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.

Latin dominus et deus noster accurately renders o( ku/rioj kai_ o( qeo_j h(mw=n, one cannot guarantee this title is the sole possession of one emperor. Thus, it seems to go beyond the data to claim that the title ‘lord and god’ in Rev 4,11 could only refer to Domitian and securely date Revelation to his reign.

        While the evidence will not allow one to identify Domitian as ‘the’ emperor who used this title, the possibility that John used this title to parody some emperor or imperial claims in general remains a viable option. However, there is yet another option for the origin of the title that must be explored. To this subject we now turn our attention.

2. Usage of ‘Lord and God’ in the Septuagint

        Some scholars have ruled out a Jewish origin for the title ‘our Lord and God’ because an exact match for it cannot be found in the LXX and because it is uncharacteristic of Jewish divine nomenclature⁵⁵. Mowry writes:

The third phrase, o( ku/rio) kai_ o( qeo_j h(mw=n, appears in Rev 4 11. What is striking about this departure from traditional Jewish expression is that the word kai/ has been inserted in the customary title for Deity, ku/rioj o( qeo_j. The modification may seem to be quite innocuous but in reality was of great significance for Christians living at the close of the first century A.D. If the Seer wrote during the period of Domitian’s persecutions the inserted kai/ had subtle overtones of importance for Christians enduring martyrdom, for Domitian wished to be called Dominus et Deus noster, the Latin form of the title for deity appearing in Biblical documents only in this reference in the book of Revelation. It seems likely, therefore, that a Christian at the end of the first century in the face of powerful forces at work to destroy his faith has by the insertion of the kai/ into the customary title ku/rioj o( qeo_j reaffirmed his loyalty to God as his Creator and Savior⁵⁶.

 

        Beasley-Murray is even more adamant in denying the existence of a precise parallel in the LXX: ‘The precise phrase our Lord and God does not occur in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, but it is the exact rendering of the title, blasphemously claimed by the emperor Domitian, Dominus et Deus noster’⁵⁷. These statements are technically correct, for an ‘exact parallel’ cannot be found in the LXX.