Dominion

DOMINION.—The word ‘dominion’ occurs only once in the Authorized Version of the Gospels, as part of the phrase ‘exercise dominion over’ (κατακυριεύουσιν), in that passage in the Gospel of Matthew (Mat 20:25) which records our Lord’s reply to the ambitious request of Salome on behalf of her sons, and the words which He addressed to the disciples at the time. The Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 of this passage, as of the parallel text in Mark (Mar 10:42), is ‘lord it over.’ The same idea is expressed in a similar passage in Luke (Luk 22:25), which gives Christ’s words at the Last Supper with reference to the dispute among His disciples as to precedence, by the simple verb κυριεύουσιν, ‘exercise lordship over’ ( Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ‘have lordship over’).

Again, in all three passages the verbs which are so translated are followed in the parallel clause of the verse by the words ‘exercise authority over’ or ‘upon’ (Mat 20:25 Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 || Mar 10:42 Authorized Version and Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 , Luk 22:25 Authorized Version ), ‘have authority over’ (Luk 22:23 Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ), representing the words of the original κατεξουσιάζουσιν, ἐξουσιάζοντες. The word ‘authority’ (ἐξουσία) and the verbs formed from it thus suggest themselves for consideration in connexion with the word rendered ‘dominion’ in the passage in Matthew.

1. The passages quoted from the Synoptics illustrate a characteristic feature of the Gospels, the manner in which they represent Jesus as postponing the assertion of His kingly rights, and, in connexion with this, the express teaching which they attribute to Him as to the nature of the dominion which He claimed. Thus, as He withstood the temptation of Satan (Luk 4:6) to assume the royal sceptre which belonged to Him as Son of God, and to reign as the Divinely appointed king of a visible and temporal realm, so He resisted, as a repetition of that temptation, every suggestion or appeal that was made to Him, by the people or by His disciples, formally and publicly to appear as the Messiah. He would not suffer the people of Galilee to make Him a king (Joh 6:15). He declared to Pilate that, although royal authority was His by right, His kingdom was ‘not of this world, and was therefore not to be won or maintained and defended by temporal weapons (Joh 18:36-37).

Now the texts which have been quoted from the Synoptics may be regarded as the loci classici of the teaching of Jesus with reference to the nature of the sovereignty claimed by Him, and to the principle of that spiritual dominion of which He spoke. They occur in connexion with what the Gospels tell us regarding the Messianic expectations of the Twelve, who, like most of their countrymen, anticipated in the near, and even, at times, in the immediate, future, the visible establishment of the personal reign of Christ as Prince of the House of David. They were addressed to the disciples at the close of Christ’s ministry, in the one case in the course of His last journey to Jerusalem, in the other in connexion with the dispute at the Last Supper as to who should be accounted the greatest. The answer of Jesus in both cases—to the ambitious request of Salome, and to the dispute among the disciples—was the same, and the principle which He laid down was to this effect. For Master and for disciple the question of dominion is totally different from that which is agitated by the ambition of the world. Among the princes of the Gentiles the way to power and authority is the path of worldly ambition and self-assertion. It is not so in the Kingdom of God. There not self-assertion but self-denial is the way to supremacy. The way to dominion is the way of service. Places of supremacy there certainly are in the Kingdom of God, and they are reserved ‘for those for whom they are prepared’ of the Father. But they are allotted upon a definite, intelligible principle, and that not of favouritism but of spiritual character. They who shall hold rank nearest to Christ in His Kingdom are they who shall most closely resemble Him in respect of lowliness, self-denial, and humble service. For disciple and for Master the law is the same in this respect, that ‘he that humbleth himself shall be exalted.’ So Christ is ‘among you as he that serveth’ (Luk 22:27). In laying down the principle, Jesus illustrated it by reference to His own mission. ‘The Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many’ (Mat 20:28 || Mar 10:45). And here as elsewhere the disciple must be as his Master, attaining his place in the Kingdom only by the way of self-humiliation, self-denial, self-sacrifice.

2. The use in these passages, in immediate connexion with the idea of dominion, of the words ‘have authority over,’ ‘exercise authority over’ (ἐξουσίαζουσιν, ἐξουσιάζοντες), calls for some reference to the power or authority (ἐξουσία) attributed to Christ in connexion with His humiliation as well as with His exaltation. That during His ministry He possessed and exercised very complete and far-reaching authority, dominion in the sense of ἐξουσία, the natural synonym of κυριότης, ‘lordship,’ ‘dominion,’ is distinctly testified by all the Gospels.

