Bible Dictionary: Theocracy

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Easton's Bible Dictionary

A word first used by Josephus to denote that the Jews were under the direct government of God himself. The nation was in all things subject to the will of their invisible King. All the people were the servants of Jehovah, who ruled over their public and private affairs, communicating to them his will through the medium of the prophets. They were the subjects of a heavenly, not of an earthly, king. They were Jehovah's own subjects, ruled directly by him (Comp. 1 Samuel 8:6-9).

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary

1. (n.) Government by the immediate direction or administration of God or by priests as representing the Deity.

2. (n.) The state thus governed, as the Hebrew commonwealth before it became a kingdom.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

THEOCRACY

the-ok'-ra-si (theokratia, from theos, "a god," and kratos, "power"; after the analogy of the words "democracy," "aristocracy," and the like): "Theocracy" is not a Biblical word. The idea, however, is Biblical, and in strictness of speech exclusively Biblical. The realization of the idea is not only confined to Israel, but in the pre-exilic history of Israel the realization of the idea was confined to the Southern Kingdom, and in post-exilic history to the period between the return under Ezra and the days of Malachi.

For the word "theocracy" we are, by common consent, indebted to Josephus. In his writings it seems to occur but once (Apion, II, xvi). The passage reads as follows: "Our lawgiver had an eye to none of these," that is, these different forms of government, such as monarchy, aristocracy, oligarchy, and others of which Josephus had been speaking, "but, as one might say, using a strained expression, he set forth the national polity as a theocracy, referring the rule and might to God" (Stanton's translation). It is generally agreed that the language here used indicates that Josephus knew himself to be coining a new word.

If, now, we turn from the word to the Old Testament idea to which it gives fitting and apt expression, that idea cannot be better stated than it has been by Kautzsch-namely, "The notion of theocracy is that the constitution (of Israel) was so arranged that all the organs of government were without any independent power, and had simply to announce and execute the will of God as declared by priest and prophets, or reduced to writing as a code of laws" (HDB, extra vol, 630, 1, init.). The same writer is entirely correct when he says that in what is known in certain circles as "the PC"-though he might have said in the Old Testament generally-"everything, even civil and criminal law, is looked at from the religious standpoint" (ibid., ut supra).

If the foregoing be a correct account of the idea expressed by the word "theocracy," and particularly if the foregoing be a correct account of the Old Testament representation of God's relation to, and rule in and over Israel, it follows as a matter of course that the realization of such an idea was only possible within the sphere of what is known as special revelation. Indeed, special revelation of the divine will, through divinely-chosen organs, to Divinely appointed executive agents, is, itself, the very essence of the idea of a theocracy.

That the foregoing is the Old Testament idea of God's relation to His people is admitted to be a natural and necessary implication from such passages as Judges 8:23 1 Samuel 8; compare 12:12; 2 Chronicles 13:8 2 Samuel 7:1-17; Psalm 89:27 Deuteronomy 17:14-20.

Upon any other view of the origin of the Old Testament books than that which has heretofore prevailed, it is certainly a remarkable fact that whenever the books of the Old Testament were written, and by whomsoever they may have been written, and whatever the kind or the number of the redactions to which they may have been subjected, the conception-the confessedly unique conception-of a government of God such as that described above by Kautzsch is evidenced by these writings in all their parts. This fact is all the more impressive in view of the further fact that we do not encounter this sharply defined idea of a rule of God among men in any other literature, ancient or modern. For while the term "theocracy" occurs in modern literature, it is evidently used in a much lower sense. It is futher worth remarking that this Old Testament idea of the true nature of God's rule in Israel has only to be fully apprehended for it to become obvious that many of the alleged analogies between the Old Testament prophet and the modern preacher, reformer and statesman are wholly lacking in any really solid foundation.

W. M. McPheeters

Topical Bible Verses

John 18:36
Jesus answered, My kingdom is not of this world: if my kingdom were of this world, then would my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews: but now is my kingdom not from hence.
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Colossians 2:8
Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
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Hosea 13:16
Samaria shall become desolate; for she has rebelled against her God: they shall fall by the sword: their infants shall be dashed in pieces, and their women with child shall be ripped up.
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2 Timothy 3:16-17
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
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2 Timothy 3:16
All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
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James 2:10
For whoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.
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Exodus 21:22-25
If men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay on him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
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Library

Connexion with the Old Testament Theocracy.
... PART I. THE PLAN OF CHRIST. CHAPTER 1. A. THE PLAN OF CHRIST'S MINISTRY IN GENERAL.
Section 49. Connexion with the Old Testament Theocracy. ...
/.../section 49 connexion with the.htm

The Birth of Christ in Its Relations to the Jewish Theocracy.
... CHAPTER III. THE BIRTH OF CHRIST. Section 13. The Birth of Christ in its
Relations to the Jewish Theocracy. AS the entrance of Christ ...
/.../section 13 the birth of.htm

