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מְלֶכֶת

𐤌𐤋𐤊𐤕

mᵉleketh

H4446 noun

SILEX Entry

Root מלך to reign, rule, be king/queen

Definition

Title for a female royal figure, primarily denoting a queen or royal consort—typically the wife of a reigning king. In certain contexts, can refer to a woman possessing sovereign authority in her own right or, rarely, to a female deity addressed with a royal title.

Semantic Range

queen consort, queen regnant, female royal figure, (rarely) female deity addressed as queen

Root / Etymology

From the Hebrew root מָלַךְ (mlk), meaning 'to reign, to be king/queen.' The form מְלֶכֶת is a feminine noun, constructed with the feminine ending -ֶת (usually appearing as -et), signifying a female ruler or consort.

Historical & Contextual Notes

In biblical usage, מְלֶכֶת usually refers to a human queen, often the consort of a king (e.g., the Queen of Sheba in 1 Kings 10:1). Occasionally, it appears in phrases denoting female deities (e.g., 'queen of heaven' in Jeremiah 7:18), reflecting Canaanite or Mesopotamian religious influence, and not referring to Israelites or Judahites. During the monarchic period, the term applied to royal women who held political or ceremonial prominence; later, it sometimes bore a more independent sense of female rulership. English translations often render it simply as 'queen,' but this can obscure the distinction between a queen regnant (sovereign in her own right) and queen consort (king's wife). The comparable masculine form is מֶלֶךְ (king), while other words for royal women (e.g., גְּבִירָה) carry slightly different connotations, often emphasizing status or authority apart from direct marriage to the king. The title's use for deities is distinctively non-Israelite in context, and later traditions sometimes collapse this nuance by simply translating as 'queen.'

Original Strong's Gloss (1890)

from מָלַךְ; a queen; queen.

Bantu Hebrew

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Root Family

מלך (m-l-k) — to reign, rule, be king/queen

Strong's Lemma SIBI-P1
H3230 יַמְלֵךְ He-Will-Reign
H4409 מַלּוּךְ to Reigning-One
H4427 מָלַךְ in his reigning
H4428 מֶלֶךְ among the kings
H4429 מֶלֶךְ the sovereign

Word Forms

1 distinct form

SIDANCE Surface Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2 Occurrences
H4446-01 לִ/מְלֶ֣כֶת limelekhet HR/Ncfsc to the Queen to a queen of 5

Occurrences in Scripture

5 occurrences

SIDANCE Reference Word Transliteration Morphology Common SIBI-P1 SIBI-P2
H4446-01 Jeremiah 7:18 לִ/מְלֶ֣כֶת limelekhet HR/Ncfsc for the queen to a queen of
H4446-01 Jeremiah 44:17 לִ/מְלֶ֣כֶת limelekhet HR/Ncfsc to the Queen to a queen of
H4446-01 Jeremiah 44:18 לִ/מְלֶ֧כֶת limelekhet HR/Ncfsc to the Queen to a queen of
H4446-01 Jeremiah 44:19 לִ/מְלֶ֣כֶת limelekhet HR/Ncfsc to Queen to a queen of
H4446-01 Jeremiah 44:25 לִ/מְלֶ֣כֶת limelekhet HR/Ncfsc to the queen to a queen of
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