throne,
noun Although a throne is a piece of furniture, namely a
chair, the word even in ancient times was used as a metaphor
indicating the authority of the one who sat in it. Although thrones
are not popular in democratic societies, the equivalent type of
metaphor continues in the use of the words chair and bench in the
legislative and judicial branches of government respectively. What
was once true of throne is currently the case with chair and bench.
In the Bible “the throne represents the continuity of power which
may be assumed by a series of incumbents but transcends each
individual personality.”1 It is the continuity of power
that gives particular meaning to the metaphor as it came to be used
in poetry and in visions of a divine realm.
The Hebrew word translated throne
is kisse, which can also mean simply a seat ─ a chair or
stool.
kisse
as something to sit on
After
they had eaten and drunk at Shiloh, Hannah rose and presented
herself before the
Lord.
Now Eli the priest was sitting on the seat beside the
doorpost of the temple of the
Lord.
[I Samuel 1:9]
The
foolish woman is loud; she is ignorant and knows nothing. She sits
at the door of her house, on a seat at the high places of the
town. [Proverbs 9:13-14]
In those
days when King Ahasuerus sat on his royal throne in the
citadel of Susa, in the third year of his reign, he gave a banquet
for all his officials and ministers. [Esther 1:2-3]
When the
news reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne,
removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.
[Jonah 3:6]
kisse
as continuity of power
My lord
the king─the eyes of all Israel are on you to tell them who shall
sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. [I Kings
1:20]
Once and
for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. His
line shall continue forever, and his throne endure before me
like the sun. [Psalm 89:35-36]
If a king
judges the poor with equity, his throne will be established
forever. [Proverbs 29:14]
His
authority shall grow continually, and there shall be endless peace
for the throne of David and his kingdom. He will establish
and uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time
onward and forevermore. [Isaiah 9:7]
kisse
as God’s place
The
Lord
sits enthroned
forever, he has established his throne for judgment. [Psalm
9:7]
The
Lord
is in his holy
temple; the
Lord's
throne is
in heaven. His eyes behold, his gaze examines humankind. [Psalm
11:4]
Glorious
throne, exalted from the beginning, shrine of our sanctuary!
O hope of Israel! O
Lord!
[Jeremiah 17:12-13]
You, O
Lord,
reign forever; your throne endures to all generations.
[Lamentations 5:19]
kisse
as opposition to God
For now I
am calling all the tribes of the kingdoms of the north, says the
Lord;
and they shall come and all of them shall set their thrones
at the entrance of the gates of Jerusalem, against all its
surrounding walls and against all the cities of Judah. And I will
utter my judgments against them, for all their wickedness in
forsaking me. [Jeremiah 1:15-16]
Then all
the princes of the sea shall step down from their thrones;
they shall remove their robes and strip off their embroidered
garments. They shall clothe themselves with trembling, and shall sit
on the ground; they shall tremble every moment, and be appalled at
you. [Ezekiel 26:16]
Speak to
Zerubbabel, governor of Judah, saying, I am about to shake the
heavens and the earth, and to overthrow the throne of
kingdoms; I am about to destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the
nations. [Haggai 2:21-22]
kisse
in the heavenly court
Then
Micaiah said, "Therefore hear the word of the
Lord:
I saw the
Lord
sitting on his
throne, with all the host of heaven standing beside him to
the right and to the left of him. [I Kings 22:19]
In the
year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple. Seraphs
were in attendance above him. [Isaiah 6:1-2]
Over the
heads of the living creatures there was something like a dome,
shining like crystal, spread out above their heads. . . Above the
dome over their heads there was something like a throne, in
appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a
throne was something that seemed like a human form. [Ezekiel
1:22, 26]
As I
watched, thrones were set in place, and an Ancient One took
his throne, his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of
his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, and its wheels
were burning fire. [Daniel 7:9]
In the heavenly court
passages, the writers and editors of the Hebrew Scriptures pictured
the divine judge surrounded by attendants. In some of these
visions, the attendants appear to be associate justices
participating in the cases brought before the divine tribunal. In
the passage from Daniel quoted above, each associate had a throne.
