Hebrew word · H4435

מִלְכָּה

milkah

Milcah

From m-l-k, 'to reign'. Its usual meaning is 'queen' (compare malkah, 'queen', Esth 1:9). It is also borne by one of Zelophehad's daughters (Num 26:33).

Appears 11 times in 10 verses of the Hebrew Old Testament. ·

What it means

A woman living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.11.29;

daughter of: Haran (H2039);

sister of: Lot (H3876) and Iscah (H3252); married to Nahor (H5152H);

mother of: Uz (H5780H), Buz (H0938), Kemuel (H7055), Chesed (H3777), Hazo (H2375), Pildash (H6394), Jidlaph (H3044) and Bethuel (H1328A)

§ Milcah = "queen"

1) daughter of Haran and wife of Nahor, her uncle and Abraham's brother, to whom she bore 8 children

2) a daughter of Zelophehad and granddaughter of Manasseh

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 Genesis 11:29

Range of meaning

From m-l-k, 'to reign'. Its usual meaning is 'queen' (compare malkah, 'queen', Esth 1:9). It is also borne by one of Zelophehad's daughters (Num 26:33).

Against the English

Simply transliterated in English, as Milcah or Milkah (NIV). The meaning is lost.

Used elsewhere in the period

Akkadian malkatu, 'queen', was a title of the goddess Ishtar. Some scholars point out that several names in Terah's family (Sarai, Milcah, Laban 'white', perhaps Terah itself) fit the moon-god worship of Ur and Harran. Joshua 24:2 says Terah's family 'served other gods' beyond the River. This background is possible but debated.

Where it appears

Genesis · 7

  1. Genesis 11:29 מִלְכָּ֔ה מִלְכָּ֖ה [was] Milcah, Milcah

    And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

    Here: 'Queen', from the root m-l-k, 'to reign'. This makes a pair with Sarai, 'princess'. Both brothers marry women whose names are royal titles.

  2. Genesis 22:20 מִלְכָּ֥ה Milcah

    Some time later, Abraham was told, “Milcah has also borne sons to your brother Nahor:

  3. Genesis 22:23 מִלְכָּ֔ה Milcah

    And Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. Milcah bore these eight sons to Abraham’s brother Nahor.

  4. Genesis 24:15 מִלְכָּ֔ה Milcah

    Before the servant had finished praying, Rebekah came out with her jar on her shoulder. She was the daughter of Bethuel son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor.

    Here: Milcah was Nahor's principal wife and herself a granddaughter of Terah through Haran (Gen 11:29). Naming her shows that Rebekah descends from Nahor's main wife, not from his concubine Reumah (Gen 22:24).

  5. Genesis 24:24 מִלְכָּ֕ה Milcah

    She replied, “I am the daughter of Bethuel, the son that Milcah bore to Nahor.”

  6. Genesis 24:47 מִלְכָּ֑ה Milcah

    Then I asked her, ‘Whose daughter are you?’ She replied, ‘The daughter of Bethuel son of Nahor, whom Milcah bore to him.’ So I put the ring on her nose and the bracelets on her wrists.

Numbers · 3

  1. Numbers 26:33 מִלְכָּ֖ה Milcah

    Now Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons but only daughters. The names of his daughters were Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

  2. Numbers 27:1 וּמִלְכָּ֖ה and Milcah

    Now the daughters of Zelophehad son of Hepher, the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, belonged to the clans of Manasseh son of Joseph. These were the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. They approached

  3. Numbers 36:11 וּמִלְכָּ֛ה and Milcah

    Mahlah, Tirzah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to cousins on their father’s side.

Joshua · 1

  1. Joshua 17:3 מִלְכָּ֖ה Milcah

    But Zelophehad son of Hepher (the son of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh) had no sons but only daughters. These are the names of his daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.

    Here: Related to the root for 'king', so roughly 'queen'. It is also the name of Nahor's wife (Gen 11:29).

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