Throne

The throne in Scripture is a seat that signifies authority, never decoration alone. It belongs first to flesh-and-blood kings — Pharaoh, David, Solomon, the men of Judah — and is then claimed for Yahweh in heaven and for the Lamb beside him. The same word travels from a footstooled chair of ivory in Jerusalem to a wheeled chariot of fire in Daniel's vision and a rainbow-circled seat in the Apocalypse. The biblical movement is from human seat to divine seat, with the Davidic throne sworn by oath to belong to a son who never fails.

The Throne of Pharaoh

The earliest throne mentioned by the Nave's entry is Pharaoh's. When Pharaoh installs Joseph over Egypt, the throne is the one item he reserves for himself: "you will be over my house, and according to your mouth will all my people be ruled: I will be greater than you only in the throne" (Gen 41:40). At the climax of the plague-cycle the throne stands at the head of the firstborn-roll: "all the firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh that sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the female slave who is behind the mill" (Ex 11:5). The throne names the top of the Egyptian hierarchy that Yahweh's judgment opens.

The Throne of David

The throne of David is exhibited in Abner's defection-oath as the seat to be installed across the whole reunified kingdom — "to set up the throne of David over Israel and over Judah, from Dan even to Beer-sheba" (2Sa 3:10). It is then anchored by Yahweh's pledge to the seed-after-David: "He will build a house for my name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever" (2Sa 7:13). Solomon's accession ratifies the pledge in narrative form — "And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father; and his kingdom was established greatly" (1Ki 2:12) — and Solomon himself confesses the throne as Yahweh-grounded: "Yahweh, who has established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who has made me a house, as he promised" (1Ki 2:24).

The Yahweh-word to David through the books of Kings ties continuous throne-occupancy to the sons' whole-heart walk: "If your sons take heed to their way, to walk before me in truth with all their heart and with all their soul, there will not fail you (he said) a man on the throne of Israel" (1Ki 2:4). The Psalter sets the same promise as a sworn oath that Yahweh will not turn from — "Yahweh has sworn to David in truth; He will not turn from it: Of the fruit of your body I will set on your throne" — and renews it in the next verse on a covenant-keeping condition: "If your sons will keep my covenant And my testimony that I will teach them, Their sons also will sit on your throne forevermore" (Ps 132:11-12). Isaiah pushes the throne forward into a government with no terminal limit: "Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from now on even forever. The [Speech] of Yahweh of hosts will perform this" (Isa 9:7).

The same throne is the address of Jeremiah's oracles. To it Yahweh sends drunkenness as judgment — "I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings who sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness" (Jer 13:13) — and from it he can also restore a procession of kings and princes: "then there will enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city will remain forever" (Jer 17:25).

David's Abdication

Before Solomon's reign begins, the throne is publicly transferred. David convenes Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and gives the order: "he will come and sit on my throne; for he will be king in my stead; and I have appointed him to be leader over Israel and over Judah" (1Ki 1:35). Benaiah's response carries the throne forward by a step — "As [the Speech of] Yahweh has been with my lord the king, even so [his Speech] will be with Solomon, and make his throne greater than the throne of my lord King David" (1Ki 1:37) — and the company anoints Solomon at Gihon with the trumpet, the horn of oil, and the people's shout, "[Long] live King Solomon" (1Ki 1:39).

The Throne of Solomon

Solomon's throne is described in the same physical detail in Kings and Chronicles. "Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the finest gold. There were six steps to the throne, and the top of the throne was round behind; and there were supports on either side by the place of the seat, and two lions standing beside the supports. And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other on the six steps: there was not the like made in any kingdom" (1Ki 10:18-20). The Chronicler keeps the same ivory-and-gold construction and adds a footstool: "the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne" (2Ch 9:17-18).

Solomon also keeps a secondary seat for the queen mother. When Bathsheba comes to him for Adonijah, "the king rose up to meet her, and bowed himself to her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand" (1Ki 2:19).

