Vocab Insight: Basileia / Kingdom
Watch a short animated video that defines the Greek word “basileia” in its biblical context and explains how it relates to God, humanity, and creation.
Script
Basileia.
“May your basileia come, may your will be done on the land as it is in the skies.”1
Basileia means “kingdom,” which includes a people, a land, and a king or queen who rules.
In the Bible, God is the cosmic king, and all creation is his kingdom, his basileia.
God also appoints humans as co-rulers. But when they refuse to lead with God's wisdom, they always spiral into corruption, violence, and death.2
When Jesus says, “the basileia of God is near,”3 he's declaring that God's Kingdom is here to challenge all imposter kingdoms, offering hope for everyone's suffering under the brutality and greed of human empires.
Jesus proclaims that God's basileia is breaking in as a kingdom of justice, empowered by love. Rather than experiencing corruption and death, its citizens find true peace and the good life.4
“The basileia of the world has become the basileia of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign forever and ever.”5
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