Adonai Meaning: What the Name Means in the Bible
Updated October 22, 2026. Counts from the full KJV and World English Bible text.
Adonai (Hebrew אֲדֹנָי) means my Lord, my Master. Strong's Hebrew dictionary lists it as H136 (Adonay). In the King James Version text, Lord GOD (Adonai Yahweh) appears 300 times in 290 verses.
The first verse in the King James Version text that matches is Genesis 15:2.
What Adonai means
Adonai comes from adon (lord, master; Strong's: sovereign, controller, human or divine). The form is a plural of rank with the ending for "my", literally "my lords", and it is used of God alone. Jewish readers say Adonai aloud wherever the written text has the name YHWH, so the word became the spoken stand-in for the name.
| Hebrew | אֲדֹנָי |
|---|---|
| Transliteration | Adonai (ʼăḏōnāy) |
| Literal meaning | my Lord, my Master |
| English Bibles print it as | Lord |
| Strong's | H136 אֲדֹנָי (Adonay): the Lord (used as a proper name of God only); short definition: Lord, Master |
Source: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Hebrew dictionary, public domain. Every Hebrew form, transliteration and definition on these pages was read against the matching Strong's entry on Biblehub on 2026-10-22. Verse text is the King James Version and the World English Bible, both public domain.
Where Adonai appears in the Bible
English Bibles print Adonai as Lord, in ordinary capitals, and print the name YHWH as LORD in small capitals. The same Lord also translates the Greek Kyrios in the New Testament, so a count of the word Lord cannot isolate Adonai and we leave that count out. The one pattern English text does mark is Adonai followed by YHWH, printed Lord GOD in the KJV and Lord Yahweh in the World English Bible.
| English text searched | KJV | WEB |
|---|---|---|
| Lord GOD (Adonai Yahweh) | 300290 verses | 288279 verses |
Books with the most matches (KJV: Lord GOD (Adonai Yahweh))
Found in 15 books in all.
First 40 of 290 verses (KJV, Lord GOD (Adonai Yahweh)): Genesis 15:2, Genesis 15:8, Exodus 23:17, Exodus 34:23, Deuteronomy 3:24, Deuteronomy 9:26, Joshua 7:7, Judges 6:22, Judges 16:28, 2 Samuel 7:18, 2 Samuel 7:19, 2 Samuel 7:20, 2 Samuel 7:28, 2 Samuel 7:29, 1 Kings 2:26, 1 Kings 8:53, Psalm 69:6, Psalm 71:5, Psalm 71:16, Psalm 73:28, Isaiah 7:7, Isaiah 10:23, Isaiah 10:24, Isaiah 22:5, Isaiah 22:12, Isaiah 22:14, Isaiah 22:15, Isaiah 25:8, Isaiah 28:16, Isaiah 28:22, Isaiah 30:15, Isaiah 40:10, Isaiah 48:16, Isaiah 49:22, Isaiah 50:4, Isaiah 50:5, Isaiah 50:7, Isaiah 50:9, Isaiah 52:4, Isaiah 56:8.
First use of Adonai
And Abram said, Lord GOD, what wilt thou give me, seeing I go childless, and the steward of my house is this Eliezer of Damascus?
Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?”
And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
and said, “My lord, if now I have found favor in your sight, please don’t go away from your servant.
Names related to Adonai
- Jehovahיְהוָה: LORD, the personal name of God
- Yahwehיהוה: the personal name of God, as the World English Bible writes it
- Elohimאֱלֹהִים: God, the general Hebrew word for deity
- Jehovah Sabaothיְהוָה צְבָאוֹת: the LORD of hosts
See all names: the names of God and their meanings.
Common questions
What does Adonai mean?
Adonai means "my Lord". It comes from adon (master, lord) with the ending for "my", and Strong's lists it as the Lord, used as a proper name of God only.
Why does the Bible print Lord GOD?
Lord GOD marks the Hebrew words Adonai YHWH together. The KJV prints the first in ordinary capitals and the second in capitals so a reader can tell them apart; GOD stands in for the name instead of repeating LORD.
How do you pronounce Adonai?
Adonai is pronounced ah-doh-NYE, with the stress on the last syllable.
How many times is Adonai in the Bible?
Searching the full King James Version text for Lord GOD (Adonai Yahweh) finds 300 times in 290 verses. The World English Bible has 288 times. English Bibles translate Hebrew names, so a count in English counts the translation, not the Hebrew word.
Sources
Source: H136 via biblehub.com/hebrew, read 2026-10-22. Hebrew meanings: Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible (1890), Hebrew dictionary, public domain. Verse text: King James Version and World English Bible, public domain. Counts: Bible Says About, 2026-10-22.
Verses on our topic pages: Bible verses about worship, Bible verses about obedience, Bible verses about trust. Word counts: God, Lord and Bible names and their meanings.
Counted by Bible Says About from the full public-domain text of the King James Version (1769 edition) and the World English Bible. Verse text only: headings and psalm titles are left out. A word is a run of letters: a hyphenated name like Beer-sheba counts as two, and an apostrophe stays inside its word (LORD'S is one). Matching ignores capital letters. Data compiled 2026-10-22.