Hebrew word · H4410
מְלוּכָה
melukhah
kingship
Kingship, royalty, royal rule or office. It is an abstract noun from the root m-l-k, "to reign". The related noun mamlākâ more often means "kingdom" as a realm.
Appears 24 times in 23 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·
What it means
kingship, royalty, kingly office
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 1 Kings 1:46
- Range of meaning
Kingship, royalty, royal rule or office. It is an abstract noun from the root m-l-k, "to reign". The related noun mamlākâ more often means "kingdom" as a realm.
- Against the English
KJV, WEB and YLT have "throne of the kingdom". That is acceptable, but "kingdom" can suggest a territory. BSB's "royal throne" reads more smoothly but loses the abstract noun. "Throne of kingship" is the closest.
- Used elsewhere in the period
1 Sam 10:25 ("the custom of the kingship", which Samuel wrote down). 1 Sam 11:14 ("let us renew the kingship"). 1 Kgs 2:15, 22: Adonijah says "the kingship was mine" and "it was his from the LORD", and Solomon answers sarcastically, "ask for him the kingship too". Also Ps 22:28 (29 in Hebrew) and Obad 21 ("the kingship shall be the LORD's").
From the study of Ezekiel 16:13
- Range of meaning
Kingship, royal office, royal dignity. Sometimes 'kingdom' in the sense of royal rule (1 Sam 10:16; 1 Kgs 21:7 'do you now exercise kingship?'). Ezekiel also uses it of the royal line (Ezek 17:13 'of the royal seed').
- Against the English
KJV 'prosper into a kingdom' can sound as if she became a nation or a territory. The Hebrew means she gained royal status. BSB/NIV 'rose to be queen' and ESV/NASB 'advanced to royalty' are closer.
- How it drifted
In modern English 'prosper' mainly means getting richer, and 'kingdom' brings to mind a territory. Together they hide the idea of being raised in rank.
- Used elsewhere in the period
With the verb tsalach ('advance, succeed'), the phrase means rising to the throne. Compare Ps 45:4 (Heb 45:5), where tsalach describes the king's victorious advance. Ezekiel 17 uses tsalach repeatedly of the rebellious Davidic king: 'will it prosper?'
From the study of Obadiah 1:21
- Range of meaning
Kingship, royal office, royal authority, the reign itself. It is used of a human king's crown and authority (1 Sam 10:16, 25; 1 Kgs 21:7) and of God's sovereign rule (Ps 22:28). It means the right and act of ruling, not a land or a people.
- Against the English
"Kingdom" (all major English versions except NLT) suggests a place or a political unit, or to many readers "heaven" or the church. NLT's "the LORD himself will be king" catches the sense of reign well.
- How it drifted
In older English "kingdom" meant "kingship, royal rule" as well as "realm." The realm sense now dominates, and in Christian speech "the kingdom" often means heaven or the church.
- Used elsewhere in the period
Psalm 22:28 (Heb. 22:29) has almost the same words: kî laYHWH hammĕlûkâ, "for kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations." Compare Zech 14:9, "the LORD will be king over all the earth"; Ps 103:19; Dan 4:3 (Aramaic malkû). Revelation 11:15 ("the kingdom of the world has become our Lord's") voices the same hope, though it is more likely drawing on Daniel and the Psalms than on Obadiah directly.
Where it appears
1 Samuel · 5
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1 Samuel 10:16 הַמְּלוּכָה֙ the kingship
And Saul replied, “He assured us that the donkeys had been found.” But Saul did not tell his uncle what Samuel had said about the kingship.
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1 Samuel 10:25 הַמְּלֻכָ֔ה the kingship
Then Samuel explained to the people the rights of kingship. He wrote them on a scroll and laid it up before the LORD. And Samuel sent all the people away, each to his own home.
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1 Samuel 11:14 הַמְּלוּכָֽה׃ the kingship
Then Samuel said to the people, “Come, let us go to Gilgal and renew the kingship there.”
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1 Samuel 14:47 הַמְּלוּכָ֖ה the kingship
After Saul had assumed the kingship over Israel, he fought against all his enemies on every side—the Moabites, the Ammonites, the Edomites, the kings of Zobah, and the Philistines. Wherever he turned, he routed them.
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1 Samuel 18:8 הַמְּלוּכָֽה׃ the kingship
And Saul was furious and resented this song. “They have ascribed tens of thousands to David,” he said, “but only thousands to me. What more can he have but the kingdom?”
