Hypertext Webster Gateway: "theocracy"
From Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary (easton)
Theocracy
a word first used by Josephus to denote that the Jews were under
the direct government of God himself. The nation was in all
things subject to the will of their invisible King. All the
people were the servants of Jehovah, who ruled over their public
and private affairs, communicating to them his will through the
medium of the prophets. They were the subjects of a heavenly,
not of an earthly, king. They were Jehovah's own subjects, ruled
directly by him (comp. 1 Sam. 8:6-9).
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Theocracy \The*oc"ra*cy\, n. [Gr. ?; ? God + ? to be strong, to
rule, fr. ? strength: cf. F. th['e]ocratie. See {Theism}, and
cf. {Democracy}.]
1. Government of a state by the immediate direction or
administration of God; hence, the exercise of political
authority by priests as representing the Deity.
2. The state thus governed, as the Hebrew commonwealth before
it became a kingdom.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
theocracy
n 1: a political unit governed by a deity (or by officials
thought to be divinely guided)
2: the belief in government by divine guidance
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