Luke 1:33 An important verse which shows the ages and the kingdom reign of Christ does not end
Luke 1:33
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. (KJV)Luke 1:33
33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.'From the onset let us note the two halves of this verse are parallel.
The statement "Christ's reign over the house of Jacob to the ages" is expanded upon and explained by the statement:
"of his reign there shall be no end"
Thus indicating the ages have no end and are eternal.
Universalist attempt to counter the obvious claim of this verse by seeing a difference between the reign and the kingdom of Christ. They state Christ's reign ends but his kingdom goes on.
However Lexically, grammaticaly and scripturally their explaination cannot stand.
Fist let us note a number of translations:
Luke 1:33
he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.' (NJB)Luke 1:33
he will rule over the House of Jacob for ever and his reign will have no end.' (JB)Luke 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever: his reign shall never end. (LO)
Luke 1:33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob to the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end.'
(YLT)Luke 1:33
1:33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob into the ages; and of his reign there shall be no end."
(Analyitical literal translation)Do translate basilia as "reign" though not the majority they are consistent with the majority:
Luke 1:33
33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. (KJV)Lexically the word basilia incorporates both the idea of a reign and a kingdom which is reigned over:
932 basileia (bas-il-i'-ah);
from 935; properly, royalty, i.e. (abstractly) rule, or (concretely) a realm
(literally or figuratively):KJV-- kingdom, + reign.
Strongs932 basileia-
1) royal power, kingship, dominion, rule
a) not to be confused with an actual kingdom but rather the
right or authority to rule over a kingdom
b) used of the royal power of Jesus as the triumphant Messiah
c) used of the royal power and dignity conferred on Christians in the
Messiah's kingdom
2) a kingdom, the territory subject to the rule of a king
3) used in the New Testament to refer to the reign of the Messiah
Thayersbasileia ^932^ is primarily an abstract noun, denoting "sovereignty, royal
power, dominion," e. g., , translated
"(which) reigneth," lit., "hath a kingdom" (RV marg.); then, by metonymy, a
concrete noun, denoting the territory or people overwhom a king rules, e. g., . It is used especially of the "kingdom" of God and of
Christ.
(from Vine's Expository Dictionary of Biblical Words)D. basilia in Hellenlstic Judaism. Where there is a Hebrew original the LXX
follows it closely. Elsewhere the kingdom is linked
with wisdom (Wis. 10:10 etc.) or ethicized (4 Macc. 2:23).********************************************************************************************** In Philo basilia means kingship or lordship,
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but basilia constitutes a chapter in his moral teaching (the true king is the wise person) and is not for him an eschatological entity. Josephus never speaks of God’s kingdom, mentioning basilia in connection
with God only in Antiquities Kittel, Gerhard, and Friedrich, Gerhard, Editors, The Theological Dictionary of
the New Testament, Abridged in One Volume,basilia,
1. kingship, royal power, royal rule, kingdom (1 Km 15:28; 20:31; Sir 10:8; Jdth
1:1; Esth 3:6; 1 Macc 1:16 al. LXX)
Bauer, Arndt, Gingrich lexicon2 The abstract noun basileia is of later origin than basileus, and is attested first in Hdt. 1, 11 (in the Ionic form basileie).
(a) The original meaning of the term basileia is the fact of being king, the position or power of the king, and it is best translated office of king, kingly rule (e.g. Aristotle, Politics 3, 1285b, 20).
(b) Besides this meaning there is a second meaning which emphasizes the geographical aspect of basileia; for the status of a king is shown by the area over which he reigns. basileia assumes therefore the
meaning kingdom, signifying the state or area over which a king reigns (P.Oxy 1257, 7). New international dictionary of new testament theology - Colin BrownNote the two meanings the article gives for Basilia.
The original meaning of the term basileia is the fact of being king, the state or area over which a king reigns (P.Oxy 1257, 7).
both definition's incorporate the fact of a reign.
Grammatically,
The genitive contruction employed in the second half of the verse ties us to what was stated in the first half of the verse:
So that "and of his kingdom/reign" refers back to "He will reign":
Luke 1:33
And he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end."
