Psalm 110:1 word study

I’m studying the Hebrew word “לַֽאדֹנִ֗י” (adoni) found in Psalm 110:1. I want to (1) determine how many times this word is found in the Old Testament, and (2) the range of meaning for this word.

A search of the manuscript form of this word (“לַֽאדֹנִ֗י”) using the Lexham Hebrew Bible yields 36 hits. But a few sources indicate this word is found over 100 times in the Old Testament. Because of this, I suspect I’m not searching with the lemma of this word. For this word (“לַֽאדֹנִ֗י”), the ESV interlinear lists three root words with lemmas, but I don’t want to use these words to determine meaning because of a potential root fallacy.

How can I determine the lemma for the word לַֽאדֹנִ֗י, so I can determine times used, and the range of meaning? Thanks for your assistance Smile

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Rich DeRuiter

I’m studying the Hebrew word “לַֽאדֹנִ֗י” (adoni) found in Psalm 110:1. I want to (1) determine how many times this word is found in the Old Testament, and (2) the range of meaning for this word.

A search of the manuscript form of this word (“לַֽאדֹנִ֗י”) using the Lexham Hebrew Bible yields 36 hits. But a few sources indicate this word is found over 100 times in the Old Testament. Because of this, I suspect I’m not searching with the lemma of this word. For this word (“לַֽאדֹנִ֗י”), the ESV interlinear lists three root words with lemmas, but I don’t want to use these words to determine meaning because of a potential root fallacy.

How can I determine the lemma for the word לַֽאדֹנִ֗י, so I can determine times used, and the range of meaning? Thanks for your assistance

If you right click on "lord" (the second one in that verse), you'll see three forms (not three root words with lemmas); The one with the circle to the left of it is the lemma. The one below it, with the square root symbol is the root (includes nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.). The one above it, with the paragraph-type symbol is the manuscript form (exact form here).

If I understand you correctly you want to Search > This resource for the lemma form (אָדוֹן). In my search, I find 773 results in 710 verses in the NIV. If you wish, you can then change the Bible you search to the LHI (e.g.), but the results should be the same.

EDIT:

The simplest way to get the range of meaning is this: make sure the lemma is highlighted and from the left side of the same pop-up window select Bible Word Study.

Mark Barnes

First, let's define 'manuscript form', 'lemma', and root:

The manuscript form is the exact form of the word as it appears in the next. For a noun, it might be singular or plural. For a verb, it might be past, present, or future tense, and so on. It's so specific, you wouldn't necessarily find the word in a dictionary. For example, in your first sentence you use the word 'studying' (present continuous tense).
The lemma form is simply the form of that word in it 'natural' form. It's what you'd look up in a dictionary. So the lemma of 'studying' is 'study'.
The root is the word from which this word has grown. There will likely by many different words that have the same root. In this case, the root of 'study' is also 'study'. But that root is also the root of several other related words, including 'studious'.

What this means is that if you want to know the definition of a word, you must look at the lemma.

There is only one lemma for 'lord' (with the lowercase 'L') in Psalm 110:1, and only one root for that lemma. It's hard to know why you think you see three. To help us know, you'd need to describe it in more detail, or upload a screenshot. The lemma translated as 'lord' here is אָדוֹן. You can see that clearly on the context menu or the reverse-interlinear ribbon.

So to answer your question: to find the Greek/Hebrew lemma for and english word, either:

turn on the reverse-interlinear ribbon and look there, or
right-click on the word, select the lemma from the right-hand side (it has a broken circle icon and will say 'lemma' when you hover over it).

I'd recommend the latter option as you can then quickly go the the Bible Word Study which will answer your other questions.

Into Grace

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/976494#Comment_976494

Thank you Rich and Mark. I’m trying to perform a word study on the word that is in the Hebrew text. The Hebrew manuscripts don’t have the word “adon” (for the second Lord) that the ESV shows for the lemma (root word). The Hebrew text has the word “adoni” (to my Lord). While there is only one letter in difference, they are different words. Is there a lemma for the word “adoni” that is found in the Hebrew text? Thanks very much!

