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be unto me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (Exod. 19:6). The Davidic king was
the theocratic agent by whom God ruled over and blessed His people: “And thine house
and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established
for ever” (2 Sam. 7:16). Nevertheless, the one
after Solomon was divided into
two kingdoms which Ezekiel predicted would be reunited: " And I will make them one
nation in the land upon the mountains of Israel; and one king shall be king to them all:
and they shall be no more two nations, neither shall they be divided into two kingdoms
…” (Ezek. 37:22).
Close to the basic meaning is the usage of
to denote “king,” as the king
was considered to be the embodiment of the “kingdom.” He was viewed as a symbol of
the kingdom proper: “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, I brought up Israel out of Egypt,
and delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians, and out of the hand of all kingdoms,
and of them that oppressed you” (1 Sam. 10:18; in Hebrew the noun “kingdoms” is
feminine and the verb “oppress” has a masculine form, signifying that we must
understand “kingdoms” as “kings”).
The function and place of the king is important in the development of the concept
“kingdom.” “Kingdom” may signify the head of the kingdom. The word further has the
meaning of the royal “rule,” the royal “sovereignty,” and the “dominion.” The royal
“sovereignty” was taken from Saul because of his disobedience (1 Sam. 28:17). “Royal
sovereignty” is also the sense in Jer. 27:1: “In the beginning of the reign of
Jehoiakim.…” The Old Testament further defines as expressions of the royal “rule” all
things associated with the king: (1) the throne: “And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the
throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book out of that
which is before the priests the Levites” (Deut. 17:18); (2) the pagan sanctuary supported
by the throne: “But prophesy not again any more at Beth-el: for it is the king’s chapel,
and it is the king’s court” (Amos 7:13); and (3) a royal city: “And David said unto
Achish, If I have now found grace in thine eyes, let them give me a place in some town in
the country, that I may dwell there: for why should thy servant dwell in the royal city
with thee?” (1 Sam. 27:5).
All human rule is under God’s control. Consequently the Old Testament fully
recognizes the kingship of God. The Lord ruled as king over His people Israel (1 Chron.
29:11). He graciously ruled over His people through David and his followers until the
Exile (2 Chron. 13:5). In the New Testament usage all the above meanings are to be
associated with the Greek word
(“kingdom”). This is the major translation of
in the Septuagint, and as such it is small wonder that the New Testament
authors used this word to refer to God’s “kingdom”: the realm, the king, the sovereignty,
and the relationship to God Himself
(
, 4428), “king.” This word occurs about
2,513 times in the Old Testament. It is found several times in Gen. 14:1: “And it came to
pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king
of Elam, and Tidal king of nations.”
TO KNOW
A. Verb.
(
'
, 5234), “to know, regard, recognize, pay attention to, be acquainted
with.” This verb, which is found in both ancient and modern Hebrew, occurs