A Question on ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ
August23
Normally when people use the phrase ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ the refer to God’s kingdom. This takes this genitive phrase as a possessive genitive, “God’s kingdom.” But would be more correct to take it as a subjective geniitive that speaks of “the reign/rule of God?” I ask this because the noun ἡ βασιλεία has a verbal cognate βασιλεύω meaning “I reign/rule.” Doesn’t this usually tell us that ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ is a verbal genitive? Then the question would be is τοῦ θεοῦ the subject of βασιλεύω or the object. I’ve always wondered about this and what its implications on translation in the Scriptures. Or should it remain a possessive genitive and speak of the kingdom that belongs to God.
This is a tough one. Yeah, there is a verbal noun that βασιλεία is related to, but when does context refer to the acts of ruling rather than a kingdom? I feel as though the possessive genitive is a more natural l reading here. I guess there is nothing that prevents you from translating it that way, (cf. Smyth 1328-30) but just to be weary of the context.
Can you give some examples where you think “rule of God” works better than “kingdom of God” or offers an interesting take? I’d love to hear some.
[...] you translate ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ as “the kingdom of God” or “the rule of God?” I favor rendering it as “the kingdom of God,” but technically, I think you can do it [...]
I wasn’t thinking of specific examples but as a whole. I guess this stems from the NPP debate on πίστεως Χριστοῦ in Paul. It is being argued that this phrase means not “faith in Christ” but rather “faith of Christ” or “faithfulness of Christ.” One of the primary arguments for it is that this is a subjective verbal genitive (“faith/faithfulness of Christ”) and not the traditionally understood objective verbal genitive (“faith in Christ).
The specific examples that do come to mind is Mark 1:15 and parallels and even from understanding Matthew 28:18-20. Isn’t Jesus say that we mediate his rule upon the earth here? I’m not sure. This question was mostly me thinking out loud.
[...] you translate ἡ βασιλεία τοῦ θεοῦ as “the kingdom of God” or “the rule of God?” I favor rendering it as “the kingdom of God,” but technically, I think you can do it either [...]