New Testament word study: Christos Kurios: “Christ the Lord”:

“And an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them,

“Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which shall be to all the people: for there is born to you this day in the city of David a SAVIOUR, Who is Christ the Lord.” (Luke 2:9-11. ASV)
[Greek: Christos Kurios. Hebrew: Mashiah Jehovah: “Jehovah’s Anointed”]

It is NO co-incidence that this particular title “Christos Kurios” occurs only twice in the New Testament.

The first time in Luke 2:11 above.

The second time in Luke 2:26:

“And it was revealed unto him [namely Simeon in Jerusalem] BY the Holy Ghost that he should not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ” (KJV)

[ton Christon Kuriou, with the article, i.e. literally  “the Christ of [the] Lord”]

Luke also reveals the Name of Christos Kurios -and that His Name was given to Him by the Angel BEFORE He was “conceived in the womb”

“…And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the Child, His Name was called JESUS, which was so named of the Angel BEFORE He was conceived in the womb”. (Luke 2:9-11; 21, KJV)

Next:  turning to Matthew 1:19 -25, we find there more details about The Lord’s Christ with the Name of “Jesus”; including that Matthew quotes from Isaiah 7:14:

“Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a public example, was minded to put her away privily.
But while he thought on these things, behold, the Angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a dream, saying,

“Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call His Name JESUS: for He shall SAVE His people from their sins.”

Now all this was done, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet [namely Isaiah 7:14 – and note that it is THE LORD speaking “by” the prophet [dia: “a primary preposition denoting the channel of an act” - Strong, i.e. “through” or “by the means of”]

saying:

“Behold,a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call His Name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, ‘GOD with us’.”

Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the Angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife: And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called His Name JESUS” (Matthew 1:19-25, KJV).

[“Jesus” is in Hebrew “Jehoshua”, or – in short form – “Joshua”], and means the Salvation of Jehovah, or Jehovah the Saviour.

NOTE [excerpted from the Companion Bible, with our emphasis and additions]

“The name "Jesus" expresses the relation of Jehovah to Him in Incarnation, by which "He humbled Himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Philippians. 2:8); Who, being God, did not deem His glory a thing not to be thus relinquished”.

The name "Jesus" is the name associated with "the shame" which He endured in order to "save His People from their sins" (Matthew. 1:21).

His People therefore never addressed Him as "Jesus", but always as "Master” or "Lord"  (John 13:13, 14. Luke 6:46), and so should all His people to-day; not following the example of demons (Matthew 8:29), or of His enemies, who irreverently called Him "Jesus".

Jesus Christ: In the combination of these two names, the former is emphatic by its position, the second being subsidiary and explanatory.
In the Gospels it means "Jesus the Messiah". In the Epistles [after His death and resurrection] it means Jesus Who humbled Himself but is now exalted and glorified as Christ.

Christ Jesus: The converse of "Jesus Christ" and denotes the now exalted One, Who once humbled Himself]

We now turn to Luke 2:29-32.

Simeon had – as mentioned above – been promised by the Holy Spirit, that he would not die “before he had seen the Christ of the Lord”.


Simeon, on seeing “the Christ of the Lord” – the Anointed of Jehovah – then prophesied and said THIS:

“Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: For mine eyes have seen Thy SALVATION, Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A Light to lighten the Gentiles, and the Glory of Thy people Israel”. (Luke 2:29-32, KJV)

The word “SALVATION” here in verse 30 is - in the Greek -  the unusual form ‘to soterion’ (and not the usual word soteria).

We also find this unusual form in Luke 3:6. “And all flesh shall see The SALVATION [to soterion] of God”.

[Vine notes that to soterion - the neuter of the adjective soterios - is used as a noun “in each of which [cases, namely Luke 2:30 and 3:6] it virtually stands for the Savior”]

Bauer: to soterion: “means of deliverance”, then also the deliverance itself…of Messianic salvation and the One Who mediates it.
Also [used] of the “Soter” Himself” [Bauer quoting Luke 2:30].

Therefore, we now have so far:

• that Christos Kurios, the Lord’s Christ, has the name “Jesus”, with the meaning in Hebrew: the Salvation of Jehovah, or Jehovah the Savior;

• that this Name “Jesus”, was given to Him by the Angel of the Lord before He was conceived;

• that the Name “Jesus” was given to Him for a particular reason: ”FOR He shall SAVE His people from their sins”.

[“FOR”: gar; “a particle of affirmation and conclusion, denoting “truly therefore, verily as the case stands” – Thayer]

• that “they” (i.e. the people) “shall call His Name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, ‘GOD with us’.”

• that Christos Kurios is also referred to as “THE SALVATION” in the Greek by use of the special word-form: to soterion.

NOW CONSIDER THIS:

Speaking of John the Baptist, we have in Luke 3:6 the famous prophecy of Isaiah 40:3 quoted, combined with Malachi 3:1. 

“The voice of one crying in the wilderness ‘Prepare ye the way of the Lord’…..”

The quote in LUKE ends with:
                   
“And all flesh shall see THE SALVATION [to soterion] of God”

Now, Luke quotes the Isaiah part as written in the Hebraic Bible except for two words, which he changes.

At the very end, the actual passagein Hebrew in Isaiah 40:3 reads as follows:

“And the Glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it [the Glory] together…”

HOWEVER: the Greek Septuagint (LXX) reads:

“And all flesh shall see THE SALVATION [τὸ σωτήριον; to soterion] of God”

The Holy Spirit combines the Hebrew text, AND the Greek text from Septuagint (LXX).

