Jesus Remembered: Christianity in the Making, vol. 1

§12.2 The Kingdom of God
(1) A Jewish audience would, of course, be familiar with the idea of God as
'king (melek)' over all the earth, over all the nations, over all the gods. It was, after
all, a familiar theme of worship in their psalm book. 41 Jewish worshippers
would probably be accustomed to the chant, 'The Lord reigns (malak)'; 42 'The
Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom (malkuto) rules
over all' (Ps. 103.19); 'Your kingdom (malkufka) is an everlasting kingdom, and
your dominion endures throughout all generations' (Ps. 145.13). 43 In the Qumran
Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice God is regularly praised as 'king of the heavenly/
godlike beings', 'king of glory', and so on. 44
(2) Typically Jewish also is the conviction, already implied in several of the
passages just mentioned, that only Israel has acknowledged God's kingship. Israel
was chosen by God, so that God was Israel's king in a special sense, in a special
relationship. 45 The Lord reigns on Zion. 46 He is the king of Israel. 47 Jesus
and his contemporaries prayed, 'My King (malki) and my God' . 48 Worthy of particular
note is the good news to be preached to Zion, even (or especially) in Israel's
exile: 'Your God reigns (malak). r (Isa. 52.7) — in echo of the earlier escape
from bondage celebrated in the Song of Moses, 'The Lord will reign for
ever and ever' (Exod. 15.18), which Qumran in turn referred to its hope of the
Temple to be rebuilt 'in the last days' (4Q174 [4QFlor] 1.2-6). The early form of
the Eighteen Benedictions accordingly prays, 'Restore our judges as in former
times and our counsellors as in the beginning; and reign over us, thou alone'
(Shemoneh 'Esreh II). 49
(3) But equally the hope/expectation was cherished that God's reign from
Mount Zion, at present acknowledged only by Israel, would soon be manifested
Jesus the Jew (London: SCM, 1993) 121-35; Meier, Marginal Jew 2.243-88; K. Seybold and
H.-J. Fabry, 'melek', TDOT 8 (1997) 365-75; Theissen and Merz, Historical Jesus 246-52;
more discursively Becker, Jesus of Nazareth 86-100.
41. Pss. 10.16; 22.28; 29.10; 47.2-3, 7-8; 95.3; 103.19 (malkut); 135.6 (as expanded at
Qumran — DSSB 568). See further J. Jeremias, Das Königtum Gottes in den Psalmen
(FRLANT 141; Göttingen: Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, 1987); B. Janowski, 'Das Königtum
Gottes in den Psalmen', ZTK 86 (1989) 389-454.
42. Pss. 93.1-2; 96.10; 97.1; 99.1.
43. See also Jer. 10.7, 10; Dan. 4.34; Mai. 1.14; / En. 84.2; 1QH 18(= 10).8; 2 Mace.
1.24; Pss. Sol. 2.29-32; 17.3; Wis. 6.4; T. Mos. 4.2.
44. Newsom, Songs of the Sabbath Sacrifice 424-26.
45. The first and second usage are, of course, closely linked: 'He stands over against the
nations and their gods explicitly as melek of Israel, proving himself in the divine trial as the superior,
singular, and unique God' (Seybold, TDOT 8.370).
46. Pss. 24.7-10; 48.2; 149.2; Isa. 6.5; Jer. 8.19; Jub. 1.28.
47. Pss. 146.10; 149.2; Isa. 33.22; 41.21; 43.15; 44.6; Zeph. 3.15; Pss. Sol. 5.19; 17.1.
48. Pss. 5.2; 44.4; 68.24; 74.12; 84.3; 145.1.
49. Schürer, History 2.461.
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