[Exegesis]: [kai basileusei epi ton oikon Iakoob] 'and he will rule over the house of Jacob'; the subject changes abruptly from God in the preceding clause to Jesus.
[basileuoo] 'be king', 'rule', in Luke always with [epi] followed by an accusative to indicate the king's subjects.
[oikon Iakoob] lit. 'the house of Jacob', i. e. 'the descendants of Jacob', cp. on v. 27.
[eis tous aioonas] lit. 'into the ages', hence 'for ever'.
[aioon] 'age', cp. [TH-Mk] on <Luke 3:29> and [N. T. Wb.], 13f/AGE.
[kai tees basileias autou ouk estai telos] lit., 'and of his reign there will be no end'. The place of the genitive [tees basileias] at the beginning of the clause represents an attempt to carry over the dominating idea of the preceding clause ([basileusei]) into this clause.
[basileia] 'kingship', 'kingdom' or 'reign', 'rule'.
[Translation]: The verse is consecutive to v. 32 b; hence [and] may be rendered, 'then', 'thus', 'and so' (Navajo). The two clauses parallel each other, the second semantically repeating the first and thus reinforcing.The reference of [he] may have to be specified, e. g. by qualifying the pronoun by means of a deictic element, or by substituting 'your son', or, 'Jesus'.
[Reign over], or, 'rule', 'be king/chief over ', 'have power/authority over', 'command', 'hold' (Kapauku, cp. on "king" in i: 5).
[House of Jacob] refers to a group that is coextensive with the people Israel, whereas "house of David" in v. 27 refers to the royal clan; accordingly "house" may have to be rendered differently here, e. g. by 'people/tribe' (East Toradja), 'all-the-progeny' (Balinese, instead of 'descendants' in v. 27).
[For ever], or, 'age after age' (Marathi), reduplication of 'age' (Telugu), reduplication of 'what-day/when' (Tamil), 'in-long-length (-of-time). (Malay and Toba Batak); or a negative phrase, e. g. 'without an end (ing) ' (Tagabili). See also N. T. Wb. / f, AGE
[Of his kingdom there will be no end], or, 'the length of his being-king will be without limit' (Balinese), 'he will never stop commanding' (Bolivian Quechua), 'his chieftainship will not finish' (East Toradja), 'his reign will not come to a stopping place' (Chokwe, see [TBT], 5:89. 1954). For [Kingdom] (also in <Luke 4:5; 11:2,17> f; <12:31> f; <21:10; 22:29> f) see on "king" in <1:5> and on "kingdom of God" in <4:43>. If this noun has to be rendered by a verb, e. g. 'he will rule (as king) ' and/or if "forever" in the preceding
clause has to be rendered by a negative phrase, e. g. 'without end', the two clauses may come to resemble each other too closely. In order to avoid repetition then the translator, may try lexical differentiation, e. g. by the use of synonyms, such as 'exercise authority' after 'hold/rule' (Kapauku), 'be
chieftain' after 'have-as-subjects' (cp. East Toradja 1933), and/or, 'without limit', 'unrestricted' after 'without end'; or he may try to turn repetition to advantage, and say in the second clause something like, 'indeed, reign without end he will', cp. also the Sranan rendering of this verse, 'he will be king
over..., he will remain king... '. (from UBS Translator Handbook Series)Scripturally, the bible teaches Christ has a reign which does not end:
Dan 7:13-14
13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him.
14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed. (KJV)This old testament passage clearly shows both the reign (dominion) and the kingdom of Christ have no end.
Thus the explaination given above is fully confirmed by scripture.
Another verse shows:
Heb 1:8-11
8 But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom.
9 Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.
10 And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands:
11 They shall perish; but thou remainest; and they all shall wax old as doth a garment; (KJV)The verse shows the unending reign of Christ as pictured by His throne is predicated upon Christ's endless existence and righteousness.
These are facts which will never change.
The reign and the ages in which Christ reigns will never end.