Hebrew word · H3676

כֵּס

kes

throne

Found only here in the Hebrew Bible. Standard lexicons (BDB, HALOT) list it as possibly a shortened form of kisseʾ, 'throne, seat of a king'. They also note the widely proposed correction to nes, 'standard, banner, signal pole'.

Appears once in the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

seat (of honour), throne, seat, stool

Another spelling of kis.se (כִּסֵּא ": throne" H3678)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Exodus 17:16

Range of meaning

Found only here in the Hebrew Bible. Standard lexicons (BDB, HALOT) list it as possibly a shortened form of kisseʾ, 'throne, seat of a king'. They also note the widely proposed correction to nes, 'standard, banner, signal pole'.

Against the English

Most English versions translate it 'throne' (YLT, BSB, ESV, NIV). KJV, WEB and some others drop the image and paraphrase it as 'the LORD hath sworn'. NRSV and some modern commentators read 'banner'.

How it drifted

Nothing drifted in English. The uncertainty is in the Hebrew itself. The translations disagree because the word is unique and probably damaged in copying.

Used elsewhere in the period

The Septuagint has no 'throne'. It reads 'with a hidden hand', apparently from the root k-s-h, 'to cover'. The Vulgate has manus solii Domini, 'the hand of the throne of the Lord'. Targum Onkelos, an early Jewish Aramaic paraphrase, expands it to an oath sworn before the One whose presence rests on the throne of glory. Rashi and the Mekhilta, a rabbinic commentary, read both the shortened throne word and the shortened name Yah as a sign that God's throne and name are 'not complete' until Amalek is blotted out. The Samaritan Pentateuch is generally reported to have the full spelling for 'throne'.

Where it appears

Exodus · 1

  1. Exodus 17:16 כֵּ֣ס [the] throne of

    “Indeed,” he said, “a hand was lifted up toward the throne of the LORD. The LORD will war against Amalek from generation to generation.”

    Here: This word occurs only here in the Bible. The usual word for throne is kisseʾ, so kes is taken either as a shortened form of it or as a copying error for nes, 'banner', the word in the altar's name one verse earlier. Either way it points to a symbol of God's rule or presence, raised over the battle.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.