These visions of the heavenly court had a considerable impact on the
imagery used by the early followers of Jesus. Although they used
the Greek word thronos, they seem to have had in mind all the
characteristics of the Hebrew kisse.
thronos
in the heavenly court
Jesus
said to them, "Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when
the Son of Man is seated on the throne of his glory, you who
have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel. [Matthew 19:28]
Jesus
said, "You are those who have stood by me in my trials; and I confer
on you, just as my Father has conferred on me, a kingdom, so that
you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and you will sit on
thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.” [Luke
22:28-30]
At once I
was in the spirit, and there in heaven stood a throne, with
one seated on the throne! And the one seated there looks like
jasper and carnelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that
looks like an emerald. Around the throne are twenty-four
thrones, and seated on the thrones are twenty-four
elders, dressed in white robes, with golden crowns on their heads.
[Revelation 4:2-4]
In the visions of the divine
tribunal that appear in the gospels, the disciples of Jesus have
apparently replaced the heavenly beings of the Hebrew Scriptures.
Who the twenty-four elders in Revelation might be has been the
subject of much debate. The author might have had in mind angels,2
priests, elders3 of the early church, or the saints4
found in ancient Israel or among the followers of Jesus. Whoever
the twenty-four elders might be, they seem to function as associate
justices in the same way as the heavenly beings in Hebrew Scriptures
and the disciples in the gospel vision of the heavenly court. For
the Christian imagery to be consistent, of course, Jesus had to
preside as chief justice, as he does in his role as Son of Man5
in the Matthew passage. Elsewhere in the specifically Christian
portions of the Bible, the thronos of Jesus represents
continuity with the kisse of David.
Jesus enthroned
When the
Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he
will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be
gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as
a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. [Matthew 25:31-32]
The angel
said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with
God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you
will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of
the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne
of his ancestor David. [Luke 1:30-32]
Fellow
Israelites, I may say to you confidently of our ancestor David that
he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day.
Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn with an oath to
him that he would put one of his descendants on his throne.
[Acts 2:29-30]
Of the
Son he says, "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, and
the righteous scepter is the scepter of your kingdom.” [Hebrews
1:8]
One reason to
identify the throne of Jesus with that of David is to avoid any
confusion with the throne of God. If the Son occupies the throne,
as the Letter to the Hebrews states, either the Father and the Son
are totally fused or God has nowhere to sit. Other passages are
quite clear that the throne belongs to God alone. The Letter to the
Hebrews solves the dilemma by later stating that that Son has his
own seat at the right hand of God.
thronos
as God’s place
I say to
you, Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne
of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem,
for it is the city of the great King. [Matthew 5:34-35]
Heaven is
my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house
will you build for me, says the Lord, or what is the place of my
rest? [Acts 7:49]
Now the
main point in what we are saying is this: we have such a high
priest, one who is seated at the right hand of the throne of
the Majesty in the heavens. [Hebrews 8:1]
John to
the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him
who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits
who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the
faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the
kings of the earth. [Revelation 1:4-5]
The followers of
Jesus also followed the Hebrew tradition in using the throne
metaphor to identify opposition or potential opposition to divine
authority. In these examples, thronos may refer to
rulers on earth or to heavenly beings or perhaps to both. The
author of Revelation may have located Satan’s throne in Pergamum
because in was an imperial city with temples and altars dedicated to
Greek gods so his emphasis could have been either on Satan6
or on the cult leaders or on secular rulers.
thronos
as opposition or potential opposition to God
He has
brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up
the lowly. [Luke 1:52]
He is the
image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation; for in
him all things in heaven and on earth were created, things visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or
powers. [Colossians 1:15-16]
And to
the angel of the church in Pergamum write: These are the words of
him who has the sharp two-edged sword: "I know where you are living,
where Satan's throne is.” [Revelation 2:12-13]
For the followers of
Jesus, the throne imagery may be a helpful reminder of the secular
powers that are determined to dominate society and of their own
power to resist. By picturing Jesus as their judge,7 his
followers not only align their standards with his teaching, they
also understand themselves to be participating in the exercise of
his power over corruption. The throne metaphor can promote both
realism and optimism, realism because it draws attention to the
political and economic forces that oppress ordinary people and
optimism because it pictures a world in which oppressive powers can
be called to account.
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