What Does Daniel 7:18 Mean in the King James?
But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The kingdom is governance received by the set-apart and held as an inheritance across the ages.
THE MEANING
The set-apart people receive the Most High’s governance and come to possess it as an inheritance. This is a present belonging, and its reach stretches through age after age.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the set-apart can only remain subjects while lasting power belongs to those who hold it now.
THE ROOT
וִיקַבְּלוּן
wi-qabbəlun
GROWS FROM
קבל
q-b-l
Receive, accept, take in.
The verb translated “take” carries the sense of receiving, so the movement into rule begins with reception. The same root holds the idea of accepting or taking something in.
ALSO GROWS
qibbel: Receive, accept.
קִבֵּל
This Hebrew form shares the receiving sense, showing that the kingdom comes to the saints as something they receive.
qabbalah: Reception; that which is received.
קַבָּלָה
This noun preserves the same root idea of receiving, echoing the verse’s movement from gift to possession.
מַלְכוּתָא
malkuta
GROWS FROM
מלך
m-l-k
Rule, reign, kingly authority.
Malkuta can name a kingdom, kingship, or reign. The word holds a realm together with the act of ruling, so the inheritance here is participation in the Most High’s governance.
ALSO GROWS
melekh: King; one who rules.
מֶלֶךְ
The king is the bearer of the same rule named by malkuta.
malakh: Reign, rule.
מָלַךְ
This verb makes the active force inside “kingdom” visible: the saints receive a share in the act of ruling.
עָלְמָא
ʿalma
GROWS FROM
עלם
ʿ-l-m
Age, an enduring span of time.
“for ever” in this verse is ʿalma. The Aramaic repeats age-language: “until the age” and “until the age of ages.” The inheritance is described as stretching through ages, giving the verse’s promise an unfolding span.
ALSO GROWS
ʿolam: Age, ages; an enduring span.
עוֹלָם
This Hebrew cognate carries the same age-language that lies beneath the verse’s repeated duration.
almayya: Ages; age of ages.
עָלְמַיָּא
This Aramaic form appears in the verse’s final phrase and intensifies the reach of the kingdom’s inheritance.
THE PATTERN
The Most High’s governance is given to a set-apart community, whose inheritance reaches across the ages.
And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?THE THREAD
Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.The Aramaic verb behind “possessed” shares the ḥ-s-n root with “possess” in Daniel 7:18. Its recurrence makes the saints’ inheritance a repeated movement in the vision.
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