Lordship (κυριότης) was expressly claimed by Him even in connexion with His state of humiliation. Thus, in controversy with the Pharisees, He claimed to be Lord of the Sabbath, and, as such, to be entitled to interpret the Sabbath law (Mat 12:8 || Mar 2:28 || Luk 6:5). St. Luke tells us in his account of the healing of the paralytic, that ‘the power of the Lord was present to heal’ (Luk 5:17). The message to the owners of the ass on which Jesus rode to Jerusalem was ‘The Lord hath need of him’ (Mat 21:3 || Mar 11:3 || Luk 19:31; Luk 19:34). When Jesus had washed the disciples’ feet, and was applying the lesson of that incident, He said, ‘Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am’ (Joh 13:13).

As Son of Man, He was invested with special power (ἐξουσία) to work miracles. As such He is represented as exercising a delegated authority, acting according to His Father’s will (Joh 5:30 ff.), but that with a spontaneity and directness unknown before. Such was His power over unclean spirits that they trembled and cried out at His approach, and were compelled to yield instant though fearful and reluctant obedience to His command (Mar 1:27 || Luk 4:36). With a word He controlled the winds and waves (Mat 8:26-31 || Mar 4:39-41 || Luk 8:24-25). So wide and great was His authority over the powers of life and death, that His word, even though spoken at a distance, was sufficient to effect an instantaneous cure, as when His word of assurance spoken at Cana to the nobleman was followed immediately by the cure of his child who lay sick at Capernaum (Joh 4:50); and when He confirmed the faith of the centurion, who likened Christ’s power over disease to his own authority over his soldiers, by speaking the word which healed his servant (Mat 8:8-13 || Luk 7:6-10). Three times He raised the dead with a word: in the case of the widow’s son (Luk 7:11-16), in that of Jairus’ daughter (Mat 9:18-26 || Mar 5:21-43 || Luk 8:40-56), and in that of Lazarus (Joh 11:1-44). He could even delegate to others His power over unclean spirits and to heal disease, as He did in His mission, first of the Twelve, and again of the Seventy disciples (Mat 10:5 ff. || Mar 6:7 ff. || Luk 9:1-6; Luk 10:1-16). Again, He claimed and exercised power on earth to forgive sins (Mat 9:6 || Mar 2:10 || Luk 5:24, cf. Luk 7:48).

3. According to the Johannine discourses, Jesus declared that the Father had committed to Him power to execute judgment ‘because he is the Son of Man’ (Joh 5:27). This function refers specially to His state of exaltation. He came not to judge, but to save the world (Joh 12:47); ‘I judge no man,’ He said to the Jews (Joh 8:15). At the same time His work and teaching, even His very presence in the world, meant a judgment, inasmuch as they compelled men to declare themselves either for or against Christ, and so pass judgment upon themselves (cf. Joh 9:39); and as Jesus said Himself, ‘The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day’ (Joh 12:48). To Jesus as Son of Man all judgment and authority and power have been committed. All things are given into His hands (Mat 11:27, Joh 3:35 || Joh 13:2), that He may guide and strengthen His Church (Mat 28:18), and at His second coming appear as the Judge of all nations (Mat 25:31 ff.). It is He who is to pass the final sentence upon the just and upon the unjust. On that day He will say to those who have falsely called Him ‘Lord, Lord,’ ‘I know you not’ (Mat 7:22-23). He will open to His faithful ones the door to the eternal festival of joy, but will close the door of the heavenly marriage feast on ‘the unfaithful’ (Mat 7:22-23; Mat 25:11-12, Luk 13:27-29). ‘He shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and before him shall be gathered all nations’ (Mat 25:31-32). In connexion with these predictions of the events of the Day of Judgment, Jesus says: ‘The Son of Man shall send forth his angels, and they shall gather out of his kingdom all things that offend, and them that do iniquity’ (Mat 13:41). The angels are thus represented as being subject to the dominion of Christ in His exaltation, as His servants, obeying His behests; as even during His life on earth they appeared as ministering spirits obedient to His command, and waiting upon Him as courtiers upon their Sovereign (Mat 4:11; Mat 26:53, Luk 22:43).

Lastly, as the fruit of His work of redemption, and as part of the glory which He has won by His perfect submission to the Father’s will, there is given to Him, in that time of waiting which must pass before the final completion of His kingdom, ‘all power in heaven and on earth’ (Mat 28:18), as the Father has ‘given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as he has given him’ (Joh 17:2; cf. Joh 10:28). See also Power.

Literature.—Cremer, Bib.-Theol. Lex. s.vv. ἐξουσία, κὐριος, κυριοτης; Grimm-Thayer, Lex. NT, s.vv. κατακυριεῦω, ἑξουσια, κύριος, κυριεύω; H. J. Holtzmann, Lehrbuch der NT Theol. i. 319 f., ii. 409 ff.; Wendt, The Teaching of Jesus, ii. 276; Beyschlag, NT Theology, i. 59–191, 241; Comm. of Meyer and Alford.

Hugh H. Currie.

