What Does Revelation 11:15 Mean in the King James?
And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign 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 world’s many powers are gathered into one βασιλεία, a rule that belongs to the Lord and his Anointed One.
THE MEANING
What looks like a world divided among competing powers is declared one kingdom belonging to the Lord and the Anointed One. Their reign extends through the ages of the ages.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that the world’s present powers own it permanently: their rule belongs to the Lord, whose reign continues through every age.
THE ROOT
βασιλεία
basileia
GROWS FROM
βασιλεύς
basileus
king, ruler
The Greek names one βασιλεία, a kingdom or kingship, where the KJV gives “kingdoms.” The word shares its root with the verb “reign,” joining the realm of rule to the act of ruling.
ALSO GROWS
basileuō: to reign, rule as king
βασιλεύω
The verse uses this related verb for the Lord’s continuing reign, linking the kingdom that becomes his with his act of ruling.
basileus: king
βασιλεύς
The king is the one whose rule gives the kingdom its character and direction.
χριστοῦ
christou
GROWS FROM
χρίω
chriō
to anoint
“Christ” names the Anointed One; it is a title rooted in anointing. The verse names his rule alongside the Lord’s, so the kingship belongs to the Lord and to the one marked as Anointed.
ALSO GROWS
chriō: to anoint
χρίω
This verb is the root of the title and reveals anointing as the word’s underlying action.
chrisma: anointing
χρῖσμα
This noun makes the root’s action explicit and echoes the title’s meaning.
αἰῶνας
aiōnas
GROWS FROM
αἰών
aiōn
age, era, span of time
The KJV’s “for ever and ever” renders a phrase that repeats “ages”: “into the ages of the ages.” The language stretches the reign through age upon age, rather than naming only an indefinite point beyond time.
ALSO GROWS
aiōnios: pertaining to an age, age-long
αἰώνιος
This related adjective carries the same age-based sense into descriptions of what belongs to or lasts through an age.
aiōnes: ages
αἰῶνες
This plural form shows the repeated age language at the end of the verse.
THE PATTERN
The rule of the nations is gathered under a reign that outlasts every rival power.
For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations.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.For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.THE THREAD
For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.The Greek verb “reign” shares its root with the word for “kingdom” in Revelation. One verse declares whose the world’s rule is; the other describes that reign bringing every enemy beneath his feet.
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