Floyd O. Parker, «‘Our Lord and God’ in Rev 4,11: Evidence for the Late Date of Revelation?», Vol. 82 (2001) 207-231

This article challenges a commonly-held belief that the title ‘our Lord and God’ (Rev 4,11) served as a Christian counter-blast to the claim of the emperor Domitian to be dominus et deus noster. Despite the claims of several scholars that the title ‘our Lord and God’ does not appear in the OT, the data collected favors the view that the title in Rev 4,11 does indeed have its origin in the divine title ‘Lord and God’ found in the LXX and other Jewish sources. Consequently, the title is of no use in helping to determine the date of the book of Revelation.

concedes that ‘Thompson’s insistence that Domitian was not worshipped as ‘our lord and god’ may be strictly true, but it is equally true that Quintilian clearly sees him as worthy of divine honours, a detail which undermines, to some degree, Thompson’s point’¹⁹. The evidence does seem to favor Domitian’s acceptance of divine appellations and even of the specific title ‘our lord and god’, but whether or not he demanded the use of such honors is debatable. Having obtained an affirmative answer that the title was used of him, the next issue is whether the application of this title to him was unique, so much so that one could identify him as its sole bearer and the intended target of the alleged parody in Rev 4,11.

        The use of the titles ‘lord’ and ‘god’ in tandem in ruler cults predates the time of Domitian by more than a century in the Greek-speaking east. In the Hellenistic ruler cult, ‘lord and god’ was not an official title, but it was rather common nonetheless:

The title ‘god and lord’ is of interest, for it does not appear to be found earlier than Auletes. In P. Bouriant 12 (88 BCE) we have to_n me/giston qeo/n of Soter, but in BGU VIII we have q.k.k.b. four times: dia_ th_n tu/xhn tou= qeou= kai_ kuri/ou basile/wj (1764.8); tou= para_ tou= qeou= kai_ kuri/ou bas(ile/wj) (1789.3) and the plural tw=n qew=n kai_ kuri/wn basile/wn (1834.7 [51/50 BCE] and 1845.5); in 1838.1 (51/50 BCE) an official is described tw|= qeota/tw|= kai_ kuri/w|= strathgw|=²⁰.

        A papyrus from around the time of Ptolemy Auletes (c. 69-58 BCE) records that a religious association, dedicated to Zeus, was to arrange for a monthly banquet for its members ‘at which they should in a common room pouring libations, pray, and perform other customary rites on behalf of the god and lord, the king’ (u(pe/r te t[o]u= qeo[u=] kai_ kuri/o[u] basile/wj)²¹. The combined title is used at least twice in the Roman imperial period: