Mat 19:27 Then answered Peter and said unto him, Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore? Mat 19:28 And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. Mat 19:29 And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name's sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life. Mat 19:30 But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.
Also relevant:
Luk 22:28 Ye are they which have continued with me in my temptations. Luk 22:29 And I appoint unto you a kingdom, as my Father hath appointed unto me; Luk 22:30 That ye may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom, and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
It seems to me it either means the reemergence of Israel as a nation, under the new Davidic king (messiah) some time in the future, or possibly the new heavens and the new earth wherein righteousness dwells in the whole world under the kingship of God (with Jesus as the everlasting king of Israel).
NOTES
παλιγγενεσία, ας, ἡ (Plut., Mor. 722d does not, as some have affirmed, assign the use of this word to Democritus [Fgm. 158 Diels]; it is found in Neanthes [200 B.C.]: 84 Fgm. 33 Jac.; Memnon [I B.C./I A.D.]: 434 Fgm. 1, 40, 2 Jac.; Cicero, Ad Attic. 6, 6, also a t.t. of the Pythagoreans and Stoics [EZeller, Philosophie der Griechen I5 1892, 442; III 14 1902, 158; HDiels, Doxographi Graeci 1879, p. 469, 11ff] as well as of the Mysteries of Dionysus [Orph. Fragmente 205 p. 225 OKern 1922] and of Osiris [Plut., Mor. 389a; also 364f; 379f; 438d; 996c; 998c; cp. Lucian, Musc. Enc. 7]. It is found in the Herm. Wr. [3, 3; 13, 1 ὁ τῆς παλιγγενεσίας λόγος; 13, 3 al.—JKroll, Die Lehren des Hermes Trismegistos 1914, 360ff; Prümm 559–61]; IDefixWünsch 4, 18 ὁ θεὸς ὁ τῆς παλινγενεσίας Θωβαρραβαυ; PLond 878 δῶρον παλινγενεσίας; Philo, Cher. 114, Poster. Caini 124, Leg. ad Gai. 325; Jos., Ant. 11, 66) ① state of being renewed, w. focus on a cosmic experience, renewal ⓐ after the Deluge (so Philo, Mos. 2, 65, but the idea of the παλιγγενεσία of the κόσμος is gener. Stoic and originated w. the Pythagoreans: M. Ant. 11, 1, 3; Philo, Aet. M. 47; 76) Νῶε παλ. κόσμῳ ἐκήρυξεν 1 Cl 9:4. ⓑ of the renewing of the world in the time of the Messiah, an eschatol. sense (Schürer II 537f; Bousset, Rel.3 280ff) ἐν τῇ παλ. in the new (Messianic) age or world Mt 19:28. ② experience of a complete change of life, rebirth of a redeemed person (cp. Heraclit., Ep. 4, 4 ἐκ παλιγγενεσίας ἀναβιῶναι; Herm. Wr., loc. cit. and PGM 4, 718 where the initiate calls himself πάλιν γενόμενος. Theoph. Ant. 2, 16 [p. 140, 9] λαμβάνειν … ἄφεσιν ἁμαρτιῶν διὰ ὕδατο καὶ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσία): λουτρὸν παλιγγενεσίας καὶ ἀνακαινώσεως πνεύματος ἁγίου bath of regeneration and renewal by the Holy Spirit Tit 3:5 (MDibelius, Hdb., exc. ad loc.; ESelwyn, I Pt ’46, 306f; ANock, JBL 52, ’33, 132f).—PGennrich, Die Lehre v. d. Wiedergeburt in dogmengeschichtl. und religionsgeschichtl. Beleuchtung 1907; AvHarnack, Die Terminologie der Wiedergeburt: TU 42, 3, 1918, p. 97–143; ADieterich, Eine Mithrasliturgie 1903, 157ff; Rtzst., Mysterienrel.3 indices; HWilloughby, Pagan Regeneration 1929; VJacono, La παλιγγενεσία in S. Paolo e nel ambiente pagano: Biblica 15, ’34, 369–98; JDey, Παλιγγενεσία (on Tit 3:5) ’37; JYsebaert, Gk. Baptismal Terminology, ’62, 90; FBurnett, CBQ 46, ’84, 447–70 (Philo, the rebirth of the soul into incorporeal existence).—Kl. Pauly IV 428f; BHHW III 2171f.—S. DELG s.v. πάλιν. M-M s.v. παλινγενεσία. EDNT. TW. Sv.
Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., Bauer, W., & Gingrich, F. W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 752). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
πᾰλιγγενεσία, ἡ, rebirth, regeneration, of the world, παλιγγενεσίας ἡγεμόνες. of Noah and his sons, Id.2.144; ἡ ἀνάκτησις καὶ π. τῆς πατρίδος J.AJ11.3.9; cf. Memn.40.2 J., renewal of a race, Corp.Herm.3.3; of persons, beginning of a new life, εἰς π. ὁρμᾶν Ph.1.159, cf. Luc.Musc.Enc.7: hence of restoration after exile, Cic.Att.6.6.4; transmigration, reincarnation of souls, Plu.2.998c; cf. μετεμψύχωσις fin. 2. in Stoic Philos., rebirth of the κόσμος, Chrysipp.Stoic.2.191: pl., ib. 187, Boeth.Stoic.3.265; so later, ἡ περιοδικὴ π. τῶν ὅλων M.Ant.11.1, cf. Procl.in Ti.3.241 D. 3. Medic., relapse, Gal.13.83; regrowth of a tumour, Antyll.ap.Orib.45.2.7. II. in Roman Law, = restitutio natalium, Just.Nov.18.11. III. in NT., 1. resurrection, Ev.Matt.19.28. 2. regeneration by baptism, διὰ λουτροῦ παλιγγενεσίας Ep.Tit.3.5.
πᾰλιγγενής, ές, born again, Nonn.D.2.650; generated anew, αἰών PMag.Lond.121.510.
I note this but disagree with the replacement theology it contains:
- The first ‘reward’ that Jesus mentions is in the new world (palingenesia, lit. ‘rebirth’; the only other New Testament use is in Titus 3:5). The word itself is more typical of Stoic philosophy than of the Jewish milieu, but it effectively conveys the Jewish eschatological hope of ‘new heavens and a new earth’ in the Messianic age (Isa. 65:17; 66:22; etc.). Jesus sees that hope fulfilled when the Son of man is enthroned as king (cf. 25:31–34, and for the language cf. 1 Enoch 62:5; 69:27–29; etc.). The thought is derived from Daniel 7, where not only are the themes of thrones, glory, judgment and kingship associated with ‘one like a son of man’ (vv. 9–14), but that kingship is also given to ‘the people of the saints of the Most High’ (vv. 22, 27). So here the followers of the Son of man share his kingship; but whereas in Daniel 7 it is Israel who thus rules over the nations, here it is Jesus’ twelve followers (see on 10:1 for the significance of the choice of twelve) who judge (probably in the Old Testament sense of ruling, Judg. 3:10, etc.) the twelve tribes of Israel. This remarkable transfer of imagery graphically illustrates the theme of a ‘true Israel’ of the followers of Jesus who take the place of the unbelieving nation, a theme which runs through much of the teaching of Jesus in this Gospel (cf. 8:11–12; 21:43). For further development of the theme of the disciples’ share in Jesus’ kingship, see 1 Corinthians 4:8; 6:2; Ephesians 2:6; Revelation 20:4. It also lies behind the request of Zebedee’s wife in 20:21.
France, R. T. (1985). Matthew: an introduction and commentary (Vol. 1, p. 291). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press.
KJV unless otherwise noted