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malkhut

מַלְכוּת

HebrewH4438kingdom, reign, ...

Appears 91 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Num 24:71Sa 20:311Ki 2:121Ch 11:101Ch 12:23(24)1Ch 14:21Ch 17:111Ch 17:141Ch 22:101Ch 26:311Ch 28:51Ch 28:71Ch 29:251Ch 29:302Ch 1:12Ch 2:1(1:18)2Ch 2:12(11)2Ch 3:22Ch 7:182Ch 11:172Ch 12:12Ch 15:102Ch 15:192Ch 16:12Ch 16:122Ch 20:302Ch 29:192Ch 35:192Ch 36:20Ezr 4:5Neh 9:35Est 1:7Est 1:9Est 1:11Est 1:14Est 1:19 (2×)Est 2:17Est 3:8Est 4:14Est 5:1 (2×)Est 5:3Est 5:6Est 6:8 (2×)Est 7:2Psa 45:6(7)Psa 145:11Psa 145:13Jer 10:7Jer 52:31Dan 8:22
Word studymal-KHOOTnoun

What malkhut means

kingship: the power, period, and realm of a king, and the things that belong to him as king

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

This word is the abstract noun built from the verb "to be king." At its center is the fact of ruling as a king: holding royal power. From that center the word reaches in three natural directions, and the same form covers all of them.

First it names royal power itself, the right and reign of the one who sits on the throne. Used of God, it is His sovereignty over everything that exists (Psalm 103:19, 145:11-13). Used of a human king, it is the rule God grants and establishes (1 Chronicles 17:14).

From "reign as power" the word slides easily to "reign as a span of time," which is why the history books and Daniel keep dating events to a given year of a king's rule. It also widens to the territory and people a king rules, his kingdom as a place (Daniel 8:22; Esther's empire stretching across its provinces).

Finally, especially in Esther, the word works as a label meaning "royal," marking whatever pertains to the king: his crown, his estate, his wine, his palace. These are not separate words but one word doing the ordinary work an abstract noun does, naming the office and then everything that flows from it.

Num 24:71Sa 20:311Ki 2:121Ch 11:101Ch 12:23(24)1Ch 14:21Ch 17:111Ch 17:141Ch 22:101Ch 26:311Ch 28:51Ch 28:7

What scholars say about malkhut

The standard lexica (HALOT, BDB, DCH) treat this as a single late-Hebrew abstract noun from the root "to be king," with one cluster of senses: royal power and sovereignty, the period of a reign, the kingdom as a ruled realm, and an attributive use meaning "royal." Its concentration in Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, and Daniel is one of the markers scholars use to date those books to the later biblical period, where this noun largely replaces older terms. TDOT discusses it within the broad "king/kingship" word group as the abstraction of royal rule.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. מַלְכוּתlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. מַלְכוּתlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. מַלְכוּתlexicon
  • TDOT, vol. 8, 'melek, malkut'theological-dictionary

All attested forms of מַלְכוּת

f s construct

מַלְכוּתוֹ, מַלְכֻתוֹ

1Ch 11:10, 1Ch 14:2, 1Ch 17:11, 1Ch 22:10, 1Ch 28:7, 1Ch 29:30, 2Ch 1:1, 2Ch 2:1

f s construct

מַלְכוּת

1Ch 12:23, 1Ch 26:31, 1Ch 28:5, 2Ch 11:17, 2Ch 12:1, 2Ch 15:10, 2Ch 15:19, 2Ch 16:1

f s absolute

מַלְכוּת, מַּלְכוּת

1Ch 29:25, Est 1:7, Est 1:11, Est 1:19, Est 2:17, Est 5:1, Est 6:8, Est 6:8

f s construct

מַלְכוּתֶךָ, מַלְכוּתְךָ

1Sa 20:31, 2Ch 7:18, Est 3:8, Psa 45:6, Psa 145:11, Psa 145:13

f s construct

מַלְכוּתָם

Neh 9:35, Jer 10:7, Dan 8:23

f p absolute

מַלְכֻיוֹת

Dan 8:22

f s construct

מַלְכוּתִי

1Ch 17:14

f s construct

מַלְכוּתָהּ

Est 1:19