Adonai
ADONAI
One of the names of the Supreme Being in the Scriptures. The proper meaning of the word is “my Lords, ” in the plural number; as Adoni is my Lord, in the singular. The Jews, who either out of respect or superstition do not pronounce the name of Jehovah, read Adonai in the room of it, as often as they meet with Jehovah in the Hebrew text. But the ancient Jews were not so scrupulous; nor is there any law which forbids them to pronounce the name of God.
Fuente: Theological Dictionary
Adonai
Lord, ruler, lord of lords, a name bestowed upon God in the Old Testament. (Exodus 6) It is the perpetual substitute for the name Yahweh.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Adonai
Adonai (Hebrew meaning “lord, ruler”) is a name bestowed upon God in the Old Testament. It is retained in the Vulgate and its dependent versions, Exod., vi, 3; Judith, xvi, 16. No other name applied to God is more definite and more easily understood than this. Etymologically it is the plural of Adon, with the suffix of the possessive pronoun, first person, singular number. This plural has been subjected to various explanations. It may be looked upon as a plurale abstractum, and as such it would indicate the fullness of divine sway and point to God as the Lord of lords. This explanation has the endorsement of Hebrew grammarians, who distinguish a plurale virium, or virtutum. Others prefer to designate this form as plurale excellentiæ, magnitudinis, or plurale majestatis. To look upon it as a form of politeness such as the German Sie for du, or French volts for to is certainly not warranted by Hebrew usage. The possessive pronoun has no more significance in this word than it has in Rabbi (my master), Monsieur, or Madonna. Adonai is also the perpetual substitute for the ineffable Name Yahve, to which it lends its vowel signs. Whenever therefore, the word Yahve occurs in the text, the Jew will read Adonai.
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KAUTZSCH-GESENTIUS Hebræische Grammatik (Leipzig, 1896), DALMAN Der Gottesname and seine Geschichte (Berlin l889); STADE, Biblische Theologie des Alten Testaments (Tübingen, 1905).
E. HEINLEIN Transcribed by the Cloistered Dominican Nuns of the Monastery of the Infant Jesus, Lufkin, Texas Dedicated to God the Father
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume ICopyright © 1907 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Adonai
(Heb. Adonay, , prob. my master, in the plural form for the sake of intensity; see Gesenius, Thes. Heb. p. 329; Sept. , Vulg. Dominus, Auth. Vers. Lord, not in small capitals; but God, when that term has just preceded as a translation of Jehovah), a term employed in the Hebrews Scriptures by way of eminence to God, especially (in the Pentateuch always) where he is submissively or reverently addressed in his character of sovereign; frequently with other titles added. SEE JEHOVAH. The simple form , Adon (either with or without suffixes), is spoken of an owner or possessor in general, e.g. of property (1Ki 16:21), of slaves (Gen 24:14; Gen 24:27; Gen 39:2; Gen 39:7); hence, of kings, as rulers over their subjects (Isa 26:13), and of husbands, as lords of their wives (Gen 18:12); also of God, as proprietor of the world (Jos 3:13; Exo 23:17; Psa 114:7). It is also used of a ruler or governor (Gen 14:8); and hence as a title of respect in addressing, e.g. a father (Gen 31:35), a brother (Num 12:11), a royal consort (1Ki 1:17-18), and especially kings or nobles (2Sa 14:9; 1Ki 3:17). The plural is employed in a similar manner. The distinctive form, Adonai, never has the article; it is twice applied by God to himself (Job 28:28, where, however, many copies have Jehovah;
Isa 8:7, where, however, the expression may be only the prophets); a circumstance that may have arisen from the superstition of the Jews, who always point the sacred name Jehovah with its vowels, and even substitute it for that name in reading, so that in some cases it appears to have supplanted it in the text (Dan 9:3; Dan 9:7-9; Dan 9:15-16; Dan 9:19). It seems to have been written peculiarly () to distinguish it from the regular form (), which nevertheless occurs in its ordinary sense, once with a plural sense (Gen 19:2), but elsewhere as a singular (Gen 18:3; Gen 19:8). See LORD.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Adonai
This is one of the names peculiarly applied to the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. By way of distinguishing it from JEHOVAH, it is rendered Lord in our English Bibles, in smaller letters, while JEHOVAH, which is also translated Lord, is in capitals. The reader will find a striking proof of it. (Psa 110:1) The Lord said unto my Lord. The words in the original are, JEHOVAH said unto my Adonai. It is a sweet and interesting name of the Lord Jesus. It carries with it the idea of a stay, or helper, security, confidence.
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Adonai
a-don, ad-o-na (, ‘adhonay): A Divine name, translated Lord, and signifying, from its derivation, sovereignty. Its vowels are found in the Massoretic Text with the unpronounceable tetragrammaton , YHWH; and when the Hebrew reader came to these letters, he always substituted in pronunciation the word ‘adhonay. Its vowels combined with the tetragrammaton form the word Yahweh (Jehovah). See GOD, NAMES OF.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Adonai
[Ad’onai] See GOD.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Adonai
one of the names of God. This word in the plural number signifies my Lords. The Jews, who either out of respect or superstition, do not pronounce the name of Jehovah, read Adonai in the room of it, as often as they meet with Jehovah in the Hebrew text. But the ancient Jews were not so scrupulous. Neither is there any law which forbids them to pronounce any name of God.