Technical Paper

The Bible Translator

Translating Kyrios in
2020, Vol. 71(2) 221­–230
© The Author(s) 2020
Article reuse guidelines:
the Gospel of John sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/2051677020917200
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journals.sagepub.com/home/tbt

Paul C. J. Riley
Equip Bible College, Australia

Abstract
This article is a practical guide for translating kyrios in the Gospel of John. It considers
the context of those translating into minority languages and vernaculars, especially
when their language communities have access to a pre-existing translation in a
language of wider communication. It takes into account the importance of textual
criticism, semantics, acceptability, narrative, and paratext when trying to address
challenges in Bible translation.

Keywords
Gospel of John, kyrios, translation

1. Kyrios
Nida and Louw, in their Lexical Semantics of the Greek New Testament
(1992, 121), identified kyrios as a term in need of further study due to its
semantic complexity. Having completed a detailed study of the semantics
of kyrios (Riley 2019b), my goal in this article is to draw on my previ-
ous research to provide a practical guide for addressing the challenges of
translating kyrios in the Gospel of John. I will consider the context of those
translating into minority languages and vernaculars, especially when their
language communities have access to a pre-existing translation in a lan-
guage of wider communication. I will take into account the importance of
textual criticism, semantics, acceptability, narrative, and paratext when
trying to address the challenge of translating kyrios in the Gospel of John.
According to Louw and Nida, the senses of kyrios are across four
semantic domains. First, in the domain “Supernatural Beings and Powers,”

Corresponding author:
Paul C. J. Riley, Equip Bible College, 147-155 Hogans Road, Hoppers Crossing, Victoria 3030,
Australia.
Email: paulcjriley@gmail.com
222 The Bible Translator 71(2)

kyrios means “one who exercises supernatural authority over mankind” (LN
§12.9).1 Second, in the domain for “possessing, transferring and exchang-
ing,” it is used for “one who owns and controls property” (LN §57.12).
Third, in the “controlling and ruling” domain, kyrios means “one who rules
or exercises authority over others” (LN §37.51). Fourth, within the domain
of “status,” kyrios is “a title of respect used in addressing or speaking
of a man” (LN §87.53).

2. Challenges
There are four challenges when translating kyrios in the Gospel of John.
First, there are some key places in the book where there is textual varia-
tion involving kyrios. In those cases, the translator(s) will need to evalu-
ate the sometimes relatively balanced internal and external evidence. In
addition, the narrative features of the Gospel are also relevant for making
these textual decisions. Furthermore, in some cases, the acceptability of
the translation may be a feature in deciding on the final text to translate.
Second, the decision of how to translate kyrios overlaps with the diffi-
culty of translating other words with multiple senses. For each instance the
word is used in the text, the meaning at that particular point in the narrative
must first be determined before translating. In the Gospel of John, this is at
times clear to the reader of the Greek text. At other times, the decision is
more challenging.
Third, a decision needs to be made with respect to the status of kyrios as
a keyword in the translation. If it is decided that kyrios is a keyword, then
translators need to decide how this can work with the analysis of the term’s
meaning in context. There is no doubt that, in this case, there will be tension
between these two decisions to ensure a translation which is both accurate
in the immediate context and does justice to the author’s use of kyrios
throughout the text of the Gospel.
A fourth and closely related decision concerns the status of the Gospel
of John as a narrative. Perhaps more than any other book in the New
Testament, the Gospel of John exhibits tendencies towards ambiguity and
double meaning. In addition, this Gospel appears to have a rich interplay of
narrative features, including irony, which the author uses to great effect on
the reader. When characters use kyrios, readers see the difference between
what the characters mean and what the narrator means. This in turn chal-
lenges readers to consider who they believe Jesus is. The extent to which
the translator attempts to retain these features in the narrative impacts the
translation decision as well.

