StrongerBible

kisse

כִּסֵּא

HebrewH3678throne, seat

Appears 135 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 41:40Exo 11:5Exo 12:29Deu 17:18Jdg 3:201Sa 1:91Sa 2:81Sa 4:131Sa 4:182Sa 3:102Sa 7:132Sa 7:162Sa 14:91Ki 1:131Ki 1:171Ki 1:201Ki 1:241Ki 1:271Ki 1:301Ki 1:351Ki 1:37 (2×)1Ki 1:461Ki 1:47 (2×)1Ki 1:481Ki 2:41Ki 2:121Ki 2:19 (2×)1Ki 2:241Ki 2:331Ki 2:451Ki 3:61Ki 5:5(19)1Ki 7:71Ki 10:19 (2×)1Ki 16:111Ki 22:101Ki 22:192Ki 4:102Ki 13:132Ch 9:18 (2×)Job 26:9Job 36:7Psa 9:4(5)Psa 45:6(7)Psa 89:4(5)Psa 89:14(15)Psa 93:2Psa 122:5 (2×)Isa 14:9Isa 14:13
Root family
Names & words formed with this
Word studykis-SEHnoun

What kisse means

an elevated seat of honor: the chair that marks who holds authority, above all a king's throne

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

At its root the word names a raised seat, the kind you would not sit in casually. From there it almost always carries the weight of office: the one seated on it holds power, and the seat itself comes to stand for that power. A throne is rarely just furniture in the Hebrew Bible; it is shorthand for a reign, a dynasty, the right to rule.

The three shades below are one idea seen from different chairs. A plain seat in a room, the throne of a human king, and the throne of God all share the same picture: someone is seated high, and that seating signals who is in charge. Because the seat stands for the rule, the writers can speak of a throne being established, overturned, inherited, or made secure, and mean the kingdom itself.

The royal sense dominates, and within it the recurring phrase is the throne of David: not the literal chair but the promise that David's line would keep the kingship. The highest use lifts the same word to God, whose throne is fixed in the heavens and founded on justice. The reader should hear continuity, not three unrelated objects: the lowly chair and the throne of heaven are the same word because they are the same gesture of authority, scaled up.

Nuances

1aan ordinary seat or chair, a raised place to sit
Jdg 3:201Sa 1:91Sa 4:131Sa 4:182Ki 4:10Job 26:9Pro 9:14
1ba king's throne, the royal seat that stands for the reign and the dynasty
Gen 41:40Exo 11:5Exo 12:29Deu 17:181Sa 2:82Sa 3:102Sa 7:132Sa 7:162Sa 14:91Ki 1:131Ki 1:171Ki 1:20
1cGod's throne, the seat of his rule over creation and his place of judgment
Psa 9:4(5)Psa 9:7Psa 11:4Psa 47:8Psa 89:14(15)Psa 93:2Psa 97:2Psa 103:19Isa 6:1Isa 66:1Jer 3:17Jer 14:21

What scholars say about kisse

Standard lexica (HALOT, BDB) treat the word as one noun for a seat of honor whose dominant use is the royal throne, with the seat regularly serving as a symbol of kingship and dynasty; the same word is applied to the throne of God as cosmic ruler and judge. Theological dictionaries trace the move from a literal raised seat to the throne as a metonymy for rule, and the throne of David as the seat of the Davidic promise.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. כִּסֵּאlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. כִּסֵּאlexicon
  • TDOT, vol. 7, s.v. כִּסֵּא (kissēʾ)dictionary

All attested forms of כִּסֵּא

m s construct

כִּסֵּא

Deu 17:18, 1Sa 2:8, 2Sa 3:10, 2Sa 7:13, 1Ki 1:20, 1Ki 1:27, 1Ki 1:37, 1Ki 1:46

m s construct

כִּסְאוֹ

Exo 11:5, Exo 12:29, 2Sa 14:9, 1Ki 1:37, 1Ki 1:47, 1Ki 2:19, 1Ki 2:33, 1Ki 3:6

m s absolute

כִּסֵּא, כִּסֵּה

Gen 41:40, Jdg 3:20, 1Sa 1:9, 1Sa 4:13, 1Sa 4:18, 1Ki 2:19, 1Ki 7:7, 2Ki 4:10

m s construct

כִּסְאִי

1Ki 1:13, 1Ki 1:17, 1Ki 1:24, 1Ki 1:30, 1Ki 1:35, 1Ki 1:48, Isa 14:13, Isa 66:1

m s construct

כִּסְאֲךָ, כִּסְאֶךָ

2Sa 7:16, Psa 45:6, Psa 89:4, Psa 93:2, Lam 5:19, 1Ki 1:47, 1Ki 5:5, Psa 89:14

f p absolute

כִּסְאוֹת

Psa 122:5, Psa 122:5

f p construct

כִּסְאוֹתָם

Isa 14:9, Ezk 26:16