Phil Quigley

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/976494#Comment_976494

He may be seeing 3 roots for this particular instance. In this instance one root may be the lamed preposition , one adon, and one the 1st common singular pronominal suffix. I would have to look to verify

Into Grace

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/976504#Comment_976504

Thanks, Phil. The exegetical guide shows three different words (to my Lord) for the Hebrew word לַֽאדֹנִ֗י. Is there a lemma for this Hebrew word? Thanks.

Mark Barnes

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/976501#Comment_976501

The Hebrew manuscripts don’t have the word “adon” (for the second Lord) that the ESV shows for the lemma (root word). The Hebrew text has the word “adoni” (to my Lord). While there is only one letter in difference, they are different words. Is there a lemma for the word “adoni” that is found in the Hebrew text? Thanks very much!

I think you need to read my definitions for "manuscript form" and "lemma" and "root" again. You haven't understood what those words mean, and that is what is confusing you.

Specifically "lemma" is not equivalent to "root word". They are different concepts.

Mark Barnes

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/976506#Comment_976506

Thanks, Phil. The exegetical guide shows three different words (to my Lord) for the Hebrew word לַֽאדֹנִ֗י. Is there a lemma for this Hebrew word? Thanks.

You didn't mention the exegetical guide before. You only mentioned searching and the interlinear. That's why our answers focused on the context menu and interlinear ribbon. The Exegetical Guide is a slightly more advanced tool. I think you would be better sticking to the interlinear at first. Nonetheless, I'll try and explain what's going on in the Exegetical Guide.

I'm over-simplifying this, but Hebrew creates forms of words by adding suffixes or prefixes. But the lemma, remember, is the dictionary form of the word. Once you start adding prefixes and suffixes, it's not a lemma any longer because dictionary entries don't have prefixes and suffixes. To use an English example, "studying" doesn't have an entry in the dictionary. You have to look up "study", and perhaps "-ing" to find the meaning of "studying".

adoni has a suffix (so adon-i), where the i means 'my'. So adoni isn't a lemma, and you can't really say it 'has' a lemma. Instead you would say it is the lemma adon, with a pronominal suffix.

That means if you want to understand what adoni means, you look up adon in a lexicon, and then "-i" (see again the English example above).

Into Grace

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/976508#Comment_976508

Thanks, Phil. The exegetical guide shows three different words (to my Lord) for the Hebrew word לַֽאדֹנִ֗י. Is there a lemma for this Hebrew word? Thanks.

You didn't mention the exegetical guide before. You only mentioned searching and the interlinear. That's why our answers focused on the context menu and interlinear ribbon. The Exegetical Guide is a slightly more advanced tool. I think you would be better sticking to the interlinear at first. Nonetheless, I'll try and explain what's going on in the Exegetical Guide.

I'm over-simplifying this, but Hebrew creates forms of words by adding suffixes or prefixes. But the lemma, remember, is the dictionary form of the word. Once you start adding prefixes and suffixes, it's not a lemma any longer because dictionary entries don't have prefixes and suffixes. To use an English example, "studying" doesn't have an entry in the dictionary. You have to look up "study", and perhaps "-ing" to find the meaning of "studying".

adoni has a suffix (so adon-i), where the i means 'my'. So adoni isn't a lemma, and you can't really say it 'has' a lemma. Instead you would say it is the lemma adon, with a pronominal suffix.

That means if you want to understand what adoni means, you look up adon in a lexicon, and then "-i" (see again the English example above).

Thank, Mark. Your explanation is "dialed in." Now I understand a lemma search is not possible on the word לַֽאדֹנִ֗י because it contains the suffix "i." Without the suffix, it is "adon." While I have a lot to learn, your explanation is very helpful. Thank you.