1
For other semantic analyses of kyrios, see the references in Riley 2019b, 19–20.
Riley: Translating Kyrios in the Gospel of John 223

3. Text
It is assumed that most translators are working from a combination of the
UBS Greek text and translations based on that text. In my detailed analy-
sis of the textual variants related to kyrios in the Gospel of John (Riley
2019b), I agreed that the UBS text presents the earliest recoverable reading
in almost every case. However, as there remains scope for improvement in
UBS5 to recover the best text, I want to discuss variants where a case can
be made against the reading in UBS5.
In John 4.1a, UBS5 reads Iēsous, and I have argued that the earliest
recoverable reading is kyrios. A strong case for this reading has been made
already by Van Belle (2002), and I have extended his argument, particu-
larly with evidence from narrative criticism (Riley 2019b, 59–65). In sum,
this verse is an example of the narrator in the Gospel of John using
kyrios to refer to Jesus. It reminds the reader of the identification of
Jesus as kyrios in 1.23. In addition, it heightens the reader’s awareness
of this aspect of Jesus’ identity when reading the encounter of Jesus and
the Samaritan woman (4.1-26), in which she addresses Jesus as kyrios
three times. In 4.1, the referent of the word is initially ambiguous, as
the reader asks, “Who is this kyrios?” This may have been a reason for
the change to Iēsous, resulting in greater textual explicitness (Riley 2019a).
Therefore, I argue that translators should consider the merits of translating
kyrios in 4.1a.
In 9.38-39a, UBS5 has the man born blind addressing Jesus as
kyrios, and I have argued that this longer text is secondary. Two scholars,
Calvin Porter (1967) and Michael Theophilos (2012), have made detailed
cases that this variant is a later expansion of the text. As with 4.1, I have
built on their arguments, particularly with the application of narrative
criticism (Riley 2019b, 114–22). The external evidence for the shorter
reading is early and diverse (𝔓75 ‫ *א‬W itb, (l) copsams, ach2, mf), and there
are good reasons to believe that these verses imply that the man has seen
Jesus’ glory, and therefore recognized Jesus’ divine identity. If so, the use
of kyrios appears to be out of place, occurring so early in the narrative,
notably before the crucifixion (glorification) and resurrection of Jesus.
Therefore, I argue that the earliest recoverable text of John 9 did not
include vv. 38-39a.
Despite the strength of the case against the inclusion of vv. 38-39a, a sig-
nificant issue needs to be considered by translators. That is the concern for
acceptability. I am not aware of any recent translation that omits 9.38-39a.
As a result, I assume any community that already has access to Scripture
in some form will have vv. 38-39a in pre-existing translations. In this situa-
tion, Carl Gross’s 2003 discussion of the criterion of “acceptability” needs
to be considered by the translation team. If the removal of 9.38-39a from the
224 The Bible Translator 71(2)

main text would have adverse effects on the acceptability of the translation,
the team will need to decide whether it is best to retain the variant in the
main text, and provide an explanation of its status in the paratext.2

4. Meaning
The table below provides the Louw and Nida category for each occurrence
of kyrios in the Gospel of John. Detailed arguments for these results are
available in my previous study of this topic.3 A gloss is used as a convenient
pointer to the four senses of kyrios outlined above.

Ref Speaker Referent Category4

1.23 Isaiah (John) God/Jesus Lord

4.1 Narrator Jesus Lord
4.11 Samaritan Woman Jesus Sir
4.15 Samaritan Woman Jesus Sir
4.19 Samaritan Woman Jesus Sir
4.49 Royal official Jesus Sir
5.7 Man at the pool Jesus Sir
6.23 Narrator Jesus Lord
6.34 Crowd Jesus Sir
6.68 Peter5 Jesus Master
8.11 Woman caught in adultery Jesus Sir6
9.36 Man born blind Jesus Master
9.38 Man born blind Jesus Master/Lord7
11.2 Narrator Jesus Lord
11.3 Mary and Martha Jesus Master
11.12 The Disciples Jesus Master

2
The issue of pre-existing Scripture translations applies also to the text of 7.53–8.11,
which includes kyrios at 8.11. Again, translation teams will need to decide how they balance
features of the main text and the available paratextual mechanisms to handle this issue.
3
The table is taken from Riley 2019b, 192–93, with the permission of the publisher.
4
“Sir” represents LN §87.53, “a title of respect used in addressing or speaking of
a man.” “Master” represents LN §37.51, “one who rules or exercises authority over
others.” “Owner” represents LN §57.12, “one who owns and controls property,
including especially servants and slaves.” “Lord” represents LN §12.9, a supernatural
being “who exercises supernatural authority.”
5
Peter speaks on behalf of the disciples.
6
Although I do not believe this verse was in the original text of the Gospel of John,
it is provided here for the sake of completeness, as it is assumed this passage will be
included in new translations.
7
See the discussion below on deciding between these two options.
Riley: Translating Kyrios in the Gospel of John 225

