The concept of kingship of God appears in the Hebrew Bible with references to "his Kingdom" and "your Kingdom" while the term "kingdom of God" is not directly used.Dictionary for Theological Interpretation of the Bible by Kevin J. Vanhoozer, N. T. Wright, Daniel J. Treier and Craig Bartholomew (20 Jan 2006) page 420 "Yours is the kingdom, O Lord" is used in and "His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom" in , for example. It is tied to Jewish understanding that through the messiah, God will restore the Kingdom of Israel, following the Davidic covenant.

The "enthronement psalms" (Psalms 45, 93, 96, 97-99) provide a background for this view with the exclamation "The Lord is King".Dictionary of Biblical Imagery by Leland Ryken, James C. Wilhoit and Tremper Longman III (Nov 11, 1998) pages 478-479 However, in later Judaism (after the destruction of the First Temple) a more "national" view was assigned to God's kingship in which the awaited messiah may be seen as a liberator and the founder of a new state of Israel.Encyclopedia of Theology: A Concise Sacramentum Mundi by Karl Rahner (Dec 28, 2004) page 1351

Jeremiah 46:18, Jeremiah 48:15 and Jeremiah 51:57 each use the phraseology of "the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts".

, , and all speak of the Throne of God, although some philosophers such as Saadia Gaon and Maimonides interpreted such mention of a "throne" as allegory.

Samuel and King The foundation of kingshipGray, John. “The Hebrew Conception of the Kingship of God: Its Origin and Development.” Vetus Testamentum, vol. 6, no. 3, 1956, pp. 268–85. JSTOR website Retrieved 6 Mar. 2023. in Israel was the covenantDenio, F. B. “The Kingdom of God in the Old Testament. II.” The Old Testament Student, vol. 6, no. 3, 1886, pp. 71–76. JSTOR website Retrieved 6 Mar. 2023. between God and Israel as a reluctant Samuel presented the first king, Saul.Ackerman, James S. “Who Can Stand before YHWH, This Holy God? A Reading of 1 Samuel 1–15.” Prooftexts, vol. 11, no. 1, 1991, pp. 1–24. JSTOR website Retrieved 6 Mar. 2023. The kingship resembled a constitutional designDutcher-Walls, Patricia. “The Circumscription of the King: Deuteronomy 17:16-17 in Its Ancient Social Context.” Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 121, no. 4, 2002, pp. 601–16. JSTOR website Retrieved 6 Mar. 2023. rather than a Near Eastern sacral kingship.Isaac, Erich. “Relations between the Hebrew Bible and Africa.” Jewish Social Studies, vol. 26, no. 2, 1964, pp. 87–98. JSTOR website Retrieved 6 Mar. 2023.

Second Temple Judaism

The phrase "kingdom of the " occurs in the Greek Septuagint where the Hebrew Bible has Solomon reigning over the "kingdom of YHWH."

Hellenistic Judaism and Alexandria

The phrase "kingdom of God" occurs once in the deuterocanonical books of the biblical apocrypha, in Wisdom of Solomon 10:10, where Wisdom shows a straying man "the kingdom of God."An introductory dictionary of theology and religious studies - Page 1147 Orlando O. Espín, James B. Nickoloff - 2007 "Although the phrase "kingdom of God" does not occur in the Old Testament, and only once in the deuterocanonical literature (Wisdom of Solomon 10:10), the theme of God as a ruling king is prevalent.The Dead Sea scrolls after fifty years: a comprehensive assessment Volume 2 Peter W. Flint, James C. VanderKam - 1999 "Wis 10: 10: "When a righteous man fled from his brother's wrath, .." This is similar to Philo who refers to "kingdom of God" in a sapiential, wisdom-sense "formed in the image of its archetype the kingdom of God" (On The Special Laws 4:164)The book of Daniel: composition and reception: Volume 2 - Page 496 John Joseph Collins, Peter W. Flint, Cameron VanEpps - 2002 "... my pride and my glory, which nothing can rival, an ensign of sovereignty which none can impeach, formed in the image of its archetype the kingdom of God ton Theou basileian

Palestinian Judaism and Dead Sea scrolls

The pseudepigraphical Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs refer to the "kingdom of the Lord" (Testament of Benjamin 9.1)Exploring the origins of the Bible: canon formation in historical, ... Craig A. Evans, Emanuel Tov - 2008 "The Wisdom of Solomon 10:10 refers to “the kingdom of God [basileian theou].” The Testaments of the Twelve Patriarchs mentions the “kingdom of the Lord [basileiakyriou]” (Testament of Benjamin 9.1). The War Scroll mentions “the kingdom” . The "kingdom" in the War Scroll of the Dead Sea scrolls, and other mentions of "kingdom" and "rule" are linked with Messianic expectations, and the establishment of a military-political kingdom on earth.Benedict Thomas Viviano, “The Kingdom of God in the Qumran Literature, ” in Wendell Willis, ed., The Kingdom of God in 20th-Century Interpretation (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1987), 97- 107Qumran-Messianism: studies on the Messianic expectations in the ... - Page 14 ed. James H. Charlesworth, Hermann Lichtenberger, Gerbern S. Oegema - 199 "from the Book of Daniel (historically seen very close to the beginnings of the Qumran Community), would start a victory tour from the Books of Enoch to the Gospels. ... The poet hopes for the coming of the Kingdom of God, ..."

Aramaic Targums The Aramaic Targums, paraphrase-translations of the Hebrew Bible for use in Palestinian synagogues, contain several expansions and additional references to "the kingdom of God" not emphasized in the Hebrew Masoretic Text. An example is Targum Neofiti's paraphrase of Exodus 15:18. Where the Hebrew has only "The shall reign for ever and ever", the Aramaic paraphrase has "How the crown of the kingdom (Aramaic "kingdom" malku מַלְכּוּ, corresponds to Hebrew malkut מַלְכוּת) becomes you, O Lord! ... Of the Lord is the kingdom before the world and forever and ever." The turning of Hebrew Bible references to God "reigning" into concrete references to a "kingdom" of God occurs in many Targum passages.The book of Daniel: composition and reception: Volume 2 - John Joseph Collins, Peter W. Flint, Cameron VanEpps - 2002 Page 496

Rabbinic Judaism

Listings of kingdom references in the Mishnah and subsequent rabbinic literature can be found in Dalman, Words of Jesus, pages 96–101, and Hermann Leberecht Strack, Paul Billerbeck Kommentar zum Neuen Testament aus Talmud und Midrasch (1965).Jonathan T. Pennington Heaven and earth in the Gospel of Matthew footnote Page 266 - 2007

See also Jewish eschatology Kingship and kingdom of God

References and notes

External links Jewish Encyclopedia: Kingdom of God Strong’s Greek Dictionary