See also Queen Inside, Queen Esther vs. Vashti, Queen of Sheba
The Greek word for “heaven” is ouranós – heaven (singular), and nearly as often used in the plural (“heavens“). “The singular and plural have distinct overtones and therefore should be distinguished in translation (though unfortunately they rarely are)” (G. Archer).
One could render it in an abstract sense as “heavens”, but we understand that these “heavens” are “heavenly-ones who are counted“
The NT word for “kingdom” is basileia. This is a feminine noun. In ancient Greek this word is used for both
- a queen
- a kingdom/reign
The words are the same. So how do we know if the New Testament is speaking about a “queen” rather than a “place of reign/kingdom”?
Scholars have always pointed to context. Thayer’s Greek Lexicon merely states, “βασιλεία, βασιλείας, ἡ (from βασιλεύω; to be distinguished from βασιλεία, a queen.” But why? Because of context. But which context? Which bias?
Linguistic Purity: The Greek Speaking Jews vs. The Atticists
A more specific word used for “queen” in the NT is basilissa βᾰσῐλισσα found only four times. In the Septuagint translation of the Old Testament the Jewish translators used this form. But the first form “basileia” was the preferred form by Josephus and the Atticists. The Thayer’s Greek Lexicon entry on “queen” (cf. #938) states, “the Sept.; Josephus; the Atticists prefer the forms βασιλίς [basilis] and βασιλεία [basileia]…“
βᾰσῐλ-ισσα, ἡ, = βασίλειᾰ, queen
According to the LSJ (Liddell-Scott-Jones) Greek-English Lexicon, a standard reference for Ancient Greek, “basilissa” equals “basileia,” meaning queen. It is attested in various sources such as Xenophon’s Oeconomicus 9.15, passages attributed to Alcaeus and Aristotle in Bekker’s Anecdota Graeca, and in the works of Philemon as cited in Athenaeus XIII.595c. The Atticists rejected the form as unattic, with its sole mention in Sparta by Theocritus 15.24 and in the works of Polemo more frequently. (cf. “βασίλισσα – Logeion“)
The Septuagint translators and the Atticists represent distinct cultural and linguistic pursuits. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible completed in the 3rd century BCE, aimed to make Jewish scriptures accessible to Greek-speaking Jews in Alexandria. Thus the translation methodology was largely based on a Jewish audience. This translation used Koine Greek, the common dialect of the time, to ensure practical and religious comprehension of long-existing Jewish traditions. Were their traditions and biases correct? A few centuries thereafter, a man named “Salvation” said in no uncertain terms that they were not. He labeled the leaders, scribes, and lawyers as “thieves,” “liars,” and “hypocrites.” This same man then preached about a “basilea” of “heavens” as a core message of salvation and judgement coming upon the world. This context does not lend well to following the Jewish interpretation and linguistic forms for his own gospel message.
In contrast, the Atticists, active from the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century CE, sought to preserve and emulate the classical Attic Greek dialect of 5th and 4th-century BCE Athens. They focused on maintaining the linguistic purity and stylistic elegance of classical Athenian authors, for the sake of education and rhetoric (think, philosophers) in the Greek-speaking world. While the Septuagint focused on the religious and cultural tradition of the Jews, the Atticists emphasized literary and stylistic fidelity, influencing elite education and the appreciation of classical Greek literature.
For further reading:
- Carawan, Edwin. The Attic Orators. Oxford University Press, 2008.
- Innes, Doreen C. (editor). Greek Literary Criticism: From Plato to the Present. Routledge, 2001.
Sons of the Kingdom or Queen?
If semantic contexts have anything to say about translation, it would seem the semantic context of Matt 13:38 would be obvious:
The Field is the World and the good seed [singular]—these ones are the sons of the queen…
Matthew 13:38 RBT
“The mother of all of ourselves…” (Gal. 4:26)
“Sons of the kingdom” makes far less sense semantically than “sons of the queen.” Poetically or idiomatically, perhaps. The commentaries take it for a Hebrew idiom for the Jews, but they are quite confused since the “sons of the kingdom” are cast into the outer darkness (Matt. 8:12) and the “sons of the kingdom” are called good seed (Matt. 13:38)! Something is clearly amiss. Let’s look closer.
“The queen of the heavenly-ones is resembling a treasure-storehouse that was concealed in a field that a man found…” Matt. 13:44 RBT
“Knowing now the thoughts of themselves, he said to them, ‘The whole of the queen portioned out/divided down from herself is laid-waste, and the whole of the city or house portioned out/divided down from herself does not stand up. ” Matt. 12:25 RBT
Answering now, the Lord said to herself, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and uproaring/tumultuous around many. The need is little, and Mary has chosen the good portion of one, she who will not be cut-off/removed of herself.”
Luke 10:42 RBT
Commentators here failed to understand the reason for the plural marriages:
“The queen of the heavenly-ones has become like a man, a king who has made weddings [marriages] for the son of himself.” Matt. 22:2 RBT
“From, then, the days of John the Submerger until now, the queen of the heavenly-ones is violently-forced and violent men seize her.” Matt. 11:12 RBT
“Another parable he set before them saying, ‘The queen of the heavenly-ones has become like a man who sowed a good seed in the field of himself.” Matt. 13:24 RBT
“Not the whole, the one who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord’ will come-in into the queen of the heavenly-ones, except the one who makes the desire of the father of myself who is among the heavenly-ones.” Matt. 7:21 literal
“Wise-ones in the Outside are shouting-for-joy in the Broadway; she is giving her voice. In the head of those-who-roar she is calling-out in the openings of the gates in the City, she is speaking her sayings. Until when open-ones you are loving the open-one? And those-who-scorn, a scorned-one they have delighted to-themselves. And foolish-ones are hating a known-one.” Prov. 1:20-22 RBT
“Wise-ones, she has built her house, she has hewn out her standing-ones, seven. She has slaughtered her slaughtered-one, she has arrayed her table, she has sent her scattered-ones, she is reading upon the bodies of the high-places of the town. Who is an open-one? He is turning aside here. ‘A wanting heart,’ she is saying to-himself.” Prov. 9:2-4 RBT
The genitive 3rd person singular feminine relative pronoun herself has always been translated as “itself” in Matt. 11:12, 12:25 and similar passages.