Lord, Lord: More than a Manner of Speech?

When Jesus used the expression "Lord Lord", was it something other than a manner of speech. There are denominations that deny the Jesus was anything other than an ordinary man. As I read in the Old Testament, I frequently find texts that are quoted or hinted at in the New Testament. Jesus frequently refers to himself---- for example "I am the Good Shepherd---- using concepts that are applied to God in the OT. It seems that Jesus seldom came out and said directly "I am the Messiah" or "I am God", but he said these things repeatedly through indirect language to those who were familiar with the OT. Could the phrase "Lord Lord" be one of these indirect hints about his identity?

There is the possibility that it is just an emphatic manner of speaking such as in these examples:

Luke 10:41---- But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things....

Luke 22:31---- Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat....

Following are the NT instances where Jesus uses the phrase "Lord Lord". In all of these instances, Jesus is not speaking emphatically in the same way as he said "Martha, Martha" or "Simon, Simon"; the "Lord, Lord" is spoken in the middle of a sentence. Luke 6:46 is perhaps the example that is least likely to be just a manner of emphasis---- the "why do you call me 'Lord, Lord'" suggests that the "Lord, Lord", as a repetition, is a name or a title.

Matthew 7:21-23---- "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.'

Matthew 25:10-12---- And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut. Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, lord, open to us.' But he answered, 'Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.'

Luke 6:46---- Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do what I tell you?

If we start from a traditional Christian/Trinitarian perspective, we, of course, assume that the title "Lord" is a reference to God. The word did not necessarily carry this kind of meaning---- we could as easily say the same thing with the word "master". Is the repetition "Lord, Lord" merely an emphatic way of saying "master, master". Is it, for example, no different, apart from emphasis, than the use of "master" in the following texts?

Matthew 13:27---- And the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, 'Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds?'

Matthew 25:20---- And he who had received the five talents came forward, bringing five talents more, saying, 'Master, you delivered to me five talents; here I have made five talents more.' (In the KJV, it is "Lord, thou deliveresdt....")

Unfortunately, most English versions obscure the fact that the same Greek word---- κύριε (kyrie) ---- is used in all of these instances, for both "Lord" and "Master". The word "kyrie" (Strong's #2962) is a very common one in the NT. Here are some more examples---- translating "kyrie" as "sir"---- where the word is used in a context that is obviously not referring to God.

Matthew 21:28-30---- "What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work in the vineyard today.' And he answered, 'I will not,' but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, 'I go, sir,' but did not go.

Matthew 27:62,63---- The next day, that is, after the day of Preparation, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered before Pilate and said, "Sir, we remember how that impostor said, while he was still alive, 'After three days I will rise.'

Luke 13:6-8---- And he told this parable: "A man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it and found none. And he said to the vinedresser, 'Look, for three years now I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and I find none. Cut it down. Why should it use up the ground?' And he answered him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and put on manure.

Luke 14:21,22---- So the servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house became angry and said to his servant, 'Go out quickly to the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor and crippled and blind and lame.' And the servant said, 'Sir, what you commanded has been done, and still there is room.'

Luke 12:21---- So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."

John 20:15---- Jesus said to her, "Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?" Supposing him to be the gardener, she said to him, "Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have laid him, and I will take him away."

It is clear from these examples, that the word "kyrie", as a single word, can not be convincingly argued as anything other than a title of respect. Is there something special, however, about the repetition in "Lord, Lord"----- "kyrie, kyrie"?

There are a number of examples in the Septuagint where the repeatious phrase "kyrie kyrie" is used. Here are some examples. In each example the Greek text will be followed by the English and then, for the phrase highlighted in bold, the Hebrew.

Deuteronomy 3:24---- κύριε κύριε σὺ ἤρξω δεῖξαι τῷ σῷ θεράποντι τὴν ἰσχύν σου καὶ τὴν δύναμίν σου καὶ τὴν χεῖρα τὴν κραταιὰν καὶ τὸν βραχίονα τὸν ὑψηλόν τίς γάρ ἐστιν θεὸς ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ ἢ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς ὅστις ποιήσει καθὰ σὺ ἐποίησας καὶ κατὰ τὴν ἰσχύν σου ----- O Lord GOD, you have only begun to show your servant your greatness and your might; what god in heaven or on earth can perform deeds and mighty acts like yours! ----- אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה

Deuteronomy 9:26---- καὶ εὐξάμην πρὸς τὸν θεὸν καὶ εἶπα κύριε κύριε βασιλεῦ τῶν θεῶν μὴ ἐξολεθρεύσῃς τὸν λαόν σου καὶ τὴν μερίδα σου ἣν ἐλυτρώσω ἐν τῇ ἰσχύι σου τῇ μεγάλῃ οὓς ἐξήγαγες ἐκ γῆς αἰγύπτου ἐν τῇ ἰσχύι σου τῇ μεγάλῃ καὶ ἐν τῇ χειρί σου τῇ κραταιᾷ καὶ ἐν τῷ βραχίονί σου τῷ ὑψηλῷ ---- I prayed to the LORD and said, "Lord GOD, do not destroy the people who are your very own possession, whom you redeemed in your greatness, whom you brought out of Egypt with a mighty hand. ---- אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה

1 Kings 8:53---- ὅτι σὺ διέστειλας αὐτοὺς σαυτῷ εἰς κληρονομίαν ἐκ πάντων τῶν λαῶν τῆς γῆς καθὼς ἐλάλησας ἐν χειρὶ δούλου σου μωυσῆ ἐν τῷ ἐξαγαγεῖν σε τοὺς πατέρας ἡμῶν ἐκ γῆς αἰγύπτου κύριε κύριε---- For you have separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your heritage, just as you promised through Moses, your servant, when you brought our ancestors out of Egypt, O Lord GOD.---- אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה

Psalm 109:21---- καὶ σύ κύριε κύριε ποίησον μετ' ἐμοῦ ἔλεος ἕνεκεν τοῦ ὀνόματός σου ὅτι χρηστὸν τὸ ἔλεός σου---- But you, O LORD my Lord, act on my behalf for your name's sake; because your steadfast love is good, deliver me.---- יְהוִה אֲדֹנָי

Ezekiel 20:49---- καὶ εἶπα μηδαμῶς κύριε κύριε αὐτοὶ λέγουσιν πρός με οὐχὶ παραβολή ἐστιν λεγομένη αὕτη---- Then I said, "Ah Lord GOD! they are saying of me, 'Is he not a maker of allegories?'"---- אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה

Amos 7:5---- καὶ εἶπα κύριε κύριε κόπασον δή τίς ἀναστήσει τὸν ιακωβ ὅτι ὀλιγοστός ἐστιν ---- Then I said, "O Lord GOD, cease, I beg you! How can Jacob stand? He is so small!" ---- אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה

There are also some instances of this phrase in the Apocrypha:

2 Maccabees 1:24---- ἦν δὲ ἡ προσευχὴ τὸν τρόπον ἔχουσα τοῦτον κύριε κύριε ὁ θεός ὁ πάντων κτίστης ὁ φοβερὸς καὶ ἰσχυρὸς καὶ δίκαιος καὶ ἐλεήμων ὁ μόνος βασιλεὺς καὶ χρηστός---- The prayer was to this effect: "O Lord, Lord God, Creator of all things, you are awe-inspiring and strong and just and merciful, you alone are king and are kind,

3 Maccabees 2:2---- κύριε κύριε βασιλεῦ τῶν οὐρανῶν καὶ δέσποτα πάσης κτίσεως ἅγιε ἐν ἁγίοις μόναρχε παντοκράτωρ πρόσχες ἡμῖν καταπονουμένοις ὑπὸ ἀνοσίου καὶ βεβήλου θράσει καὶ σθένει πεφρυαγμένου---- Lord, Lord, king of the heavens, and sovereign of all creation, holy among the holy ones, the only ruler, almighty, give attention to us who are suffering grievously from an impious and profane man, puffed up in his audacity and power.

Where did this repetition come from? In the Hebrew examples, above, the words are not repeated. One of the words is "אֲדֹנָי"--- pronounced "adonai" and meaning "my lord" or "my master"---- and the other word is the tetragrammaton, the "Hebrew name of God" written without all the vowels as "יְהוִה"---- thought to have been pronounced "Yahweh" and sometimes written as "Jehovah", "YHWH" or "YHVH". Since the name was never spoken, the true pronunciation is not known. In in the Hebrew tradition, whenever the name of God is read aloud from the bible, the word "adonai" (Lord) is spoken in its place. We follow a similar practice in English translations, generally substituting LORD---- all capitals---- in the place of the tetragrammaton. What happens when both "adonai" and the tetragrammaton occur as adjacent words---- "אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה" or "יְהוִה אֲדֹנָי"----in the same verse? In the first instance, to avoid the repetition it is generally translated in English as "Lord GOD"; notice, that to show which is the name of God, the word "Lord" is not capitalized and the word "GOD" is capitalized. In the second instance, the NRSV translates it as "LORD my Lord". The Septuagint follows a similar approach in many instances, translating these words, for example, as "κύριέ μου κύριε" (literally "lord my lord"). In a few instances, however, the Septuagint translates these pairs of words as "kyrie kyrie" or "Lord Lord".

When Jesus uses the phrase "Lord, Lord" ---- "kyrie, kyrie"----- is he hinting at something more than just an emphatic "master, master"? His general tendency to hint at his identity with Old Testament allusions and the contexts in which he uses these phrases, suggesting something other than emphasis, are possible evidence that "Lord, Lord" may be a another subtle way that Jesus used to communicate to his listeners that he is "אֲדֹנָי יְהוִה" ---- "Adonai YHVH"---- "Lord YHVH".