DOMINION.—Lordship, or the possession and exercise of the power to rule. In Col 1:16 the word is used in the plural, along with ‘thrones, principalities, and powers,’ to denote supernatural beings possessed of the power of lordship, and ranking as so many kings, princes, and potentates of the heavenly regions. The same word in the singular, and inessentially the same meaning, appears in Eph 1:21, where allusion is made to the exaltation of Christ ‘far above all rule, and authority, and power, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.’ There is no necessary reference in either of these texts to evil angels, but a comparison of what is written in Eph 2:2; Eph 6:12 shows that ‘the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places’ need not be excluded. Similar indefiniteness is apparent in the other two passages, 2Pe 2:10, Jud 1:8, where the same word is found. It is understood by some to refer here to the lordship of civil rulers, or to any concrete representative of such lordship. Others believe that the reference is to angels, either good or evil, as representing some form of supernatural power and dominion, and the reference in the context to Michael, the archangel, not bringing a railing judgment even against the devil, may be thought to favour this view. A third explanation is also possible, and is favoured by the mention in Jud 1:4 of ‘our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.’ Those ungodly men, who deny the Lord Jesus, would not hesitate to despise, set at nought, and rail at all manner of glorious lordships and dignities. See Authority, Power.

M. S. Terry.

dō̇-min´yun: In Eph 1:21; Col 1:16 the word so translated (κυριότης, kuriótēs) appears to denote a rank or order of angels. The same word is probably to be so interpreted in Jud 1:8 (the King James Version and the Revised Version (British and American) “dominion”), and in 2Pe 2:10 (the King James Version “government,” the Revised Version (British and American) “dominion”). See ANGEL.

This word is used, though not invariably, in the translation of three Gr. expressions: (1) the verb êõñéåýåéí, ‘to be lord of,’ ‘to have dominion over’ (Rom_6:9; Rom_6:14; Rom_7:1 Authorized Version and Revised Version ; 2Co_1:24, Authorized Version , where Revised Version has ‘have lordship’); (2) ôὸ êñÜôïò; (3) êõñéüôçò.

ôὸ êñÜôïò is rendered thus in the doxologies in 1Pe_4:11; 1Pe_5:11, Jud_1:25, Rev_1:6; Rev_5:13 (Revised Version ). In the only other doxology where it occurs (1Ti_6:16) Revised Version strangely retains ‘power’ of Authorized Version . Lightfoot (on Col_1:11) says that ‘the word êñÜôïò in the NT is applied solely to God,’ Thayer (s. v. äýíáìéò), more cautiously, that the word is used ‘in the NT chiefly of God’; Heb_2:14 is an exception.

êõñéüôçò) is found in four passages, viz. Eph_1:21, Col_1:16 (plural), Jud_1:8, 2Pe_2:10; Revised Version in all cases gives ‘dominion,’ Authorized Version in the first three, and in the margin of 2Pe_2:10 (text, ‘government’). In Eph. and Col. a class of angels is meant (Milton’s ‘Dominations’) with which compare 1Co_8:5, where angels are called êýñéïé (Thayer Grimm’s Gr.-Eng. Lexicon of the NT, tr. Thayer , Lexicon, s.v. êõñéüôçò). The meaning of the word in Peter and Jude presents some difficulty. (a) Many suppose that here also angels are referred to, which 2Pe_2:11 and the reference to the sin of the Sodomites seem to support. Cremer (Lexicon, s.v. êõñéüôçò) says that in Peter evil angels are implied from the context, though not in Jude. But, as Bennett (Century Bible: ‘The General Epistles,’ 1901, p. 334) points out, ‘it does not seem likely that blasphemy against angels would be so conspicuous a sin of licentious men as to call forth this emphatic condemnation.’ (b) êõñéüôçò may be understood of the power and majesty of God (Bigg, St. Peter and St. Jude [International Critical Commentary , 1901], p. 279), or the Lordship of Christ, in support of which 2Pe_2:1; 2Pe_2:6, Jud_1:4; Jud_1:15 may be quoted. (c) It may refer to authorities in the Church whose legitimate power these men despised and spoke against. Bennett inclines to this interpretation in Jude and regards it as included also in 2 Peter, where he gives the general principle of the argument thus: when good angels withstand dignities, i.e. evil angels, although the good are the more powerful, they do not abuse their opponents; how absurd and wicked for evil men to abuse good angels, or perhaps even the legitimate Church authorities. J. R. Lumby (in Speaker’s Commentary: ‘Heb. to Rev.,’ 1881, p. 395) combines (b) and (c) above: ‘the railing at dignities, though its first exhibition might be made against the Apostles and those set in authority in the Church, yet went further and resulted in the denial of our only Master, God Himself, whose dominion these sinners were disregarding, and our Lord Jesus Christ, whose glory these men speak evil of or rail at.’

In the Revised Version of 1Ti_2:12 áὐèåíôåῖí ἀíäñüò is translated ‘to have dominion over,’ Authorized Version ‘to usurp authority over.’ See also article Principality.

W. H. Dundas.