11.21 Martha Jesus Master

11.27 Martha Jesus Master
11.32 Mary of Bethany Jesus Master
11.34 Mary and Martha8 Jesus Master
11.39 Martha Jesus Master
12.13 Psalmist (Crowd) God Lord
12.21 The Greeks Philip Sir
12.38 Isaiah (Narrator) God Lord
12.38 Isaiah (Narrator) Jesus/God Lord
13.6 Peter Jesus Master
13.9 Peter Jesus Master
13.13 Jesus Jesus Master
13.14 Jesus Jesus Master
13.16 Jesus – Owner
13.25 Beloved Disciple Jesus Master
13.36 Peter Jesus Master
13.37 Peter Jesus Master
14.5 Thomas Jesus Master
14.8 Philip Jesus Master
14.22 Judas Jesus Master
15.15 Jesus – Owner
15.20 Jesus – Owner
20.2 Mary Magdalene Jesus Master
20.13 Mary Magdalene Jesus Master
20.15 Mary Magdalene Jesus Sir
20.18 Mary Magdalene Jesus Lord
20.20 Narrator Jesus Lord
20.25 Disciples Jesus Lord
20.28 Thomas Jesus Lord
21.7 Beloved Disciple Jesus Lord
21.7 Narrator Jesus Lord
21.12 Narrator Jesus Lord
21.15 Peter Jesus Lord
21.16 Peter Jesus Lord
21.17 Peter Jesus Lord
21.20 Beloved Disciple Jesus Master
21.21 Peter Jesus Lord

8
There is no explicit subject. The context suggests Mary and Martha as the most suitable
subject.
226 The Bible Translator 71(2)

5. Pre-existing translations
Before presenting some strategies for translating kyrios in new translations of
the Gospel of John, it is important to survey pre-existing translations. Much
can be learned as we consider different approaches to translating kyrios.
Some translations show little to no variation in word choice for trans-
lating kyrios. The translator(s) of the Latin Vulgate did not seem to face a
challenge when making choices regarding kyrios. From 1.23 to 21.21, the
translation has a single Latin word, dominus. This translation is made possi-
ble by the semantic overlap between kyrios and dominus. At the same time,
it may also reflect a desire to achieve concordance in the translation, where
each Greek word is always represented by a single Latin word. Even if this
approach did play a role in the translation decisions, the translation gives
the reader of the receptor language a similar experience to the reader of the
Greek. A single word, with a wide semantic range, is employed in different
contexts with different senses, and the reader must construe the meaning
in context for each occurrence. Another translation that exhibits a similar
overall pattern to the Vulgate is the German Lutherbibel, which has Herr in
each case. For French, the Segond has Seigneur throughout, except for three
cases in the upper-room discourse where kyrios is contrasted with doulos.
In 13.16, seigneur is not capitalized, clarifying a distinction with Seigneur,
and in 15.15 and 15.20 maître is employed. For Spanish, the Reina Valera
uses Señor throughout, except for 13.16; 15.15; and 15.20, where señor is
not capitalized.
Other translations reveal the effort of the translators to make word
choices that reflect contextual meaning. This is evident in a range of English
translations. Unlike the languages surveyed above, English does not have
a single word with a similar semantic range to kyrios. In NRSV, for exam-
ple, the translators have chosen one term when kyrios is used as a term of
respect, employing sir throughout. For the three cases where kyrios means
“one who owns and controls property,” master is used. In all other cases,
those encompassing Louw and Nida’s first category, “one who exercises
supernatural authority over mankind,” and third category, “one who rules or
exercises authority over others,” the same term, Lord, is employed.
Two issues arise from this translation choice. If the reader understands
the capitalized Lord as an appropriate title for both divine and non-divine
figures, then the reader must discern in each context what the speaker means.
However, if this term is understood by the reader as referring to deity alone,
then there is no choice to be made. Each time a character addresses Jesus
as “Lord,” the reader will understand this as a confession of Jesus’ deity. If
the reader understands “Lord” in this way, several passages will be perplex-
ing. For example, Martha addresses Jesus as “Lord” while revealing that
she appears to doubt his power over death in the present (11.39), and Mary
Riley: Translating Kyrios in the Gospel of John 227

