), and who ultimately does not relent (v.
8: 'I will spare them no longer'). The Adonai YHWH combination is the prophet's way of saying: I am speaking on behalf of the sovereign covenant God.
“A son honors his father, and a servant his master. But if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is your fear of Me?” says the Lord of Hosts to you priests who despise My name. “But you ask, ‘How have we despised Your name?’
Adon in the covenant lawsuit: 'If I am adon, where is my reverence (morai)?' Malachi's covenant lawsuit against Israel uses the adon-servant relationship as the standard by which YHWH measures Israel's response. A servant reveres (yareh) his adon — but Israel's priests are offering defiled food on YHWH's altar (v. 7). The adon-standard exposes the covenant unfaithfulness: the God of Israel deserves the reverence a servant gives an adon, but he is not receiving it.
This is the theological use of adon as a covenant-accountability word.
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How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Denotes one who exercises authoritative control; applied to human masters and God alike, emphasizing dominion.
Denotes one who exercises authoritative control; applied to human masters and God alike, emphasizing dominion.
sovereign, i.e. controller (human or divine) BDB: lord Usage: lord, master, owner. Compare also names beginning with 'Adoni-'.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
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Showing 3 selected witnesses from 329 lexical occurrence verses.
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אָדוֹן (adon) is the word for 'lord' — and its theological weight is enormous precisely because it names the relationship before anything else. Before YHWH is Father, before he is Creator, before he is Savior: he is adon. The one who has authority. The one to whom allegiance is owed. The one in whose service the servant lives. The NT confession 'Jesus is Lord (Kyrios)' is the Greek translation of this Hebrew adon-confession: Jesus is adon, and all other loyalties are subordinate.
Psalm 110:1 is where this surfaces most clearly: David calls the Messiah 'my adon' — the one whom YHWH installs at his right hand, the one before whom enemies become a footstool. This Psalm lies behind more NT passages than any other OT text. When Jesus asks the Pharisees 'if David calls him Lord, whose son is he?' (Matt 22:45) he is not playing a riddle game — he is claiming to be the adon of Psalm 110:1, the one who sits at YHWH's right hand.
The congregation's recognition that Jesus is adon is the recognition that they are his servants — not reluctantly but joyfully, as the servants in John 15 who are also his friends.
Ps.110.1
אָדוֹן (adon) has a plural form אֲדֹנִים (adonim) used with a first-person suffix as אֲדֹנָי (Adonai) — 'my lords' as a plural-of-majesty title that becomes the primary spoken substitute for YHWH in Jewish liturgy. When a Masoretic text shows the consonants YHWH with the vowel points of Elohim (E-o-i-im), this is the scribal signal to read 'Adonai' aloud rather than the divine name.
The Latin 'Dominus' (Lord) and Greek 'Kyrios' (Lord) are the primary translation equivalents — and the NT's 'Jesus is Kyrios' confession (Phil 2:11, Rom 10:9) is the Greek form of 'Jesus is adon.' Cognate with Phoenician adon and the Greek mythological name Adonis (from Semitic adon, beloved lord — the dying and rising vegetation deity of Phoenician religion).
The Hebrew adon is reclaimed from its pagan context: the adon of Israel is the living covenant God, not a dying myth.
Psalm 110:1 is the NT's single most-quoted OT text. Matthew 22:44 (Jesus's question), Mark 12:36, Luke 20:42, Acts 2:34-35 (Peter's Pentecost sermon), 1 Corinthians 15:25, Hebrews 1:13, Hebrews 10:12-13 — all quote or allude to 'YHWH said to my adon: sit at my right hand.' The NT's Christological claim is that the adon of Psalm 110:1 is Jesus: he has ascended to the right hand of the Father and is reigning until his enemies are made his footstool.
Philippians 2:9-11 gives the adon-claim its most universal form: 'God has highly exalted him and given him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Kyrios).' This is the eschatological fulfillment of YHWH's address to the messianic adon: the footstool is being prepared. Romans 10:9 gives the adon-confession its soteriological form: 'if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord (Kyrios = adon) and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.'
The confession of Jesus as adon is the defining mark of the NT community.
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