I. Name
Kosmokratōr, ‘lord of the world’, ‘world ruler’, occurs in pagan literature as an epithet for gods, rulers, and heavenly bodies. The LXX does not use the term, and in the NT it occurs once, in Eph. 6.12.
II. Identity
Kosmokratōr can occasionally be used to refer to earthly rulers (CIG 5892; SB 4275; Ptolemaeus, Tetrabiblos 175; Hephaestio Astrologus 1, 1). In the Historia Alexandri Magni it is a common attribute for the Macedonian king. Likewise, a number of gods such as Zeus, Helios, Hermes, and Serapis…