Magdalene calls Jesus “Lord” whilst searching for his dead body (20.2).
At the same time, the NRSV translation team’s concern for contextually
appropriate word choice can be seen by comparing it to RSV. For example,
in 6.34, RSV has the (unbelieving) crowd addressing Jesus as “Lord,” but
NRSV has revised this to “Sir.” This same change in the translation can be
seen in 8.11, when the woman caught in adultery addresses Jesus as kyrie.
Finally, when the man born blind addresses Jesus twice as kyrie in the space
of two verses, NRSV has “Sir” (9.36), then “Lord” (9.38), reflecting a shift
in his understanding of Jesus.
There are four insights that can be derived from this brief survey of pre-
existing translations of the Gospel of John. First, if a translation uses a term
in the receptor language that has significant semantic overlap with kyrios,
the reader of the translation will need to construe the meaning of each occur-
rence of the word based upon contextual constraints.9 This at the same time
provides a reading experience similar to that of readers of the Greek text,
but also requires significant cognitive effort to be expended whilst reading
or listening to the translation. Second, if it is possible to use a single term
that conveys more than one of the sense categories of kyrios, this allows
the reader to experience the narrative dynamic of irony when characters use
kyrios in ways that contrast with the narrator’s use. Third, when multiple
terms are used for translating kyrios, the reader is left with fewer challenges
when reading, as there is less scope to require semantic construal based upon
contextual factors alone. Rather, the conventional constraints related to the
term chosen provide much of the guidance needed to read the translation.
Fourth, the most significant difference in the four sense categories of kyrios
is between categories one (LN §12.9) and three (LN §37.51). While the third
category includes the notion of exercising authority, only the first includes the
idea of supernatural authority exercised by a supernatural being. Therefore,
it is paramount that translation choices facilitate the delineation of this differ-
ence, so that the reader is not led astray by a word that is reserved for deity in
contexts where the narrative does not support this sense category.

6. Strategies for translation

In light of these insights, the translation team will need to decide what kind of
reading experience they are providing to their readers. The team may decide
that it is best for the reader to construe the meaning of a word with a broad
semantic range based on contextual evidence. In this case, and depending
on the lexical stock of the receptor language, less than four separate expres-
sions could be chosen for equivalents to kyrios to cover its four semantic
categories. For example, it may be possible to find a term that overlaps

9
For contextual and conventional constraints, see Cruse 2011, 119–24.
228 The Bible Translator 71(2)

with semantic categories two and three, covering both owning and ruling.
However, if the team desires to translate in such a way that the reader is
not challenged to construe the meaning of the chosen terms in context, then
up to four separate terms may be needed in order to accurately communi-
cate the meaning of kyrios in contextually appropriate ways. Both of these
approaches have drawbacks. If a single term is chosen, the cognitive load
on the reader may distract from the readability of the translation. If multiple
terms are chosen, the reader misses a key strategy the author employs in the
narrative to highlight aspects of Jesus’ identity, which challenges the reader
to consider for themselves who they believe Jesus is.
Depending on the lexical stock of the receptor language, it may be pos-
sible to retain the narrative dynamic of irony, whilst producing a translation
that provides the reader with accurate and specific in-context translations of
kyrios. This can be achieved by treating kyrios in some sense as a keyword,
and choosing a base term for translation that communicates a sense cat-
egory, such as “respect.” Following the guidance of Louw and Nida, a base
term can be combined with other expressions that explicate its meaning in
context.10 For example, when Mary Magdalene is looking for the body of
Jesus, she refers to him as her kyrios (20.2). She then sees Jesus, but thinks
he is the gardener, and addresses him as kyrios (20.15). Then, after Jesus
reveals to her that he is returning to the Father, and Mary understands that
Jesus is a supernatural being, she confesses that she has seen the kyrios
(20.18). In this short stretch of narrative, kyrios is used with three senses.
If the base term is supplemented with qualifying phrases, such as “the one
I respect who rules over me” (20.2) and “the one I respect who is God”
(20.18), then the reader can experience the same dynamics as the first read-
ers of the Gospel of John, whilst also benefiting from explicit guidance as
to the meaning of kyrios in each occurrence.

7. Semantics and translations

There are some further considerations with regard to using the table of
semantic categories above in translation. First, in 1.23, John uses a quota-
tion of Isa 40.3 to refer to the coming of the God of Israel in Jesus, so has
a dual referent in mind. Translation teams need to consider translating in
such a way that allows their audience to make the same connections as the
original audience.
Second, only the narrator identifies Jesus as divine between 1.23 and
20.18. These occurrences are 4.1; 6.23; and 11.2. In each case, Jesus needs
to be identified with an expression that clarifies his divinity.

