the royal reign

βασιλεία, ας, ἡ (Heraclit. Fgm. 52; Hdt.+) a term relating to royal administration

① the act of ruling

ⓐ gener. kingship, royal power, royal rule (1 Km 15:28; 20:31; Sir 10:8; Jdth 1:1; Esth 3:6; 1 Macc 1:16 al. LXX; En 98:2; TestJob 33:9; Just., Tat., Ath.; οὐ βασιλείαν ἀλλὰ τυράνιδα Mel., P. 49, 354; Orig.) λαβεῖν ἑαυτῷ βασιλείαν obtain royal power (for oneself) Lk 19:12, 15; without dat. Rv 17:12 (cp. Jos., Ant. 13, 220); δοῦναί τινι τὴν β. vs. 17; ἔχειν β. ἐπί τινων vs. 18; ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς βασιλείαν he gave us royal jurisdiction 1:6; cp. 5:10; royal rule Lk 1:33; 22:29; 23:42 v.l. (ἐν τῇ β. σου in your royal power); Ac 1:6; Hb 1:8 (Ps 44:7); 1 Cor 15:24 (παραδιδόναι as Diod S 1, 43, 6); B 4:4 (Da 7:24). Ps 95:10 (Justin, A I, 41, 4, D. 73: ὁ κύριος ἐβασίλευσεν ἀπὸ τ. ξύλου) is the basis for β. Ἰησοῦ ἐπὶ ξύλου the rule of Jesus on the cross B 8:5 (s. Windisch, Hdb. ad loc.).—Hb 11:33; 1 Cl 61:1.

ⓑ esp. of God’s rule the royal reign of God (usually rendered ‘kingdom of God’, and oft. understood as royal realm but with dilution of the primary component of reigning activity), a chiefly eschatological concept, beginning to appear in the prophets, elaborated in apocalyptic passages (Mi 4:7f; Ps 102:19; 144:11–13; Wsd 6:4; 10:10; Da 3:54; 4:3; cp. SibOr 3:47f.—Diod S 5, 71, 1 Zeus takes over the βασιλεία from Cronus; Sextus 311 κοινωνεῖ βασιλείας θεοῦ σοφὸς ἀνήρ) and taught by Jesus. The expressions vary; β. τοῦ θεοῦ and τῶν οὐρανῶν have essentially the same mng., since Israelites used οὐρανός (-οί) as well as other circumlocutions for θεός (cp. Mt 19:23f; s. Bousset, Rel.³ 314f); the latter term may also emphasize the heavenly origin and nature of the reign.—Dalman, Worte 75–119; JWeiss, D. Predigt Jesu v. Reiche Gottes² 1900, 1–35; ESellin, D. isr.-jüd. Heilandserwartung 1909, D. alt. Prophetismus 1912, 136ff; BDuhm, D. kommende RG 1910; SMowinckel, Psalmenstudien II 1922, 146ff; LDürr, Ursprung u. Ausbau d. isr. Heilandserwartung 1925; Bousset, Rel³ 1926, 213ff; AvGall, βασιλεία τ. θεοῦ 1926; JWissing, Het begrip van het Koningrijk Gods, diss., Leiden 1927; HGressmann, Der Messias 1929; MBuber, Königtum Gottes ’32; PVolz, D. Eschatologie der jüd. Gemeinde im ntl. Zeitalter ’34; Ltzm., D. Weltheiland 1909; TManson, The Teaching of Jesus ’55, 116–284; SAalen, NTS 8, ’61/62, 215–40 (‘house’ or ‘community’ of God); GLadd, JBL 81, ’62, 230–38 (‘realm’); FNötscher, Vom A. zum NT ’62, 226–30 (ethical).

α. β. τῶν οὐρανῶν mostly in Mt: 3:2; 4:17; 5:3, 10, 19f al.; otherw. (Did., Gen. 52, 11; 60, 28) J 3:5 v.l.; AcPl Ha 8, 31.

