ADONAY
(A·do·nayʹ; Heb., ʼAdho·nayʹ) [Lord].
The ending ay added to the Hebrew word ʼa·dhohnʹ (see ADON) is a different form of the plural of excellence. It is used exclusively of Jehovah and implies that he is Sovereign. Its use by men in addressing him suggests submissive acknowledgment of that great fact.—Gen. 15:2, 8; Deut. 3:24; Josh. 7:7.
Evidently by early in the Common Era the divine name, YHWH, had come to be regarded by the Jewish rabbis as too sacred to be pronounced. Instead, they substituted ʼAdho·nayʹ (sometimes ʼElo·himʹ) when reading the Scriptures aloud. The sopherim or scribes went even farther by replacing the divine name in the written text with ʼAdho·nayʹ 134 times. Later, the Masoretes, who copied the text with great care from the fifth to the ninth centuries of our Common Era, noted in the Masorah (their notes on the text) where the sopherim had made such changes. Hence, these 134 changes are known. (For a list see the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, 1961 edition, page 1453.) Taking this into account, there remain 298 places where ʼAdho·nayʹ did originally appear in the text.
The title ʼAdho·nayʹ is used mostly by the prophets, and much more frequently by Ezekiel than any other. Nearly every time he combines it with the divine name to form ʼAdho·nayʹ Yeho·wihʹ, “Lord Jehovah.” Another combination title, appearing sixteen times, is ʹAdho·nayʹ Yeho·wihʹ tseva·ʼohthʹ, “Sovereign Lord, Jehovah of armies,” and all but two of its occurrences (Ps. 69:6; Amos 9:5) are in Isaiah and Jeremiah. The title is used to reveal Jehovah as the One with the power and determination to avenge his oppressed people, but also to punish their unfaithfulness.