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.

inscriptions: Ne/rwn ku/rioj⁴⁷, Ne/rwn o( ku/rioj (P. London. 1215; P. Oxy. 246; GOA 1038), Ne/rwn Kai=sar o( ku/rioj (O. Petr. 288; P. Oxy. 246); o( tou= panto_j ko/smou ku/rioj Ne/rwn (SIG 814)⁴⁸, and tw|= kuri/w| (Acts 25,26); to_n ui(o_n tou= megi/stou qew=n (IM 157b); 'Agaqo_j Dai/mwn th=j oi)koume/nhj a)rxh_ w!n te pa/ntwn a)gaqw=n (P. Oxy. 1021)⁴⁹; qeo_j Ne/rwn⁵⁰; a)gaqw|= qew|=⁵¹. He was also known as ‘son of god Claudius’ and ‘greatgrandson of god Sebastos’ qeou= Klaudi/ou ui(o/j ... qeou= Sebastou= a)po/gonoj⁵². An inscription from Salamis (c. 60-61 CE) calls him ‘god and savior’ (qew|= kai_ swth=ri)⁵³. In 66 CE, the Parthian king Tiradates addressed Nero as ‘master’ (de/spota) and ‘my god’ (to_n e)mo_n qeo/n) within the course of a short speech (Dio Cassius, 62.14), the exact terminology Dio Cassius claims Domitian employed (67.4.7), except that the two titles were not connected by kai/.

        Vespasian (69-79 CE) did not usually accept divine honors. He even jested as he died that he thought he was becoming a god (Suetonius, Vesp. 23.4; Dio Cassius, 66.17). Nevertheless, inscriptions refer to him as either ‘lord’ and ‘god’: Ou)espasiano_j o( ku/rioj (P. Oxy. 1439; SB 1927); Ou)espasiano_j au)tokra/twr o( ku/rioj (GOA 439; SC 3563); qeo_j Ou)espasiano/j (P. Oxy. 257; P. Oxy. 1112)⁵⁴. The Sicarii regarded God alone as their lord (qeo_n de_ mo/non h(gei=sqai despo/thn; Bell. iud. 7.411), and even under torture refused to acknowledge Vespasian as lord (Kai/sara despo/thn; Bell. iud. 7.418-419).

        This survey of texts indicates that the combined title ‘lord and god’ was applied to Ptolemaic rulers and to at least one Roman emperor prior to Domitian (i.e. Augustus, and perhaps to Nero). The separate titles ‘lord’ and ‘god’ were applied to all the Roman emperors treated above. Although Domitian was addressed by the title ‘lord and god’, the evidence suggests that other emperors were referred to by the same or similar terminology. Even though the