β. β. τοῦ θεοῦ (cp. Orig., C. Cels. 3, 40, 21) Mt 6:33; 12:28; 21:31, 43; Mk 1:15; 4:11, 26, 30 al.; Lk 4:43; 6:20; 7:28; 8:1 al.; Ac 1:3; 8:12; 14:22; 19:8; 28:23, 31; J 3:3, 5; Ro 14:17 (defined as δικαιοσύνη, εἰρήνη, χαρά); 1 Cor 4:20 al.; Ox 1 verso, 7f; Dg 9:1; B 21:1; Pol 2:3; β. θεοῦ 1 Cor 6:10, cp. 9; 15:50; Gal 5:21; Pol 5:3; β. τοῦ Χριστοῦ καὶ θεοῦ Eph 5:5; τοῦ Χριστοῦ 1 Cl 50:3.

γ. β. τοῦ πατρός Mt 13:43; 26:29.

δ. β. αὐτοῦ (=τοῦ υἱοῦ τοῦ ἀνθρώπου) Mt 13:41; Lk 24:26 v.l.; cp. Col 1:13.

ε. β. τοῦ πατρὸς ἡμῶν Δαυίδ Mk 11:10, since the Davidic kgdm. is to be reestablished under the Son of David, the Messiah (cp. Is 9:5f; Jer 23:5f).

ζ. ἡ β. τοῦ κυρίου B 4:13; ἡ β. αὐτοῦ (=κυρίου) ἡ ἐπουράνιος 2 Ti 4:18; EpilMosq 5; ἡ οὐράνιος β. MPol 22:3; ἡ ἐν οὐρανῷ β. Dg 10:2.

