Kingdom of God

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Kingdom of God, or "Kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 3:2 ),[1] is a popular translation of an oft-used phrase used in the New Testament based on the Greek term "βασιλεία" (invoked 163 times). In the entire Bible, the respected English Standard Version uses the somewhat diluted monarchical term "kingdom" an astounding 353 times. Strong's number for this is 932, and says its meaning is kingdom, sovereignty, or royal power,[2] when ancient Greek lacked the concepts of kingdom or royal power. "Paradise" or "domain" would be more accurate. But Strong's tended to be Anglophile.

There were almost no "kings" or "kingdoms" in ancient Greece,[3] and no Greek term actually means "kingdom". Instead, the notion of a "king" and "kingdom" is an Anglophile concept. The British like the term "kingdom" so much that they put it in their country's name, "United Kingdom"!

The Greek term encompasses four separate concepts: "a ruler, a people, a domain, and dominion (the right to make rules)."[4] The better modern translation is "God's paradise" or simply "paradise", "infinite happiness," "goodness of God," "people of God," or even "blissful parallel universe" to better convey the intended meaning rather than the monarchical term of "kingdom".

The Gospel of John rarely refers to "kingdom", totaling less than one-tenth as often as the Gospel of Matthew and the Gospel of Luke apiece. Likewise, the Epistle to the Hebrews makes almost no reference to "kingdom".

Spatial or Temporal?

"Kingdom" has a strong spatial connotation, such as a nation with boundaries, but the phrase translated as "Kingdom of God" was not intended to be spatial in meaning.

Though not spatial, the concept is certainly temporal: the "Kingdom of God" is infinite in duration.

Alternative possible translations

Alternative possible translations for this phrase (please improve or expand):

  • God's paradise
  • reign of God (used by Young's Literal Translation for Mark 1:15)
  • infinity, or infinite time, or infinite happiness
  • new universe
  • paradise

Strong's

Strong's tended to translate in crude terms meaning power or authority, when temporal or mathematical terminology is sometimes more precise. The phrase "Kingdom of God" never appears in the Old Testament.

Kingdom of Satan?

Does Satan have a "kingdom"? Perhaps "snakepit" would be a more precise translation when referring to Satan's domain.

Scholarship support

"Gustaf Dalman’s definition of βασιλεία as ‘kingly rule’ has severely limited possibilities in biblical scholarship for appreciation of the kingdom as space ...."[5]

References