The kingdom of God in the Old Testament

Abstract

In recent times, the notion of the “kingdom of God” has received much interest by Old Testament scholars. Reformed theology has traditionally attached much theological value to this topic, whereas modern research is questioning the centrality of the theme. It seems as if text material on this topic is relatively limited. In this article contemporary research concerning antiquity, provenance and the development of the notion of God’s kingdom is briefly highlighted, with special emphasis on the study of the YHWH-malak Psalms. It is argued, however, that tradition-critical analysis runs the risk of insufficiently recognising the importance of the theme. The matrix of thoughts and ideas in which the theme is rooted has to be taken into account, both semantically and theologically. In this respect, the notions of creation and covenant are of special interest. Finally, both spatial and temporal characteristics of the kingdom of God in the Old Testament are delineated. The kingship/kingdom of God is still to be considered as a basic and even central notion in the Old Testament.