10
In LN §12.9, there is the example of using a base term, such as “chief” or “leader,” for
kyrios and then supplementing as necessary to explicate other semantic categories.
Riley: Translating Kyrios in the Gospel of John 229

Third, there are three references to God as kyrios in ch. 12. For all three,
it is appropriate to use the same expression as in 4.1; 6.23; and 11.2. This
clarifies for the reader that what Scripture says about the God of Israel—
that he is the divine Lord—the narrator of the Gospel of John is saying
about Jesus. This is further emphasized in 12.38 where there is a possible
reference to both God and Jesus.
Fourth, all other characters who address Jesus as kyrios between 1.23
and 20.18 are not presented as explicitly acknowledging Jesus’ divinity.
This issue was raised above in the analysis of NRSV, where several char-
acters address Jesus as “Lord” prior to his glorification. If the term chosen
could be used both for a “mere” mortal and for the divine Lord, this would
create the same dynamic found in the Latin, German, French, and Spanish
translations above, so that readers would need to construe the meaning in
context.
Fifth, in 9.38-39, the textual variant, which I have argued was not part
of the original text of John, has the man born blind addressing Jesus as
kyrios and his action toward Jesus is described with the verb proskyneō. If
the team has decided to include this variant in the main text, the criterion of
acceptability becomes a factor in the translation. If there is a desire to keep
the main text of the translation the same as a pre-existing translation, it may
be necessary to translate prosekynēsen as an act of worshiping someone as
divine, and to translate kyrios as a confession of belief in Jesus’ divinity.
However, the team may decide to retain the narrative dynamic of characters
not fully recognizing Jesus before his glorification. If so, the team would
need to translate kyrios according to LN category three (§37.51), so that
kyrios is used in the sense that Jesus exercises authority over the man, who
does not know Jesus is divine. In that case, prosekynēsen can be translated
as “prostrated in order to honor.”11 This proposal is an attempt to balance
the realities of translation projects utilizing paratextual aids for alternatives.
Sixth, from 20.18 on, kyrios should be translated in such a way that
the reader can understand that the characters know that Jesus is the divine
Lord.12 They have recognized his deity by virtue of his glorification.

8. Conclusion
In this article, I have provided some practical guidance for translators who
are wrestling with how to translate kyrios in the Gospel of John. I hope
that the guidance is potentially relevant to translating kyrios in the other
Gospels, and even translating other polysemous words in the Bible.

11
See LN §17.20.
12
The one exception to this is in 21.20, which contains a flashback to a time before the
crucifixion.
230 The Bible Translator 71(2)

References
Cruse, D. Alan. 2011. Meaning in Language: An Introduction to Semantics and
Pragmatics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Gross, Carl. 2003. “Acceptability—the Supreme Translation Principle?” The Bible
Translator 54: 424–34.
Louw, Johannes P., and Eugene A. Nida. 1996. Greek–English Lexicon of the
New Testament: Based on Semantic Domains. 2nd edition. 2 vols. New York:
United Bible Societies.
Nida, Eugene A., and Johannes P. Louw. 1992. Lexical Semantics of the Greek
New Testament. Atlanta: Scholars Press.
Porter, Calvin L. 1967. “John IX. 38, 39a: A Liturgical Addition to the Text.”
New Testament Studies 13: 387–94.
Riley, Paul C. J. 2019a. “Explicitness in New Testament Textual Criticism.”
Novum Testamentum 61: 88–101.
——. 2019b. The Lord of the Gospel of John. Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck.
Theophilos, Michael P. 2012. “An Assessment of the Authenticity of John 9:38-
39a.” Australian eJournal of Theology 19: 73–85.
Van Belle, Gilbert. 2002. “Κύριος or Ἰησοῦς in John 4,1?” Pages 159–74 in
New Testament Textual Criticism and Exegesis: Festschrift J. Delobel. Edited
by Adelbert Denaux. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

Abbreviations
LN Louw and Nida 1996 (in References)
NRSV New Revised Standard Version (1989)
RSV Revised Standard Version (1952)
UBS5 UBS Greek New Testament, 5th ed. (2014)