Luke 1:33

Luk_1:33

And He shall reign--

Christs everlasting kingdom

The everlasting kingdom.

There is no reason to doubt that the right and true and the holy shall have the victory. All dominions hostile to Christ must give way. All kingdoms incompatible with His must be dissolved. The kingdoms of this world have their symbols in the lion, the bear, the leopard, and the fourth dreadful and terrible beast: and by a law universally proved, their passions and discord shall precipitate their own destruction. But Christs kingdom has nothing anarchical, because it has nothing sinful in it; it has not one element of decay, because into it nothing that defileth can enter. Suns shall grow pale, stars shall become dim; the crescent shall wane, the crucifix shall fall from the hands of him that holds it; and Christs kingdom shall extend over all the earth, and all shall bless Him, and be blessed in Him. We see already tokens of that day. I take a bright view of the coming days. What progress do knowledge, science, education, Christianity, the Bible, make everywhere throughout the world at this moment? Do we not see the whole human family drawing nearer to each other? Do we not see the two great nations, America and England, speaking a tongue that promises more and more every day to become the tongue of the whole world? Do we not see all languages, however diversified, becoming reducible to two, three, or four at the very most,--Christians becoming less earthly, and Christianity less alloyed? What are these but the tokens of the approaching glory; voices in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord; messengers sent before to announce that the bridegroom cometh? I see flowers of paradise begin to bloom in many a desert. I see upon all sides the sea of barbarism and superstition begin to ebb, and many a dove take wing, and fly over the length and breadth of the worlds chaotic flood, giving tokens that the Prince of Peace is on His way, warning us that the sound of His approach already breaks upon the ear. Let us hail the twilight; let us urge on, as far as we can, the coming day. (Cummings.)

Christ the key to the worlds history

The great Swiss historian, John Von Muller, gives the result of his life-long labours, extracted, he says, from seventeen hundred and thirty-three authors, in seventeen thousand folio pages, in this striking confession: Christ is the key to the history of the world. Not only does all harmonize with the mission of Christ; all is subordinated to it. When I saw this, he adds, it was to me as wonderful and surprising as the light which St. Paul saw on his way to Damascus, the fulfilment of all hopes, the completion of philosophy, the key to all the apparent contradictions in the physical and the moral; here is life and immortality. I marvel not at miracles; a far greater miracle has been reserved for our times, the spectacle of the connection of all human events in the establishment and preservation of the doctrine of Christ. (Prof. Henry B. Smith.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Luk 1:33. Οἶκον Ἰακὼβ, the house of Jacob) Under this house are contained the Gentiles, even as, for the sake of illustration, there are contained under the appellation of the Rhine, the rivers that flow into it. But yet it is the house itself [Israel] which is principally alluded to, especially at this early period, and in an address to an Israelitish woman. At this early stage in the Gospel history, its progress is designated generally: the spiritual sense lies hid beneath. So Luk 1:68, etc.—βασιλείας, of His kingdom) Repeat, over the house of David, on the throne of David: Isa 9:7. That which has not yet been accomplished, shall be accomplished.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Verse 33. The house of Jacob] All who belong to the twelve tribes, the whole Israelitish people.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(33) He shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever.—Here, again, the apparent promise is that of a kingdom restored to Israel such as the disciples expected even after the Resurrection (Act_1:6). It needed to be interpreted by events before men could see that it was fulfilled in the history of Christendom as the true Israel of God (Rom_9:6; Gal_6:16).

Of his kingdom there shall be no end.—The words of St. Paul, in 1Co_15:24-28, seem at first to point to a limit of time when the kingdom of the Christ shall find an end, but a closer study of his meaning shows that he is speaking of that kingdom as involving contest with the hostile forces of evil. The exercise of sovereignty may, in this sense, cease when all conflict is over, but it ceases by being perfected, not by passing away after the fashion of earthly kingdoms. The delegated or mediatorial headship of the Christ is merged in the absolute unity of the monarchy of God.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. reign … for ever] Dan_2:44, “a kingdom which shall never be destroyed … it shall stand for ever.” (Comp. Dan_7:13-14; Dan_7:27; Mic_4:7.) “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever” (Psa_45:6; Heb_1:8). “He shall reign for ever and ever,” Rev_11:15. In 1Co_15:24-28 the allusion is only to Christ’s mediatorial kingdom,—His earthly kingdom till the end of conflict.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he shall reign over the house of Jacob,.... Not over the Jews, the posterity of Jacob, in a literal sense; but over the whole Israel of God, consisting of Jews and Gentiles. For as his father David reigned over the Idumeans, Syrians, and others, as well as over the house of Judah and Israel, so this his son shall reign over both Jews and Gentiles: his kingdom shall be from one end of the earth to the other, even over all the elect of God; who in successive generations call themselves by the name of Jacob, and surname themselves by the name of Israel, of whatsoever nation they be; and this reign of his shall be