LUKE is therefore inspired by the Divine Author to write that:

Thereby the Holy Spirit confirms to us today - who has available to us all the Scriptures – that:

WHEN Isaiah (around 600 years before our Lord Jesus Christ) prophesied about the GLORY of God being revealed and to be seen by all flesh,

THEN THAT GLORY – spoken of by Isaiah - indeed referred to THE SALVATION in the Person of our Lord and God, even our Saviour Jesus Christ.

The Lord Jesus Christ, “THE SALVATION”, is the Glory of God revealed.

[This is in fact also confirmed by Simeon, when he prophesied and said:

“For mine eyes have seen Thy SALVATION, Which Thou hast prepared before the face of all people; A Light to lighten the Gentiles, and THE GLORY of Thy people Israel”]

Further:  Luke - “driven by” the Holy Spirit – records that Simeon also refers to the same Isaiah quote - as recorded in the LXX - when he says:

“For mine eyes have seen Thy SALVATION [to soterion]”

And again:

In Isaiah 52:3, we have that the eyes of all the nations and all the earth shall see  The SALVATION of our God:

“The LORD hath made bare His Holy Arm [another of our Lord’s titles] in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see The SALVATION of our God”.

 “The Salvation” is yeshuw`ah, the passive participle of the root yasha (Strong). Septuagint (LXX) therefore here translates ten soterian.

And again:

“Thy SALVATION” is again used of God Himself  in Isaiah 62:11

“Behold, the LORD hath proclaimed unto the end of the world, Say ye to the daughter of Zion, Behold, thy SALVATION cometh; behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.”

[In the Hebrew, “salvation” is yesha; (“deliverance, salvation, rescue, safety, welfare, victory” - Strong). Gesenius has that yesha is “used like verbals…Habakkuk 3:13:”to deliver Thine Anointed”; “God of my help [salvation], i.e. my Helper [Saviour]”

The root is yasha:  “to save, be saved, be delivered, to be liberated, to be saved (in battle), be victorious, to save from moral trouble, to give victory to” – (Strong)

Gesenius has the original meaning as “to be spacious, ample”; the significance of ample space is in Hebrew applied to liberty, deliverance from dangers…“to set free; to preserve”; “to aid, to succor”; as victory depends on aid of God: “to give victory”; “to be helped, to be safe”.

Also “to conquer”, Zechariah 9:9 [referring to the Lord Jesus Christ as bestowing salvation]:

“Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: He is just, and having salvation [yasha]; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass”.]

Likewise Brown-Driver-Briggs: 1. to save, be saved, be delivered
                   a. (Niphal)
                             1. to be liberated, be saved, be delivered
                             2. to be saved (in battle), be victorious
                   b. (Hiphil)
                             1. to save, deliver
                             2. to save from moral troubles
                             3. to give victory to]

In Isaiah 62:11, Septuagint (LXX) therefore translates yesha with ho Soter, namely “The Saviour”.

FINALLY: 

The unusual word-form to soterion only occurs five times in all of the New Testament, namely in the two passages by Luke quoted above, and in Acts 28:28 (“…the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles…”), Ephesians 6:17 (“…the helmet of salvation…”) and Titus 2:11 (“…the grace of God that bringeth salvation…”)   

However to soterion is used over 80 times in the Septuagint (LXX), translating only one Hebrew word, namely shelem  (and its root) meaning “peace offering, requital, sacrifice for alliance or friendship” including “voluntary sacrifice of thanks” (Brown-Driver-Briggs).

As Bauer also notes, to soterion is used of ‘peace-offering’ in several LXX passages; first occurrence is Exodus 20:24:

“And the LORD said unto Moses, “Thus thou shalt say unto the children of Israel, Ye have seen that I have talked with you from heaven. Ye shall not make with Me gods of silver, neither shall ye make unto you gods of gold. An altar of earth thou shalt make unto Me, and shalt sacrifice thereon

•  thy burnt offerings, and
• thy peace offerings [Hebrew: shelem; Septuagint (LXX): ta soteria (plural)]
• thy sheep, and
• thine oxen:

In all places where I record My Name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee” (Exodus 20:22-24, KJV; emphasis Rotherham)

Gesenius has the primary meaning to be: “retribution, remuneration, reward” and – referring to the Piel of the root shalam – hence the meaning “thanksgiving”.

Strong has inter alia regarding the root word shalam:

-  to be in a covenant of peace, be at peace
-  to make peace with;  to cause to be at peace;  to live in peace
-  to be complete, be sound; be finished, be ended;
-  to make safe; to make whole or good, restore, make compensation; to make good, pay; to requite, recompense, reward;
-  to be performed;  to be repaid, be requited;  to make an end of.

Likewise shalowm (“peace”) derives from the same root: shalam. Thus, when the Jews to this day greet each other with “shalom”, they thereby – unwittingly - refer to HIM Who is the “Prince of Peace” and Whose sacrificial death upon the cross fulfilled - and was the true anti-type of -  the Old Testament “peace-offering”, even our Lord Jesus Christ.

….And when the parents brought in the Child JESUS…then took he [Simeon] Him up in his arms and blessed God and said “Lord, now lettest thou Thy servant depart in peace, according to Thy word: For mine eyes have seen THY SALVATION”

WISHING ALL OUR READERS A BLESSED CHRISTMAS IN THE NAME OF OUR LORD AND GOD, EVEN OUR SAVIOUR JESUS CHRIST