2 Samuel · 2
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2 Samuel 12:26 הַמְּלוּכָֽה׃ <the> royalty
Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.
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2 Samuel 16:8 הַמְּלוּכָ֔ה the kingship
The LORD has paid you back for all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose place you have reigned, and the LORD has delivered the kingdom into the hand of your son Absalom. See, you have come to ruin because you are a man of bloodshed!”
1 Kings · 7
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1 Kings 1:46 הַמְּלוּכָֽה׃ <the> royalty
Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne.
Here: "The kingship". The word means the office and authority of king, not the territory. So "throne of the kingship" means the seat that carries the right to rule. Adonijah uses the same word when he later admits, "the kingship was mine… but it turned and became my brother's" (2:15).
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1 Kings 2:15 הַמְּלוּכָ֔ה הַמְּלוּכָה֙ the kingship
“You know that the kingship was mine,” he said. “All Israel expected that I should reign, but the kingship has turned to my brother, for it has come to him from the LORD.
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1 Kings 2:22 הַמְּלוּכָ֔ה the kingship
King Solomon answered his mother, “Why do you request Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Since he is my older brother, you might as well request the kingdom for him and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab son of Zeruiah!”
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1 Kings 11:35 הַמְּלוּכָ֖ה the kingship
But I will take ten tribes of the kingdom from the hand of his son and give them to you.
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1 Kings 12:21 הַמְּלוּכָ֔ה the kingship
And when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of Solomon.
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1 Kings 21:7 מְלוּכָ֖ה kingship
But his wife Jezebel said to him, “Do you not reign over Israel? Get up, eat some food, and be cheerful, for I will get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.”
2 Kings · 1
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2 Kings 25:25 הַמְּלוּכָ֗ה <the> royalty
In the seventh month, however, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family, came with ten men and struck down and killed Gedaliah, along with the Judeans and Chaldeans who were with him at Mizpah.
1 Chronicles · 1
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1 Chronicles 10:14 הַמְּלוּכָ֔ה the kingship
and he failed to inquire of the LORD. So the LORD put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.
Psalms · 1
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Psalm 22:28 הַמְּלוּכָ֑ה the kingship
For dominion belongs to the LORD and He rules over the nations.
Isaiah · 2
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Isaiah 34:12 מְלוּכָ֣ה [will be that which] a kingship
No nobles will be left to proclaim a king, and all her princes will come to nothing.
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Isaiah 62:3 מְלוּכָ֖ה royalty
You will be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, a royal diadem in the palm of your God.
Here: 'A turban of kingship' means a royal headdress, a sign of reigning. Coming after 'kings will see your glory' (v. 2), it says Zion becomes a royal emblem herself.
Jeremiah · 1
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Jeremiah 41:1 הַ֠מְּלוּכָה <the> royalty
In the seventh month, Ishmael son of Nethaniah, the son of Elishama, who was a member of the royal family and one of the king’s chief officers, came with ten men to Gedaliah son of Ahikam at Mizpah, and they ate a meal together there.
Here: Literally "the kingship" itself. Ishmael comes from the ruling house, in a land that now has no king and is run by a governor who is not of royal blood.
Ezekiel · 2
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Ezekiel 16:13 לִמְלוּכָֽה׃ into kingship
So you were adorned with gold and silver, and your clothing was made of fine linen, silk, and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey, and oil. You became very beautiful and rose to be queen.
Here: "To royalty." The abandoned baby (vv. 4–5) ends up with royal status: a queen at the King's side, and in historical terms Jerusalem as a royal capital.
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Ezekiel 17:13 הַמְּלוּכָ֔ה <the> royalty
He took a member of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he carried away the leading men of the land,
Daniel · 1
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Daniel 1:3 הַמְּלוּכָ֖ה <the> royalty
Then the king ordered Ashpenaz, the chief of his court officials, to bring in some Israelites from the royal family and the nobility—
Obadiah · 1
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Obadiah 1:21 הַמְּלוּכָֽה׃ the kingship
The deliverers will ascend Mount Zion to rule over the mountains of Esau. And the kingdom will belong to the LORD.
Here: "The kingship," meaning royal rule and sovereign authority, not a territory. It is the last word of the book. Edom's proud self-rule (vv. 3–4) gives way to Yahweh's reign.
Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.