Christian Greek Scriptures except Titus and the letters of John. It may refer to a “master” of a house, vineyard or harvest (Mark 13:35; Matt. 20:8; Luke 10:2), or to a temporal ruler such as the Roman emperor, Governor Festus’ “Lord.”—Acts 25:24-26.

Kyʹri·os was the title of address employed by slaves to their master and by children to their father, as well as by other individuals in cases where it might be the equivalent of the English “sir.” (Matt. 13:27; 21:29; John 12:21) It appears most frequently with reference to Jesus Christ, who is “Lord [Kyʹri·os] to the glory of God the Father.” (Phil. 2:9-11; Mark 7:26-28; Acts 2:36; 10:36 and many other texts.) The term corresponds to the Hebrew ʼA·dhohnʹ. In the Hebrew Scriptures the title “Lord [‘A·dhohn’ or, at times, ʼAdho·nayʹ, the plural form of excellence]” is applied to Jehovah God, the “Lord of lords.” (Deut. 10:17) As God’s created Son and Servant, Jesus Christ therefore properly addresses his Father and God (John 20:17) as “Lord” (ʼAdho·nay’ or Kyʹri·os), the One having superior power and authority, his Head. (Matt. 11:25; 1 Cor. 11:3) As the one exalted to his Father’s right hand, Jesus is “Lord of lords” as respects all except his Father, God the Almighty.—Rev. 17:14; 19:15, 16; compare 1 Corinthians 15:27, 28; see LORD.

ITS USE IN PLACE OF THE DIVINE NAME

As shown in the article JEHOVAH, during the early centuries of the Common Era the practice developed of substituting the words Kyʹri·os (Lord) and The·osʹ (God) for the Divine Name, Jehovah, in copies of the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Scriptures. Other translations, such as the Latin Vulgate, the Douay Version (based on the Vulgate), and the King James or Authorized Version, as well as some modern translations (AT, RS), followed a similar practice. The Divine Name was replaced by the terms for “God” and “Lord,” generally in all-capital letters to indicate the substitution for the Tetragrammaton or Divine Name.

In departing from this practice, the translation committee of the American Standard Version of 1901 stated: “. . . the American Revisers, after a careful consideration, were brought to the unanimous conviction that a Jewish superstition, which regarded the Divine Name as too sacred to be uttered, ought no longer to dominate in the English or any other version of the Old Testament, as it fortunately does not in the numerous versions made by modern missionaries. . . . This personal name [Jehovah], with its wealth of sacred associations, is now restored to the place in the sacred text to which it has an unquestionable claim.”—Preface, p. iv.

A number of translations since then (The Anchor Bible, The Jerusalem Bible [English and French], the Nácar-Colunga and the Bover-Cantera translations [both in Spanish], and others) have consistently translated the Tetragrammaton, using the rendering “Yahweh” or a similar form.

Under the heading JEHOVAH (Use of the Name in the Christian Greek Scriptures), evidence is also presented to show that the Divine Name, Jehovah, was used in the original writings of the Christian Greek Scriptures, from Matthew to Revelation. On this basis the New World Translation, used throughout this work, has restored the Divine Name in its translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, doing so a total of 237 times. Other translations had made similar restorations, particularly when translating the Christian Greek Scriptures into Hebrew. A Hebrew version by a Roman Catholic translator in 1668 restored the Divine Name in its rendering of the Christian Greek Scriptures.—See Foreword of New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, 1950 edition, pp. 21-23.

In answering the question, “How is a modern translator to know or determine when to render the Greek words Κύριος [Kyʹri·os] and Θεός [The·osʹ] into the divine name in his version?”, the New World Translation Committee states: “By determining where the inspired Christian writers have quoted from the Hebrew Scriptures. Then he must refer back to the original to locate whether the divine name appears there. This way he can determine the identity to give to kyʹri·os and the·osʹ and he can then clothe them with personality.” Explaining further, the Committee said: “To avoid overstepping the bounds of a translator into the field of exegesis, we have tried to be most cautious about rendering the divine name, always carefully considering the Hebrew Scriptures. We have looked for some agreement with us by the Hebrew versions we consulted to confirm our own rendering. Thus, out of the 237 times that we have rendered the divine name in the body of our version, there are only two instances where we have no support or agreement from any of the Hebrew versions. But in these two instances, namely, Ephesians 6:8 and Colossians 3:13, we feel strongly supported by the context and by related texts in rendering the divine name. The notes in our lower margin [of NW, 1950 edition] show the support we have for our renderings from the Hebrew versions and other authorities.”

LAADAH

(Laʹa·dah) [perhaps, having a fat neck or throat].

A descendant of Judah and the second named of Shelah’s two sons. He is referred to as “the father of Mareshah.”—1 Chron. 4:21.

LABAN

(Laʹban) [white].

1. The grandson of Abraham’s brother Nahor. He was the son of Bethuel and the brother of Rebekah (Gen. 24:15, 29; 28:5), and was the father of Leah and Rachel. (Gen. 29:16) Laban resided at the city of Haran in Paddan-aram, an area of Mesopotamia.—Gen. 24:10; 27:43; 28:6; 29:4, 5.

Laban is called “the son of Bethuel the Syrian [literally, “the Aramaean”].” He is also referred to as “Laban the Syrian.” (Gen. 28:5; 25:20; 31:20, 24) This designation is fitting in view of the fact that he was a resident of Paddan-aram, which means “the plain (flatlands) of Aram,” or Syria. Laban was a Shemite dwelling in a region occupied by persons speaking Aramaic, a Semitic language.

To the vicinity just mentioned, aged Abraham sent his servant to find a wife for Isaac. (Gen. 24:1-4, 10) When Laban heard Rebekah’s account of her encounter with Abraham’s servant and saw the gifts she had been given, he went running to the servant, addressed him as one blessed by Jehovah, and extended hospitality to him. (Gen. 24:28-32) Laban subsequently took a leading part in the negotiations concerning the marriage of Rebekah, the approval for the marriage coming from both him and his father, Bethuel.—Gen. 24:50-61.

Years later, to escape Esau’s vengeance and to obtain a wife, Jacob traveled to the home of his uncle Laban at Haran. (Gen. 27:41–28:5) By this time Laban had two daughters, Leah and Rachel (Gen. 29:16), if not also sons. (Gen. 31:1) Laban made an agreement with Jacob that for seven years of service he would give Jacob his youngest daughter, Rachel, as wife. However, Laban tricked Jacob on his wedding night by substituting the older daughter Leah for Rachel, brushing Jacob’s protests aside by appealing to local custom and then offering Rachel to Jacob as a second wife, if Jacob would serve him for an additional seven years.—Gen. 29:13-28.

When Jacob finally wished to depart, Laban urged him to remain and continue serving him for wages. (Gen. 30:25-28) The agreement was that Jacob could keep for himself all the speckled and color-patched sheep, the dark-brown sheep among the young rams and any color-patched and speckled she-goats. (Gen. 30:31-34) But Jacob’s later words to Leah and Rachel and also to Laban (Gen. 31:4-9, 41) indicate