for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end; referring to Isa 9:7 see also Dan 2:44 Dan 7:14 he shall reign in the hearts of his people here unto the end of the world; and with his saints a thousand years in the new heavens and new earth; and with them to all eternity, in the ultimate glory.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Ver. 33. And of his kingdom there shall be no end] St Paul saith indeed that he shall at the end of the world deliver up the kingdom to God the Father; not that his kingdom shall then cease, but that form of administration only, that he now useth in the collecting and conserving of his Church.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Over the house of Jacob - The house of Jacob means the same thing as the “family” of Jacob, or the descendants of Jacob - that is, the children of Israel. This was the name by which the ancient people of God were known, and it is the same as saying that he would reign over his own church and people forever. This he does by giving them laws, by defending them, and by guiding them; and this he will do forever in the kingdom of his glory.

Of his kingdom there shall be no end - He shall reign among his people on earth until the end of time, and be their king forever in heaven. his is the only kingdom that shall never have an end; he the only King that shall never lay aside his diadem and robes, and that shall never die. “He “the only King that can defend us from all our enemies, sustain us in death, and reward us in eternity. O how important, then, to have an interest in his kingdom! and how unimportant, compared with “his” favor, is the favor of all earthly monarchs!

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Those are here called of the house of Jacob, who out of the multitude of the Jews believed in Christ. This is conformable to that text of St. Paul: All are not Israelites that are of Israel, but the children of the promise are accounted for the seed. (Romans ix. 6, 8.) (St. John Chrysostom, hom. vii. on S. Matt.) --- And of his kingdom there shall be no end: which clearly shews it was not to be a temporal, but a spiritual and an eternal kingdom. (Witham)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

33. The house of Jacob—Both of Jacob’s natural and spiritual descendants. “For,” says Grotius, “just as David the king of Israel did by conquest amalgamate the Edomites and other nations with his kingdom, so also this Messiah-king, by gospel conquest, shall incorporate the Gentiles into his kingdom and naturalize them as true Israel. Isa_14:1. The stranger shall be joined with them, and they shall cleave to the house of Jacob.” And, Isa_44:5, of the same stranger it is said he “

shall call himself by the name of Jacob.” For ever—This term being applied here to no earthly or mere human subject, must be taken in the strict sense of eternity.

Shall be no end—For though its probationary mediatorial form shall cease, yet its substance shall be eternal. Christ shall be eternal king, and so his reign and throne shall be endless.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He shall reign over the house of Jacob - In which all true believers are included.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

33. βασιλεύσει … εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Dan 2:44, “a kingdom which shall never be destroyed … it shall stand for ever.” (Comp. Dan 7:13-14; Dan 7:27; Mic 4:7.) “Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever” (Psa 45:6; Heb 1:8). “He shall reign for ever and ever,” Rev 11:15. In 1Co 15:24-28 the allusion is only to Christ’s mediatorial kingdom,—His earthly kingdom till the end of conflict.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

33. βασιλεύσει … εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας. Comp. “But of the Son he saith, God is Thy throne for ever and ever” (Heb 1:8, where see Wsctt.); also Dan 2:44, Dan 2:7:14; Joh 12:34; Rev 11:15. The eternity of Christ’s kingdom is assured by the fact that it is to be absorbed in the kingdom of the Father (1Co 15:24-28). These magnificent promises could hardly have been invented by a writer who was a witness of the condition of the Jews during the half century which followed the destruction of Jerusalem. Indeed, we may perhaps go further and say that “it breathes the spirit of the Messianic hope before it had received the rude and crushing blow in the rejection of the Messiah” (Gore, Dissertations, p. 16). Comp. vv. 17, 54, 55, 68-71, 2:38.

The constr. βασιλεύειν ἐπί c. acc. is not classical. We have it again 19:14, 27.

International Critical Commentary — older volumes (1896–1929), various authors — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.