NT who uses the set phrase employs “kingdom of God,” never “kingdom of heaven.” From many other types of Gospel sayings, we can see that Jesus did not as a rule avoid the name God,17 and there is no reason to think that he would have sought to avoid it when speaking of God’s kingdom. Moreover, Jewish intertestamental literature before Jesus does not use “kingdom of heaven,” while a few examples of “kingdom of God” do appear.18 On the other hand, rabbinic use of “kingdom of heaven” can be documented