η. αἰώνιος β. τοῦ κυρίου (cp. Da 4:3; Just.; CIG II, 2715a, 3 ἐπὶ τῆς τῶν κυρίων Ῥωμαίων αἰωνίου ἀρχῆς, Dssm., B 277f) 2 Pt 1:11; cp. MPol 20:2.—The greatest blessings conceivable are found in the β. Mt 13:44f. The foll. expr. refer to obtaining it = participate in its benefits: ἅψασθαι τῆς β. B 7:11; δέχεσθαι Mk 10:15; διδόναι Lk 12:32; εἰσέρχεσθαι εἰς τὴν β. Mt 5:20; 7:21; 18:3; 19:23; Mk 10:23ff; Lk 24:26 P⁷⁵ (first hand); J 3:5; Ac 14:22; Hs 9, 12, 3f (HWindisch, D. Sprüche v. Eingehen in d. Reich Gs: ZNW 27, 1928, 163–92); εἰσήκειν εἰς τὴν β. 2 Cl 11:7; ἔρχεσθαι εἰς τὴν β. 9:6; ἑτοιμάζειν Mt 25:34; εὔθετον εἶναι τῇ β. Lk 9:62; εὑρεθῆναι εἰς τὴν β. Hs 9, 13, 2; ζητεῖν Mt 6:33; Lk 12:31; καταξιοῦσθαι τῆς β. 2 Th 1:5; κατοικεῖν ἐν τῇ β. Hs 9, 29, 2; κληρονομεῖν Mt 25:34; 1 Cor 6:9f; 15:50; IPhld 3:3; cp. κληρονόμος τῆς β. Js 2:5; μαθητεύεσθαι τῇ β. Mt 13:52; μεθιστάναι εἰς τὴν β. Col 1:13; φθάνει ἡ β. ἐπί τινα Lk 11:20. The phrase ὁρᾶν τὴν β. see the kgdm.=‘realize the fulfillment of God’s promises to Israel’ occurs Mk 9:1; Lk 9:27; J 3:3; Hs 9, 15, 3. The mysteries of the kgdm. can be revealed to those for whom they are intended Mt 13:11; Mk 4:11; διαγγέλλειν Lk 9:60; διαμαρτυρεῖσθαι Ac 28:23; κηρύσσειν καὶ εὐαγγελίζεσθαι Lk 8:1; sim. 16:16; cp. κηρύσσειν τὸ εὐαγγέλιον τῆς β. Mt 4:23; 9:35; 24:14; κηρύσσειν τὴν β. Lk 9:2; Ac 28:31; λαλεῖν περὶ τῆς β. Lk 9:11. Keep fr. entering: κλείειν Mt 23:13; cp. κλεῖδες τῆς β. 16:19 (s. κλεῖς 1); αἴρειν ἀπό τινος 21:43.—Spoken of as present Mt 12:28; Lk 11:20, perh. also 17:20f (see s.v. ἐντός). Viewed as future, but close at hand ἤγγικεν ἡ β. Mt 3:2; 10:7; Mk 1:15; Lk 10:9, 11; perh. Mk 1:15; ἐγγύς ἐστιν Lk 21:31; ἔρχεται Mt 6:10; Mk 11:10; Lk 11:2; 17:20; μέλλει ἀναφαίνεσθαι 19:11; προσδέχεσθαι τὴν β. Mk 15:43; ἐκδέχεσθαι τὴν β. 2 Cl 12:1; μέλλει ἔρχεσθαι 1 Cl 42:3; ἡ μέλλουσα β. 2 Cl 5:5; ἥξει ἡ β. 12:2. Conceived of as a banquet (Billerb. IV 1154ff): ἀνακλιθῆναι ἐν τῇ β. Mt 8:11; sim. 26:29; Mk 14:25; Lk 13:28f; 22:16, 18, 30; cp. the parables 14:15ff; Mt 22:2ff. Participants in it are called υἱοὶ τῆς β. Mt 8:12 (of mere external connection); 13:38. Prerequisite for participation is μετάνοια Mt 4:17; Mk 1:15; the willingness to become like children Mt 18:3f; 19:14; Mk 10:14f; Lk 18:16f. Only uprightness will inherit the β. Mt 5:20. Degrees and grades 5:19; 18:1, 4. The prosperous have difficulty entering 19:23f; Mk 10:23–25; Lk 18:24f (cp. vs. 29), those who persist in sin have no prospects at all Mt 13:24ff, 36ff, 47ff.—Paul thinks of the β. as someth. that effects changes in pers. resulting in righteousness, peace (w. God) and joy Ro 14:17. It manifests itself in deeds, not in words 1 Cor 4:20. Those committed to sin will not inherit it 6:9f; Gal 5:21; Eph 5:5 (cp. 2 Cl 9:6); the latter passages show that for Paul the kgdm. is essentially future, since Christians await the complete victory of the spirit over the flesh. Cp. also 2 Ti 4:1. Flesh and blood will not inherit it, i.e. bodies under the direction of the spirit of Christ are required for entrance 1 Cor 15:50 (JJeremias, NTS 2, ’56, 151–59). None other than God calls people into it 1 Th 2:12.—HJWesterink, Het Koninkrijk Gods bij Pls ’37.—The most important lit. to 1931 in PFeine, Theol. d. NTs⁷ ’36, 73. Additional lit.: GGloege, Reich Gs u. Kirche im NT 1929; RFrick, D. Gesch. des R.-Gs-Gedankens in d. alten Kirche 1929; EScott, The Kgdm. of God in the NT ’31; H-DWendland, Reichsidee u. Gottesreich ’34; ROtto, Reich Gottes u. Menschensohn ’34 (Eng. tr., The Kgdm. of God and the Son of Man, tr. Filson and Woolf, ’43 and ’51); TW I 562–95; WKümmel, D. Eschatologie der Evangelien ’36, Verheissg. u. Erfüllg. ’45 and ’53; JHéring, Le Royaume de Dieu et sa Venue (Jesus, Paul) ’38 and ’59; JTheissing, D. Lehre Jesu v. d. ew. Seligkeit ’40; FGrant, The Gospel of the Kgdm. ’40; JWellhagen, Anden och Riket ’41 (Lk); WMichaelis, D. Herr verzieht nicht d. Verheissung ’42; RLiechtenhan, D. Kommen des RGs nach dem NT ’44; GKnight, From Moses to Paul, ’49, 173–87; WArndt, CTM 21, ’50, 8–29; JBright, The Kgdm. of God: The Biblical Concept and Its Mng. for the Church ’53; RSchnackenburg, Gottes Herrschaft u. Reich,⁴ ’65, tr. JMurray,² ’68; ELadd, Jesus and the Kgdm., ’64; NPerrin, The Kgdm. of God in the Teaching of Jesus, ’66; MWolter, NTS 41, ’95, 541–63 [Lk].—OT background: WSchmidt, Königtum Gottes in Ugarit u. Israel, ’61; KBernhardt, D. Problem der altorientalischen Königs-Ideologie im AT, VetusT Suppl. 8, ’61.—Patristics: GLampe, JTS 49, ’48, 58–73.