The Three Parables of Warning: to the Individual, to the Nation ...
... THE THREE PARABLES OF WARNING: TO THE INDIVIDUAL, TO THE NATION, AND TO THE THEOCRACY -
THE FOOLISH RICH MAN - THE BARREN FIG-TREE - THE GREAT SUPPER. ...
/.../the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter xvi the three parables.htm

The Stater in the Fish. (Matt. , xvii. , 27. )
... natural relations of life faithfully; but this tribute belonged to the religious
constitution, and implied a relation of dependence upon the Theocracy; and, as ...
/.../section 191 the stater in.htm

The First Kings.
... THE FIRST KINGS. Theocracy, we have seen, was the first form of government
in the world. The word is from Theos, which means God ...
/.../headley/half hours in bible lands volume 2/the first kings.htm

Apion Book 2 Footnotes
... off any more particular reply to those adversaries of the Jews, and gives us a large
and excellent description and vindication of that theocracy which was ...
//christianbookshelf.org/josephus/against apion/apion book 2 footnotes.htm

Of Creation in General.
... spirit of man; or so deeply laid open, and proved the necessity of one religion,
common to all human nature, as the legislator of the Jewish theocracy had done ...
/.../law/an appeal to all that doubt/of creation in general.htm

The Purifying of the Temple.
... On visiting the Temple, he found its worship disturbed by disorders which desecrated
the holy place"a picture of the general secularization of the Theocracy. ...
/.../section 117 the purifying of.htm

Remaining Books of the Old Testament.
... The events which they record are a natural and necessary sequel to the establishment
of the theocracy, as given in the five books of Moses. ...
/.../barrows/companion to the bible/chapter xi remaining books of.htm

The Greater Prophets.
... the prophetical school established by him there began a new era, in which the prophets
were recognized as a distinct order of men in the Theocracy; and that ...
/.../barrows/companion to the bible/chapter xxii the greater prophets.htm

Thesaurus

Theocracy
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. THEOCRACY. the ... Malachi. For the word
"theocracy" we are, by common consent, indebted to Josephus. ...
/t/theocracy.htm - 11k

Taxing (3 Occurrences)
... TAXES IN ISRAEL UNDER SELF-GOVERNMENT 1. In the Earliest Period 2. Under the
Theocracy; in the Period of the Judges 3. Under the Kings III. ...
/t/taxing.htm - 35k

Tax (43 Occurrences)
... TAXES IN ISRAEL UNDER SELF-GOVERNMENT 1. In the Earliest Period 2. Under the
Theocracy; in the Period of the Judges 3. Under the Kings III. ...
/t/tax.htm - 47k

History (57 Occurrences)
... The origins of Israel are narrated in Genesis; the establishment of theocracy, in
the other books of the Pentateuch; the entrance into Canaan, in the Book of ...
/h/history.htm - 67k

Messiah (9 Occurrences)
... Through him as head of the nation Yahweh could most readily work out His
saving purposes. But the kingdom of Israel was a theocracy. ...
/m/messiah.htm - 43k

Citizenship (4 Occurrences)
... What but theocracy of his fathers, the ancient church, of which the Sanhedrin was
still the ostensible representative, but which was really continued in the ...
/c/citizenship.htm - 16k

Zechariah (55 Occurrences)
... (2) Zechariah 9-14, consisting of two oracles, without dates; (a) Zechariah
9-11, an oracle of promise to the new theocracy. This ...
/z/zechariah.htm - 70k

Zion (169 Occurrences)
... successors. 2. (n.) Hence, the theocracy, or church of God. 3. (n.) The heavenly
Jerusalem; heaven. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. ZION. ...
/z/zion.htm - 49k

Jubilee (25 Occurrences)
... disorders which crept into the state in the course of time, preclude the division
of the people into nobles and plebeians, and preserve the theocracy inviolate ...
/j/jubilee.htm - 27k

Jehovah (20094 Occurrences)
... (n.) A Scripture name of the Supreme Being, by which he was revealed to the Jews
as their covenant God or Sovereign of the theocracy; the ineffable name of the ...
/j/jehovah.htm - 38k

Subtopics

The Theocracy: or Immediate Government by God was Established On: The Right of Covenant

The Theocracy: or Immediate Government by God was Established On: The Right of Redemption

The Theocracy: or Immediate Government by God: Consisted in His: Appointing Civil officers

The Theocracy: or Immediate Government by God: Consisted in His: Appointing Ecclesiastical officers

The Theocracy: or Immediate Government by God: Consisted in His: Being the Supreme Judge

The Theocracy: or Immediate Government by God: Consisted in His: Directing the Movements of the Nation

The Theocracy: or Immediate Government by God: Consisted in His: Distribution of Conquered Lands

The Theocracy: or Immediate Government by God: Consisted in His: Exacting Tribute

The Theocracy: or Immediate Government by God: Consisted in His: Exercise of the Prerogative of Mercy

The Theocracy: or Immediate Government by God: Consisted in His: Proclaiming War

The Theocracy: or Immediate Government by God: Consisted in His: Promulgating Laws