EINGISEL
647
KINGS
the parables of the kingdom with their endless
variety. At one time the "kingdom" means the
sway of grace in men's hearts, e. g. in the parable of
the seed growing secretly (Mark, iv, 26 sq.; of. Matt.,
xxi, 43); and thus, too, it is opposed to and explained
by the opposite kingdom of the devil (Matt., iv, 8;
xii, 25-26). At another time it is the goal at which
we have to aim, e. g. Matt., iii, 3. Again it is a
place where God is pictured as reigning (Mark, xiv,
25). In the second petition of the "Our Father" —
"Thy kingdom come" — we are taught to pray as
well for grace as for glory. As men grew to under-
stand the Divinity of Christ they grew to see that
the kingdom of God was also that of Christ — it was
here that the faith of the good tliief excelled: "Lord,
remember me when thou shalt come into thy king-
dom." So, too, as men realized that tliis kingdom
stood for a certain tone of mind, and saw that this
peculiar spirit was enshrined in the Church, they be-
gan to speak of the Church as "the kingdom of
God"; cf. Col., i, 13; I Thess., ii, 12; Apoc, i, 6, 9;
v, 10, etc. The kingdom was regarded as Christ's,
and He presents it to the Father; cf. I Cor., xv, 23-
28; II Tim., iv, 1. The kingdom of God means, then,
the ruling of (iod in our hearts; it means those prin-
ciples which separate us off from the kingdom of the
world and the devil; it means the benign sway of
grace; it means the Church as that Divine institution
whereby we may make sure of attaining the spirit of
Christ and so win that ultimate kingdom of Ciod
where He reigns -nithout end in "the holy city, the
New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from
God" (Apoc, xxi, 2).
JI.tURicE. The Gospel of the Kingdom of Heaven (London, 18S8): ScHiiRER, The Jewish People in the Time of Christ, div. II, vol. II; Weiss, Apologie du Christianisme, II and X; and
especially Rose, Etudes sur les Evangiles (Paris, 1902).
Hugh Pope.
Kingisel, the name of two abbots who ruled Glas- tonbury in the seventh and eighth centvuies respec- tively.
Kingisel I, whose name also appears as Hemgisel, Hengislus, and Hanigestus, became abbot in a. d. 678. According to William of Malmesbury it was during his first year of office that King Kentwine granted six hides to the abbey upon condition that the monks should always have the right of freely electing their abbot according to the Rule of Saint Benedict. In 681 King Baldred granted to him and his successors the manor of Pennard near Glastonbury. In this charter, which is given by Dugdale from the Ashmo- lean MS., the abbot's name is spelled differently in two sentences, a slip which has led Bishop Tanner (Notitia Monastica) and Mr. Eyston (Little Monvmient) to sup- pose that two different persons were referretl to. It was during the reign of this abbot that King Ina began his series of munificent benefactions to the abbey. Kingisel I died in the year 705 and was succeeded by Berwald .
Kingisel II, whose name is also found as Cingislus, Cengillus, and Hengissingus, was apparently fourth abbot after his namesake; he succeeded to the position in the year 729 and died in 744. WiUiam of Malmes- bury states that Ina's successor, Edelard, made him grants of land, and the Ashmolean MS. gives a charter of Cudred, or Cuthred, King of the West Saxons, which confirms to the abbey all the previous grants made to it. In this charter the name is spelled Hengisilus. His successor was Cumbertus. Almost the only rec- ord of these abbots consists in the various charters in which they are named. The question as to the genu- ineness of these early charters is a difficult one, but it may be safely said that at the present day the general trend of opinion is more favourable to them than was the case in 1826, at which date, however, Warner, in his " History of the Abbey of Gla.ston ", WTote concerning Ina's charter," The reasons for questioning its genuine-
ness do not appear to be .serious". (See also Glas-
tonbury Abbey).
Tan.ver, Notitia Monastica (London, 1744); William op Malmesbury, De antiquitale Glastoniensis EcclesicB in Gale, Scriptores. XV (Oxford. 16911. alsoed. Hearne (Oxford, 1722), and in Migne, P. L., CLXXIX; Eyston, Little Monument to the . . . Abbey . . . of Glastonbury, ed. Hearne (Oxford, 1722); Warner. History of the Abbey of Glaston (Bath, 1826); Dtjgdale, Monasticon Anglieanum, I (London, 1846). See also bibliography to article Glastonbury Abbey.
G. Roger Hudleston.
King James Version. See Versions of the Bible.
Kings, First .\nd Second Books of, also known as First and Second Books of Sa.muel. — For the First and Second Books of Kings in the Authorized Version see Kings, Third and Fourth Books of. — In the Vulgate both titles are given (Liber Primus Samuelis, quem nos Primum Regum dicimus, etc.); in the Hebrew editions and the Protestant versions the second alone is recognized, the Third and Fourth Books of Kings being styled First and Second Books of Kings. To avoid confusion, the designation "First and Second Books of Samuel " is adopted by Catholic writers when referring to the Hebrew text, otherwise " First and Sec- ond Books of Kings" is commonly used. The testi- mony of Origen, St. Jerome, etc., confirmed by the Massoretic summary appended to the second book, as well as by the Hebrew MSS., shows that the two books originally formed but one, entitled "Samuel". This title was chosen not only because Samuel is the princi- pal figure in the first part, but probably also because, by having been instrumental in the establishment of the kingdom and in the selection of Saul and David as kings, he may be said to have been a determining factor in the history of the whole period comprised by the book. The division into two books was first introduced into the Septuagint, to conform to the shorter and more convenient size of scrolls in vogue among the Greeks. The Book of Kings was divided at the same time, and the four books, being considered as a consecutive history of the Kingdoms of Israel and Juda, were named " Books of the Kingdoms "(BacriXeiuy /3i;3Ma). St. Jerome retained the division into four books, which from the Septuagint had passed into the Itala, or old Latin translation, but changed the name "Books of the Kingdoms" (Libri Regnorum) into " Books of the Kings " {Libri Rcgum). The Hebrew- text of the Books of Samuel anti of the Books of Kings was first divided in Bomberg's eilition of the rabbinical Bible (Venice, 1516-17), the individual books being distinguished as I B. of Samuel and II B. of Samuel, I B. of Kings and II B. of Kings. Tliis nomenclature was adopted in the subsequent editions of the Hebrew Bible and in the Protestant translations, and thus became current among non-Catholics.
Contents .\nd Analysis. — I-II Books of Kings comprise the liistory of Israel from the birth of Samuel to the close of David's public life, and cover a period of about a hundred years. The first book contains the history of Samuel and of the reign of Saul; the second, the history of the reign of David, the death of Saul marking the division between the two books. The contents may be divided into five main sections: (1) I, i-vii, history of Samuel; (2) viii-xiv or, better, XV, history of Saul's government; (3) xvi-xxxi, .Saul and David ; (4) II, i-xx, history of the reign of Da\ id ; (5) xxi-xxiv, appendix containing miscellaneous mat- ter. The division between (3) and (4) is sufficiently indicated by the death of Saul and by David's acces- sion to power; the other sections are marked off by the summaries, vii, 15-17; xiv, 47-58; xx, 2.3-26; XV, however, which is an introduction to wliat follows, according to the subject-matter belongs to (2).
(1) History of Samuel. — Samuel's birth and conse- cration to the Lord, I, i-ii, 11. Misdeeds of the sons of Heli and pretliction of the downfall of his house, ii, 12-36. Samuel's call to the prophetic office; his first vision, in which the impending punishment of the