② territory ruled by a king, kingdom (Diod S 4, 68, 4; Appian, Mithrid. 105 §496 ἡ βας. ὅλη=the whole kingdom; OGI 383, 25 [I B.C.]; Ps 67:33; 134:11; Bar 2:4; Tob 1:21; 1 Macc 1:6; 3:27; 2 Macc 9:25; 3 Macc 6:24 al. LXX) Mt 12:25f; 24:7; Mk 3:24; 6:23 (Socrat., Ep. 1, 10 τ. βασιλείας μέρος διδόναι); 13:8; Lk 11:17f; 21:10; αἱ β. τοῦ αἰῶνος τούτου IRo 6:1. In the account of the temptation Mt 4:8; Lk 4:5 (in a manner very different from Jesus, Alexander [Diod S 17, 51, 2] asks his father, Zeus Ammon, for τὴν ἁπάσης τῆς γῆς ἀρχήν and finds a hearing).—EDNT. DELG s.v. βασιλεύς. M-M. TW. Spicq. Sv.

βασιλεύω fut. βασιλεύσω; 1 aor. ἐβασίλευσα; pf. 3 sg. βεβασίλευκεν 2 Km 5:10 (Hom.+)

① to exercise authority at a royal level, be king, rule (B-D-F §177; 233, 2; 234, 5; Rob.: 801, 833, 902).

ⓐ of temporal princes τινός over (of) someth. (1 Esdr 1:37; 6:16; 1 Macc 1:16; 11:9 al.) τῆς Ἰουδαίας Mt 2:22 of Archelaus, who was called king without having the official title (Jos., Vi. 5 βασιλεύοντος Ἀρχελάου, Ant. 17, 188ff; 317ff; 18, 93 βασιλεὺς Ἀ.); τοῦ Ἰσραήλ GJs 23:2; τῶν περάτων τῆς γῆς IRo 6:1; ἐπί τινα (Gen 37:8; 1 Km 8:9; 12:1 al.) Lk 19:14, 27.—βασιλεῖαι βασιλεύσουσιν ἐπὶ τ. γῆς royal powers will reign on (the) earth (s. ἐπί 1a) B 4:4. On βασιλεὺς τ. βασιλευόντων 1 Ti 6:15 s. βασιλεύς 2b.

ⓑ of God and those closely united w. him

α. God (Ps.-Phoc. 111) Rv 11:17; 19:6 (s. 2 below for a difft. interpr. of both pass.).

β. Christ Lk 1:33; 1 Cor 15:25; εἰς τ. αἰῶνας MPol 21.

γ. God and Christ together: their βασιλεία … βασιλεύσει (s. 1a above: B 4:4) εἰς τ. αἰῶνας τ. αἰώνων (cp. Ps 9:37) Rv 11:15.

δ. faithful Christians, who have been called to rule w. God Ro 5:17b; Rv 5:10 (ἐπὶ τ. γῆς, as 1a above); 20:4, 6; 22:5 (cp. Da 7:27).

ⓒ fig. death Ro 5:14 (ἐπί τινα), 17a; sin 21a; grace 21b; sinful desire 6:12.

