apon which they were spoken. Later on, however, perhaps about A.D. 65, he realized that there wa.s a le.rge and increasing number of Jewish believers in Jesus of Nazareth who did not spee.k Are.maio, but Greek a.lone, and with whom a good many Gentile Christiane commonly associated, and that it lay in his power to draw up for them a treatise which should help them to understand more of the person and the claims of Jesus and of the relation in which he stood to the Law of their fathers, the religion which a.s Jews they had professed. This treatise he felt it necessary to write in Greek. He used as hie bases two chief sources, both probably not fully written down, but current in men's minds by dint of oral repetition-the one trace- able ultimately to St. Peter; the other that which was chiefly due to his own energy. But he now welded these two eouroee together, using his own judgment, and adding much that would serve his purpose, especially a genealogy hitherto preserved in oral tradition, and certain interpretations of prophecy that had been for some time in course of formation in the Church. He did not endeavour to be original, but the bent of his strong individuality could not fail to make itself felt.
X. TBli: MEANING OF THE PHRASE, "THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN." § 21. There is one phrase which occurs so often in St Matthew's Goepel that it demands special consideration, "the kingdom of heaven" (~ {3a,n- >..Ew. -rwv ovpa.vwv), or, as it is found elsewhere," the kingdom of God"(~ f3arnAEw. -rov @Eov). I shall not discuss the relation of the two genitives, -rwv ovpavwv and -rov @mii, but assuming that the forme,r seemed to. Gentile Christiane to savour of heather,ism, and for this reason became restricted to Jewish circles, I shall consider them as for our purpose identical. Bui what does "kingdom" mean? Some say "rulen in the abstract, and appeal to certain passages in the LXX. and New Testament for corrobora- tion ( e.g. 2 Kings xxiv. 12; 1 Cor. xv. 24; Luke i. 33). But the general tenor of Scripture, both of the Old and of the New Testament, is strongly in favour of the concrete meaning, " realm" ( e.g. LXX. : Esth. i. 22 ; 1 Sam. xxviii. 17 [probably]; 2 Sam. iii. 28; and in the Apocrypha, Wied. vi. 4; L 10. New Testament: Matt. iv. 8 [vi 13, Received Text]; xii. 25, 26; xvi. 28; :x.:x.iv. 7). The word "kingdom," that is to say, does not mean the act of ruling, or the exercise of dominion, a reign, but a sphere ruled, a kingdom proper. But what does the phrase as a whole mean? What i, the kingdom? What i, the sphere ruled? To answer this it is essential to notice that the earliest pa.ssage in wRich the thought is found, and on which the whole conception rests (Exod. xix. 6), tells us that at Mount Sinai God offered to take the children of Israel to be to him "a kingdom of priests." This position the nation accepted then and there, professing their readiness to obey God's voice.' Their action may be illustrated by the remarks of a ' '' By tbe 110lem11 conclusion of tho covenant at Sinai (Exocl. xxiv.), Israel became the poople of God, and he became their King. It is from this relation, for whiob Josephus TIIE GOSPEL ACCOHDING TO ST. MATTHEW. xxiii
far later time. The Lord proved hie right, say the rabbis of circfl. A.n. 280, to be King over Israel by his delivering them from Egypt and work- ing miracles for them, and thoy gladly accepted him as King, and "they all set one heart alike to accept the kingdom of heaven with joy." 1 Thus, when Moses, one Rabbi Berechiah says, asked God why Israel alone out of all the nations was committed to his charge, the answer was, "Because they took upon them the yoke of my kingdom on Sinai, and said 'All that the Lord he.th spoken we will do, and be obedient'" (Exod. xxiv. 7Y One can easily understand how the thought of the acceptance of this position as God's kingdom would lead to the desire to frequently renew the acceptance. The dates of the ritual observances of the Jews are in most cases quite unknown, but it is certain that the recital of the Sh'ma, "Hear, 0 Israel," eto., the summary of the teaching of the Law, is pre-Christian, and it is probable that it has come down from the very earliest times. But this recital was looked upon as the daily renewal, on the part of every individual Israelite, of hie personal acceptance of the position accepted by the nation at Sinai.' So that the recital of the Sh'ma became commonly called, " the taking of the yoke of the kingdom of heaven." By every recital of the Sh'ma each Israelite pledged himself to do hie best to work out his own share of the duties and responsibilities which belonged to him as a member of the kingdom. I do 'not wish, however, to lay too great stress either on the antiquity of the recital of the Sh'ma or on the part it played in keeping up the thought of the kingdom; for it admits of no question that the nation of Israel did not forget its position accepted at Sinai. Though its behaviour was very unlike that of the special kingdom of God, the nation never finally sur- rendered its ideal, but felt pledged to attain it. For the prophets always looked forward to- this ideal as to be fully carried out one day under Messiah ( e.g. Isa. ii. 2-4; J er. xxiii. 5, 6), and indeed to be then still further en- larged by the admission of others than Jews to the privileges of the kingdom ( e.g. Isa. xlv. 23 ; lxvi. 23; Zeph. ii. 11 ). The realm ruled over by Messiah bece.tne to the prophets a realm which was hereafter to be so completely realized that other realms, already in whole or in part existing, served only as the counterfoil to its greatness; for they were to be overcome by it (Dan. ii., vii.). It would be, observe, the realm of Messiah, the realm of a King, resembling, of course, not a Western kingdom with the constitu- tional rights of the representatives of the people to enforce limitations, but one of the great empires of the East, whose rulers were absolute mone.rohs. Nothing lees than that is the biblical idea-a realm ruled by Messiah as absolute King. (' Contra. Apion,' ii. 17) introduced the no.me theocracy, tbe.t the whole conception of the Kingdom of God ho.a a.risen " (Professor T. S. Candlish, 'The Kingdom of God,' p. 52 : Edinburgh, 1884). 1 Comp. Mid.rash,' Meohiltu.,' § 5, p. 74a, edit. Weiss. 1 Mid.rash,' Pesi]f.t11' (p. 17a, edit. Buber); of. for e. somewhat similar se.ying, l\folro..sb
Bhmoth R11bbe..' § 23 (beginning). :ulv INTRODUCTION TO