--- title: King of Kings and Lord of Lords url: https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/king-of-kings/ markdown: https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/king-of-kings.md type: argument perspective: Protestant (historic Nicene) response to Jehovah's Witness teaching topics: [Deity of Christ] challenges: [Jesus Is a Created Being] verses: [Revelation 19:16, Deuteronomy 10:17, 1 Timothy 6:15, 1 Timothy 6:16, John 1:18, Colossians 1:15-17, Revelation 17:14, Ezekiel 26:7, Daniel 2:37, Revelation 5:13-14, Psalms 136:2, Psalms 136:3, Revelation 19:13, Revelation 19:15, John 1:1, John 20:28, Isaiah 63:3, Isaiah 63:5] strength: Strong tone: Good attribution: Nate (@natebornagain) — JW street encounter added: '2026-04-06' last_reviewed: '2026-10-11' index: https://jw-apologetics.app/llms.txt --- # King of Kings and Lord of Lords *Revelation 19:16 — A title shared with Jehovah* ## Doorstep Question > "Deuteronomy 10:17 says Jehovah is "Lord of lords." Revelation 19:16 says Jesus is "King of kings and Lord of lords." How can Jesus share Jehovah's exclusive title if he's just a created being?" ## JW Claim Jesus rules as king under Jehovah's authority. He was given the kingdom by his Father. Any titles he holds are delegated, not inherent. Jehovah alone is the supreme sovereign. ## Strategy Show that "King of kings and Lord of lords" is applied to Jehovah in Deuteronomy 10:17 and to Jesus in Revelation 19:16 and 17:14. Then cross-reference 1 Timothy 6:15-16 where Paul applies this title to the one who "alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light." If this describes Jehovah alone, yet Revelation gives the identical title to Jesus, the implication is clear: Jesus shares Jehovah's identity. Note: JWs may pivot to 1 Timothy 6:16 ("whom no man has seen") to argue this cannot be Jesus. Recognise that this describes the Father's unapproachable divine nature — the same nature the Son shares, yet the Son made visible through the incarnation (John 1:18, Colossians 1:15). ## Key Insight The NWT itself renders Revelation 19:16 with "King of kings and Lord of lords" for Jesus. Deuteronomy 10:17 gives this title to Jehovah. The Lamb bears the name that belongs to God alone. ## JW Responses & Counters ### Response 1 **JW says:** "Jesus received that title from Jehovah — it's a delegated honour, not proof he is God." **Counter:** Revelation 17:14 says the Lamb conquers "because he is Lord of lords and King of kings." It's not that he was appointed to a role — he IS this. And in 1 Timothy 6:15-16, the "King of kings" is described as the one who "alone is immortal" and whom "no one has ever seen." If that's Jehovah, then Jesus bearing the same title places him in Jehovah's identity. ### Response 2 **JW says:** "Many kings can be called king of kings — it just means highest-ranking king." **Counter:** In the Old Testament, "king of kings" is used for human emperors like Nebuchadnezzar (Ezekiel 26:7, Daniel 2:37). But Deuteronomy 10:17 reserves "God of gods and Lord of lords" for Jehovah as the supreme being — not just the highest-ranking created being. Revelation applies this divine title to Jesus, not in the Nebuchadnezzar sense, but in the Deuteronomy 10:17 sense — the supreme Lord over all lords. ### Response 3 **JW says:** "Revelation is symbolic — you can't build doctrine on symbolic language." **Counter:** The title is also used in a non-symbolic passage — 1 Timothy 6:15. And even in Revelation, the Lamb receives the same worship as the one on the throne (Revelation 5:13-14). Symbolic language still communicates real theology. ### Response 4 **JW says:** "On his thigh it says King of kings and Lord of lords, but never God of gods. Why does it stop there?" **Counter:** Look at where the title comes from. Deuteronomy 10:17 in your NWT says "Jehovah your God is the God of gods and the Lord of lords." Moses puts the two together in one breath as a single description of the one true God; "Lord of lords" is not the lesser half of it. Psalm 136:2 and Psalm 136:3 do the same, giving thanks first to "the God of gods" and then to "the Lord of lords". So when Revelation 17:14 and 19:16 give the Lamb "Lord of lords", John is reaching for a title Scripture uses of Jehovah, not one it uses of kings or angels. And in the same scene, verse 13, the rider "is called by the name The Word of God", the Word that John 1:1 calls god and that Thomas called "My Lord and my God" (John 20:28). An argument from what a single verse doesn't say is always weaker than what it does say. If Moses used "God of gods and Lord of lords" as one title for Jehovah, what does it tell you that John gives half of it to Jesus? ### Response 5 **JW says:** "Revelation 19:15 says he treads the winepress of the wrath of God the Almighty. So Jesus is carrying out God's anger. He isn't God Almighty himself." **Counter:** I agree the verse distinguishes Jesus from the Father. The Trinity has never said the Son is the Father, so that part is common ground. But notice where the picture of the winepress comes from. In Isaiah 63 a warrior comes from Edom with stained garments, and in Isaiah 63:3 of your NWT he says, "I have trodden the wine trough alone. No one from the peoples was with me." Isaiah 63:5 adds, "I looked, but there was no one to help ... So my arm brought me salvation." The one speaking is Jehovah, and he stresses that he did this work of judgement by himself, with no helper. Revelation 19 gives that same work, in the same imagery, to the rider. If he were a creature Jehovah brought in to help, Isaiah's "alone" and "no one to help" would no longer be true. The verse doesn't take Jesus outside of God; it shows the Son doing what Jehovah said he would do himself. If Jehovah trod the winepress alone and no one helped him, who is the one treading it in Revelation 19? ## What to Avoid Don't overstate this as a standalone proof — it works best alongside other shared-title arguments (Alpha and Omega, I AM, etc.). Avoid getting sidetracked into debates about Revelation's symbolic genre. ## Homework Read Deuteronomy 10:17, Revelation 17:14, Revelation 19:16 and 1 Timothy 6:15-16 until you can place each from memory. Then read Ezekiel 26:7 and Daniel 2:37, so you can freely grant that "king of kings" is used of Nebuchadnezzar and explain why Deuteronomy 10:17 is different. Look up Revelation 19:16 and Deuteronomy 10:17 in the NWT on jw.org and see the title for yourself. Prepare for the 1 Timothy 6:16 pivot with John 1:18 and Colossians 1:15. Practise the doorstep question aloud, then rehearse the "delegated honour" reply: Revelation 17:14 says the Lamb conquers "because he is" Lord of lords. Plan to use this alongside other shared-title arguments, not on its own. ## Next Moves - [Jesus as Alpha and Omega](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/alpha-omega.md) - [Jesus Receives Worship](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/worship-of-jesus.md) - [The Incarnation Framework](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/philippians2.md) - [Whose Angel Is It? — God and Jesus Both Claim Ownership](https://jw-apologetics.app/arguments/rev22-whose-angel.md)