Bible Lexicons

βασιλεία, βασιλείας, ἡ (from βασιλεύω; to be distinguished from βασιλεία a queen; cf. ἱερεία priesthood from ἱερεύω, and ἱερεία a priestess from ἱερεύς) (from Herodotus down);

1. royal power, kingship, dominion, rule: Luke 1:33; Luke 19:12, 15; Luke 22:29; John 18:36; Acts 1:6; Hebrews 1:8; 1 Corinthians 15:24; Revelation 17:12; of the royal power of Jesus as the triumphant Messiah, in the phrase ἔρχεσθαι ἐν τῇ βασαυτου, i. e. to come in his kingship, clothed with this power: Matthew 16:28; Luke 23:42 (εἰς τήν βασιλείαν L marginal reading Tr marginal reading WH text); of the royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the Messiah's kingdom: Revelation 1:6 (according to Tr text WH marginal reading ἐποίησεν ἡμῖν or L ἡμῶν (yet R G T WH text Tr marginal reading ἡμᾶς) βασιλείαν (Rec. βασιλεῖς)); τοῦ Θεοῦ, the royal power and dignity belonging to God, Revelation 12:10.

2. a kingdom i. e. the territory subject to the rule of a king: Matthew 12:25; Matthew 24:7; Mark 3:24; Mark 6:23; Mark 13:8; Luke 11:17; Luke 21:10; plural: Matthew 4:8; Luke 4:5; Hebrews 11:33.

3. Frequent in the N. T. in reference to the Reign of the Messiah are the following phrases: ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ (דֶאֱלָהָא מַלְכוּתָא, Targ. Isaiah 40:9; Micah 4:7), properly, the kingdom over which God rules; ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Χριστοῦ (דִמְשִׁיחָא מַלְכוּת, Targ. Jonath. ad Isaiah 53:10), the kingdom of the Messiah, which will be founded by God through the Messiah and over which the Messiah will preside as God's vicegerent; ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν, only in Matthew, but very frequently (some 33 times), the kingdom of heaven, i. e. the kingdom which is of heavenly or divine origin and nature (in rabbinical writings שָׁמַיִם מַלְכוּת is the rule of God, the theocracy viewed universally, not the Messianic kingdom); sometimes simply ἡ βασιλεία: Matthew 4:23, etc.; James 2:5; once ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Δαυίδ, because it was supposed the Messiah would be one of David's descendants and a king very like David, Mark 11:10; once also ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Χριστοῦ καί Θεοῦ, Ephesians 5:5. Relying principally on the prophecies of Daniel — who had declared it to be the purpose of God that, after four vast and mighty kingdoms had succeeded one other and the last of them shown itself hostile to the people of God, at length its despotism shoed be broken, and the empire of the world pass over for ever to the holy people of God (Daniel 2:44; Daniel 7:14, 18, 27) — the Jews were expecting a kingdom of the greatest felicity, which God through the Messiah would set up, raising the dead to life again and renovating earth and heaven; and that in this kingdom they would bear sway for ever over all the nations of the world. This kingdom was called the kingdom of God or the kingdom of the Messiah; and in this sense must these terms be understood in the utterances of the Jews and of the disciples of Jesus when conversing with him, as Matthew 18:1; Matthew 20:21; Mark 11:10; Luke 17:20; Luke 19:11. But Jesus employed the phrase "kingdom of God or of heaven to indicate that perfect order of things which he was about to establish, in which all those of every nation who should believe in him were to be gathered together into one society, dedicated and intimately united to God, and made partakers of eternal salvation". This kingdom is spoken of as now begun and actually present inasmuch as its foundations have already been laid by Christ and its benefits realized among men that believe in him: Matthew 11:12; Matthew 12:28; Matthew 13:41 (in this passage its earthly condition is spoken of, in which it includes bad subjects as well as good); Luke 17:21; 1 Corinthians 4:20; Romans 14:17 (where the meaning is, 'the essence of the kingdom of God is not to be found in questions about eating and drinking'); Colossians 1:13. But far more frequently the kingdom of heaven is spoken of as a future blessing, since its consummate establishment is to be looked for on Christ's solemn return from the skies, the dead being called to life again, the ills and wrongs which burden the present state of things being done away, the powers hostile to God being vanquished: Matthew 6:10; Matthew 8:11; Matthew 26:29; Mark 9:1; Mark 15:43; Luke 9:27; Luke 13:28; Luke 14:15; Luke 22:18; 2 Peter 1:11; also in the phrases εἰς τήν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν or τοῦ Θεοῦ: Matthew 5:20; Matthew 7:21; Matthew 18:3; Matthew 19:23, 24; Mark 9:47; Mark 10:23, 24, 25; Luke 18:24 (T Tr text WH εἰσπορεύονται), Luke 18:25; John 3:5; Acts 14:22; κληρονόμος τῆς βασιλείας, James 2:5; κληρονομεῖν τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ; see d. below. By a singular use ἡ βασιλείαν τοῦ κυρίου ἡ ἐπουράνιος God's heavenly kingdom, in 2 Timothy 4:18, denotes the exalted and perfect order of things which already exists in heaven, and into which true Christians are ushered immediately after death; cf. Philippians 1:23; Hebrews 12:22f. The phrase βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν or βασειλεια τοῦ Θεοῦ, while retaining its meaning kingdom of heaven or of God, must be understood, according to the requirements of the context,

a. of the beginning, growth, potency, of the divine kingdom: Matthew 13:31-33; Mark 4:30; Luke 13:18.

b. of its fortunes: Matthew 13:24; Mark 4:26.

c. of the conditions to be complied with in order to reception among its citizens: Matthew 18:23; Matthew 20:1; Matthew 22:2; Matthew 25:1.

d. of its blessings and benefits, whether present or future: Matthew 13:44; Luke 6:20; also in the phrases ζητεῖν τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, Matthew 6:33 (L T WH omit τοῦ Θεοῦ); Luke 12:31 (αὐτοῦ L text T Tr WH); δέχεσθαι τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ ὡς παιδίον, Mark 10:15; Luke 18:17; κληρονομεῖν ... τήν ... βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ, Matthew 25:34; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Corinthians 15:50; Galatians 5:21; see in κληρονομέω, 2.

e. of the congregation of those who constitute the royal 'city of God': ποιεῖν τινας βασιλείαν, Revelation 1:6 G T WH text Tr marginal reading (cf. 1 above); (here R G βασιλεῖς, so R in the preceding passage), cf. Exodus 19:6. Further, the following expressions are noteworthy: of persons fit for admission into the divine kingdom it is said αὐτῶν or τοιούτων ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανοῦ or τοῦ Θεοῦ: Matthew 5:3, 10; Matthew 19:14; Mark 10:14; Luke 18:16. διδόναι τίνι τήν βασιλείαν is used of God, making men partners of his kingdom, Luke 12:32; παραλαμβάνειν of those who are made partners, Hebrews 12:28. διά τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ οὐρανόν to advance the interests of the heavenly kingdom, Matthew 19:12; ἕνεκεν τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ for the sake of becoming a partner in the kingdom of God, Luke 18:29. Those who announce the near approach of the kingdom, and describe its nature, and set forth the conditions of obtaining citizenship in it, are said διαγγέλλειν τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ Luke 9:60; εὐαγγελίζεσθαι τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ Luke 4:43; Luke 8:1; Luke 16:16; περί τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ Θεοῦ, Acts 8:12; κηρύσσειν τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ Θεοῦ Luke 9:2; Acts 20:25; Acts 28:31; τό εὐαγγέλιον τῆς βασιλείας Matthew 4:23; Matthew 9:35; Matthew 24:14; with the addition of τοῦ Θεοῦ, Mark 1:14 R L brackets ἤγγικεν ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ οὐρανοῦ or τοῦ Θεοῦ, is used of its institution as close at hand: Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Mark 1:15; Luke 10:9, 11. it is said ἔρχεσθαι i. e. to be established, in Matthew 6:10; Luke 11:2; Luke 17:20; Mark 11:10. In accordance with the comparison which likens the kingdom of God to a palace, the power of admitting into it and of excluding from it is called τῆς βασιλείας τοῦ οὐρανοῦ Matthew 16:19; κλείειν τήν βασιλείαν τοῦ οὐρανοῦ to keep from entering, Matthew 23:13 (14). υἱοί τῆς βασιλείας are those to whom the prophetic promise of the heavenly kingdom extends: used of the Jews, Matthew 8:12; of those gathered out of all nations who have shown themselves worthy of a share in this kingdom, Matthew 13:38. (In the O. T. Apocrypha ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ Θεοῦ denotes God's rule, the divine administration, Wis. 6:5 Wis. 10:10; Tobit 13:1; so too in Psalm 102:19 (); Psalm 104:11-13 (; Daniel 4:33; Daniel 6:26; the universe subject to God's sway, God's royal domain, Song of the Three Children 32; ἡ βασιλεία, simply, the O. T. theocratic commonwealth, 2 Macc. 1:7.) Cf. Fleck, De regno divino, Lipsius 1829; Baumg.-Crusius, Biblical Theol., p. 147ff; Tholuck, Die Bergrede Christi, 5te Aufl., p. 55ff (on Matthew 5:3); Cölln, Biblical Theol. i., p. 567ff, ii., p. 108ff; Schmid, Biblical Theol. des N. T., p. 262ff edition 4; Baur, Neutest. Theol., p. 69ff; Weiss, Biblical Theol. d. N. T. § 13; (also in his Leben Jesu, book iv., chapter 2); Schürer (Neutest. Zeitgesch. § 29 (especially par. 8) and references there; also) in the Jahrbb. für protest. Theol., 1876, pp. 166-187 (cf. Lipsius ibid. 1878, p. 189); (B. D. American edition, under the word , and references there).