Matthew 3:2 is the second verse of the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. John the Baptist has been introduced in the first verse and this verse describes the message that he is preaching. Through John's message, Matthew introduces the "Kingdom of Heaven".
Content
The text in critical Greek versions reads:
:καὶ λέγων · Μετανοεῖτε, ἤγγικεν γὰρ ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν.
The opening word καὶ (kai, "and") is omitted in Westcott and Hort's text.
In the King James Version of the Bible, the text reads:
"And saying, Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."
The New International Version translates the passage as:
and saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near."
Analysis
Classical scholar Howard W. Clarke says that this is the first of twenty-nine references to the Kingdom of Heaven in the Gospel of Matthew. Luke and Mark tend to prefer the term "kingdom of God". Most scholars believe the two phrases are theologically identical. Robert Foster rejects this view. He finds the standard explanation hard to believe as Matthew uses the word God many other times and even uses the phrase Kingdom of God four times. Foster says that, for Matthew, the two concepts were different. He says that the word heaven had an important role in Matthew's theology and links the phrase especially to Father in Heaven, which Matthew frequently uses to refer to God. Foster says that the Kingdom of God represents the earthly domain that Jesus' opponents, such as the Pharisees thought they resided in, while the Kingdom of Heaven represents the truer spiritual domain of Jesus and his disciples.
When the last judgment failed to occur, Christian scholars gradually redefined the term to refer to a spiritual state within, or worked to justify a much delayed end time. This passage presents a difficulty in this later endeavour as the phrase translated as "at hand" or "is near" refers to an imminent event. Albright and Mann say that a better translation would state that the kingdom is "fast approaching". France sees it as even more immediate, saying that the phrase should be read as referring to "a state of affairs that is already beginning and demands immediate action".
According to France, the word translated as repent means "return to God".
Commentary from the Church Fathers
Augustine: Unless one repent him of his former life, he cannot begin a new life.