mas ́ter (ארון, ‘ādhōn, בּעל, ba‛al, רבּי, rabbī; δεσπότης, despótēs, διδάσκαλος, didáskalos, κύριος, kúrios, ῥαββί, rhabbí): “Master,” when the translation of ‘ādhōn, “ruler,” “lord” (Sir), often translated “lord,” denotes generally the owner or master of a servant or slave (Genesis 24:9, etc.; Genesis 39:2, etc.; Exodus 21:4, etc.; Deuteronomy 23:15 bis; 2 Samuel 9:9, 9:10 twice; Proverbs 30:10); elsewhere it is rather “lord” or “ruler” (often king, e.g. 1 Samuel 24:6, 24:8; 26:16); in the plural ‘ădhonīm, it is, as the rule, used only of God (but see Genesis 19:2, 19:18; Deuteronomy 10:17; Psalms 136:3, “Lord of lords”; Isaiah 26:13, “other lords”; Isaiah 19:4 (Hebrew “lords”); Isaiah 24:2). Ba‛al, “lord,” “owner,” is translated “master”: “the master of the house” (Exodus 22:8; Judges 19:22, 19:23); “the ass his master’s crib” (Isaiah 1:3). We have it also translated “masters of assemblies” (Ecclesiastes 12:11). See ASSEMBLIES, MASTERS OF. Compare Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 32:1, “master (of a feast),” the Revised Version “ruler”; John 2:9, “ruler of the feast”; rabh (Daniel 1:3; Jonah 1:6, “shipmaster”); rabh, Aramaic, “great,” “mighty,” “elder” (Daniel 4:9; 5:11,” master of the magicians”); also sar, “head” or “chief” (Exodus 1:11, “taskmasters”; 1 Chronicles 15:27, “master of the song,” the Revised Version margin “the carrying of the ark, Hebrew the lifting up”); ‛ūr, “to call,” “to awake,” is also rendered “master” in the King James Version, “The Lord will cut off the man that doeth this, the master and the scholar,” margin “him that waketh and him that answereth,” the Revised Version as the King James Version margin (Malachi 2:12).
The verb “to master” does not occur in the Old Testament, but we have in Apocrypha (The Wisdom of Solomon 12:18) “mastering thy power” (despózōn ischúos), the Revised Version “being sovereign over (thy) strengh.”
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Author: International Std. Bible Encyclopedia
Keywords: Master, Ruler, Adon, Adhon, adoni, Sir, Servitude, lord, owner
Bible reference(s): 1 Samuel 24:6, 1 Samuel 26:16, 2 Samuel 9:9, Deuteronomy 10:17, Deuteronomy 23:15, Ecclesiastes 12:11, Exodus 21:4, Exodus 22:8, Genesis 19:2, Genesis 24:9, Genesis 39:2, Isaiah 1:3, Isaiah 19:4, Isaiah 24:2, Isaiah 26:13, Judges 19:22, Proverbs 30:10, Psalms 136:3, 1 Timothy 6:2, 2 Timothy 2:21, Luke 2:29, Luke 3:12, Mark 13:35, Mark 4:38, Matthew 1:20, Matthew 15:27, Matthew 23:8, Matthew 6:24, Matthew 8:19, Matthew 9:11, Romans 14:4
Source: James Orr (editor), The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 5 volume set.
Page indexed by: inWORD Bible Software.