② to obtain royal power, become king, so esp. in aor. (Hdt. 1, 130, 1; Thu. 2, 99, 3; Polyb. 5, 40, 6; 4 Km 14:29; 15:1, 7, 10; 1 Macc 1:10 al.) Rv 11:17; 19:6 (for both s. 1bα above); GHb 70, 16–18; Ox 654, 8 (GTh 2). χωρὶς ἡμῶν ἐβασιλεύσατε without us you have become kings 1 Cor 4:8 (Appian, Basil. 1a §5 β. has the sense ‘seize the rule’).—DELG. M-M. TW. Spicq.

χαρακτήρ, ῆρος, ὁ (fr. χαράσσω ‘engrave’ via χάραγμα; Aeschyl., Hdt.+; ins, pap, LXX; TestSol 11:6; TestSim 5:4 [‘copy’, of the Book of Enoch]; ApcSed 7:4; EpArist; Philo; Jos., Ant. 13, 322; Just.; Tat. 17, 2 [in the two last, of letters of the alphabet]; loanw. in rabb.).

① a mark or impression placed on an object

ⓐ of coinage impress, reproduction, representation (Eur., El. 559; Aristot., Pol. 1, 6, Oec. 2; Diod S 17, 66, 2; OGI 339, 45; in imagery Polyb. 18, 34, 7; Philo, Plant. 18) in imagery IMg 5:2ab.

ⓑ of a distinguishing mark trademark τὸ κεφαλοδέσμιον … χαρακτῆρα ἔχει βασιλικόν the headpiece bears a royal trademark (i.e. the logo of a manufacturer for the imperial establishment; s. deStrycker ad loc. and AJohnson, Roman Egypt to the Reign of Diocletian ’36, 332–33; 626–27) GJs 2:2. S. 3 below.

② someth. produced as a representation, reproduction, representation, fig., of God ἄνθρωπον ἔπλασεν τῆς ἑαυτοῦ εἰκόνος χαρακτῆρα (God) formed a human being as reproduction of his own identity/reality (s. εἰκών 2) 1 Cl 33:4 (cp. OGI 383, 60 of a picture χ. μορφῆς ἐμῆς; 404, 25; Philo, Det. Pot. Ins. 83 calls the soul τύπον τινὰ καὶ χαρακτῆρα θείας δυνάμεως). Christ is χαρ. τῆς ὑποστάσεως αὐτοῦ an exact representation of (God’s) real being Hb 1:3 (ὑπόστασις 1a).

③ characteristic trait or manner, distinctive mark (Hdt. et al.; Diod S 1, 91, 7; Dionys. Hal., Ad Pomp. 3, 16; 2 Macc 4:10) ἐν ἀποστολικῷ χαρακτῆρι in apostolic fashion of an epistolary greeting ITr ins; cp. 1b above.

④ an impression that is made, outward aspect, outward appearance, form (ApcSed 7:4 ὁ δὲ ἥλιος καὶ Ἀδάμ, μίαν χαρακτῆρα ἦσαν perh. read without the comma: ‘Now, the sun and Adam were alike in appearance’, in contrast to Eve who was more brightly beautiful than the moon) εὐειδέσταται τῷ χαρακτῆρι exceptionally beautiful in appearance Hs 9, 9, 5.—JGeffcken, Character: ET 21, 1910, 426f; AKörte, Her 64, 1929, 69–86 (semantic history).—DELG s.v. χαράσσω II 4. M-M. TW. Sv.

συμβασιλεύω fut. συμβασιλεύσω (Polyb. 30, 2, 4; Dionys. Hal., Strabo; Lucian, Dial. Deor. 16, 2; Plut., Lyc. 42 [5, 5], Num. 61 [3, 6], Anton. 941 [54, 4]; 1 Esdr 8:26 v.l.) to reign jointly, rule (as king) with someone in imagery of the eschatological situation when Christians are to share kingship w. their royal Lord 2 Ti 2:12; Pol 5:2. Paul ironically states that the Corinthians have achieved kingship; he wishes they had achieved it because then he would be reigning with them; actually he was still enduring a miserable life (cp. vs. 9) 1 Cor 4:8.—DELG s.v. βασιλεύς. M-M s.v. συνβασιλεύω. TW.