Queen
Easton's Bible Dictionary
No explicit mention of queens is made till we read of the “queen of Sheba.” The wives of the kings of Israel are not so designated. In Ps 45:9, the Hebrew for “queen” is not malkah, one actually ruling like the Queen of Sheba, but shegal, which simply means the king’s wife. In 1 Kgs 11:19, Pharaoh’s wife is called “the queen,” but the Hebrew word so rendered (g’birah) is simply a title of honour, denoting a royal lady, used sometimes for “queen-mother” (1 Kgs 15:13; 2 Chr 15:16). In Song 6:8, 9, the king’s wives are styled “queens” (Heb. melakhoth).
In the New Testament we read of the “queen of the south”, i.e., Southern Arabia, Sheba (Matt 12:42; Luke 11:31) and the “queen of the Ethiopians” (Acts 8:27), Candace.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
kwen: The Bible applies this term:
(1) To the wife of a king ("queen consort") (malkah). In the Book of Esther it is the title given to Vashti (1:9) and Esther (2:22); compare Song 6:8 f. Another Hebrew word for queen consort is gebhirah, literally "mistress" (compare 1 Kgs 11:19, the wife of Pharaoh; 2 Kgs 10:13, "the children of the king and the children of the queen"). In Neh 2:6 and Ps 45:9 we find the expression sheghal, which some trace back to shaghal, "to ravish," a rather doubtful derivation. Still another term is sarah, literally, "princess" (Isa 49:23). The Septuagint sometimes uses the word basilissa; compare Ps 45:9.
(2) To a female ruler or sovereign ("queen regnant"). The only instances are those of the queen (malkah) of Sheba (1 Kgs 10:1-13; compare 2 Chr 9:1-12) and of Candace, the queen (basilissa) of the Ethiopians (Acts 8:27). In Matt 12:42 (compare Luke 11:31) Christ refers to the queen of the south (basilissa notou), meaning, of course, the queen of Sheba.
(3) To a heathen deity, melekheth ha-shamayim, "the queen of heaven" (Jer 7:18; Jer 44:17).
See QUEEN OF HEAVEN.
(4) Metaphorically, to the city of Babylon (Rome) (Rev 18:7): an expression denoting sovereign contempt and imaginary dignity and power.
William Baur
Kilde: Easton's Bible Dictionary (M.G. Easton, 1897) og International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (red. James Orr, 1915/1939), public domain. Oversat til dansk med AI og endnu ikke gennemlæst (helt eller delvis). Koblinger til personer og steder: Theographic Bible Metadata (CC BY-SA 4.0).