Aleinu: The Prayer for God's Kingdom

The main theme of Jesus’ ministry was to preach about coming of the Kingdom of God, but it is a source of confusion and misunderstanding to many Christians. Is it in heaven after we die? Isn’t God king already? En-Gedi has shared several articles to clarify the meaning of this phrase in Jesus’ first century Jewish culture, and how Jesus applied it to himself as the Messianic King.¹

Interestingly, an ancient Jewish prayer that is still prayed today focuses entirely on God’s kingdom. The name, “Aleinu” is the first word of the prayer and is pronounced “Ah-LAY-nu.” It means, literally, “it is upon us,” which means “we must” or “it is our duty to.” Scholarly sources believe that this beautiful prayer pre-dates Jesus, so that he himself would have prayed it. Even today it is prayed at the conclusion of every service, and is especially prominent on Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, when it is traditional to focus on God’s kingship over the world. Through the prayer the worshipper exalts God as his or her king, and prays that all the world will repent and do the same. (Note that in the third section, the word for “rule” (malchut) is the same word for kingdom.)

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Aleinu

It is for us to praise the Lord of all.
To acclaim the greatness of the God of creation,
Who has not made us as the nations of the world,
Nor set us up as other peoples of the earth,
Not making our portions as theirs,
Nor our destiny as that of their multitudes. ²

³ For we kneel and bow low before the supreme King of Kings,
The Holy One, blessed be He,
Acknowledging that He has stretched forth the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth.
His glorious abode is in the heavens above,
The domain of His might in exalted heights.
He is our God, there is no other,
In truth our King, there is none else.
Even thus is it written in His Torah:
"This day know and lay it to your heart,
That the Lord is God in the heavens above and on the earth below.
There is none else."

We therefore hope in Thee, Lord our God,
Soon to behold the glory of Thy might
When the world shall be established under the rule of the Almighty,
And all mankind shall invoke Thy glorious name.
May they all accept the rule of Thy dominion,
And speedily do Thou rule over them forever more.

From the Siddur, The Traditional Prayerbook for Sabbath and Festivals
Behrman House, 1960

Here is an excerpt of the last section another version that is older and more literal. It talks about the "Yoke of God's Kingdom," which is fascinating.

"Therefore do we wait for Thee, O Lord our God, soon to behold Thy mighty glory, when Thou wilt remove the abominations from the earth, and idols shalt be exterminated; when the world shall be regenerated by the kingdom of the Almighty, and all the children of flesh invoke Thy name; when all the wicked of the earth shall be turned unto Thee. Then shall all the inhabitants of the world perceive and confess that unto Thee every knee must bend, and every tongue be sworn. Before Thee, O Lord our God, shall they kneel and fall down, and unto Thy glorious name give honor. So will they accept the yoke of Thy kingdom, and Thou shall be King over them speedily forever and aye. For Thine is the kingdom, and to all eternity Thou wilt reign in glory, as it is written in Thy Torah: 'The Lord shall reign forever and aye.' And it is also said: 'And the Lord shall be King over all the earth; on that day the Lord shall be One and His name be One.'"

It is fascinating how it describes the Kingdom of God being established on the earth, and how it desires that all the nations repent and worship the true God of heaven. It seems to be very much related to Jesus’ words about “the coming of the kingdom of God” and Paul’s words in Philippians:

For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Phil 2:9-11)