The Throne of Israel

The Davidic seat is also called the throne of Israel. At the temple-dedication Solomon ties the seat to Yahweh's promise: "I rose up in the place of David my father, and sat on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel" (1Ki 8:20; the Chronicler writes the same speech in present tense at 2Ch 6:10). The queen of Sheba then frames the throne-of-Israel as Yahweh's gift in service of justice: "Blessed be Yahweh your God, who delighted in you, to set you on the throne of Israel: because Yahweh loved Israel forever, therefore he made you king, to do justice and righteousness" (1Ki 10:9).

The Throne of Yahweh

The Davidic throne is itself folded into Yahweh's by the Chronicler at Solomon's accession: "Then Solomon sat on the throne of Yahweh as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel obeyed him" (1Ch 29:23). From here the umbrella moves up to the heavenly throne directly. Micaiah opens the door with a vision-report: "I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left" (2Ch 18:18). The Psalter gives the throne its judicial work and its sky-address. "You sit in the throne judging righteously" (Ps 9:4). "But Yahweh sits [as king] forever: He has prepared his throne for judgment" (Ps 9:7). "Yahweh is in his holy temple; Yahweh, his throne is in heaven; His eyes look at, his eyelids try, the sons of man" (Ps 11:4). "God reigns over the nations: God sits on his holy throne" (Ps 47:8). The throne's ethical foundation is twice named: "Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne: Loving-kindness and truth go before your face" (Ps 89:14); "Clouds and darkness are round about him: Righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne" (Ps 97:2). And its scope: "Yahweh has established his throne in the heavens; And his kingdom rules over all" (Ps 103:19).

Isaiah supplies the canonical throne-vision. "In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up; and his train filled the temple" (Isa 6:1). Later in the same book Yahweh speaks his throne in his own voice: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: what manner of house will you⁺ build to me? And what place will be my rest?" (Isa 66:1).

The Fiery Throne in Daniel

Daniel's apocalyptic court adds a multi-throne register and a fire-figure to the seat. "I looked until thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days sat: his raiment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames, [and] its wheels burning fire" (Da 7:9). The throne here is a wheeled fire-chariot occupied by the ancient of days, with adjacent thrones for a tribunal.

The Throne in Ben Sira

Ben Sira closes the David-segment of his fathers'-praise with a throne-establishment verdict: "Moreover, Yahweh put away his transgression, And lifted up his horn forever. And he gave him the decree of the kingdom, And established his throne over Israel" (Sir 47:11). The throne is exhibited as Yahweh-decreed and Yahweh-instituted, set above the corporate Israel.

The Throne and the Right Hand

Hebrews carries the Yahweh-throne forward into a Christ-at-the-right-hand register. "We have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens" (Heb 8:1). And again: "looking to Jesus the author and perfecter of [our] faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God" (Heb 12:2).

The Throne in Revelation

The Apocalypse opens with "the seven Spirits who are before his throne" (Re 1:4) and the overcomer's promise from Christ: "He who overcomes, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne, as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne" (Re 3:21). The central throne-room vision is given in Revelation 4: "there was a throne set in heaven, and one sitting on the throne; and he who sat [was] to look at like a jasper stone and a sardius: and [there was] a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald to look at. And around the throne [were] four and twenty thrones: and on the thrones [I saw] four and twenty elders sitting, arrayed in white garments; and on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunders" (Re 4:2-5). The four living creatures are "among the throne, and around the throne" (Re 4:6), and the elders "fall down before him who sits on the throne, and will worship him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne" (Re 4:10).

The same throne is the destination of the great-tribulation multitude: "saw a great multitude, which no man could number, out of every nation and of [all] tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands... Therefore they are before the throne of God; and they serve him day and night in his temple: and he who sits on the throne will spread his tabernacle over them... for the Lamb that is in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd" (Re 7:9, 15, 17). The 144,000 "sing as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four living creatures and the elders" (Re 14:3). The elders and the living creatures "fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, 'Amen, Hallelujah'" (Re 19:4). The throne-occupant speaks at the renewing of all things: "Look, I make all things new. And he says, Write: for these words are faithful and true" (Re 21:5). And the final-state names the seat as joint: "the throne of God and of the Lamb will be in her: and his slaves will serve him" (Re 22:3).