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mamlakhah

מַמְלָכָה

HebrewH4467kingdom, reign, ...

Appears 117 times · tap a cell to see the verses

Gen 10:10Gen 20:9Exo 19:6Num 32:33 (2×)Deu 3:4Deu 3:10Deu 3:13Deu 3:21Deu 17:18Deu 17:20Deu 28:25Jos 10:2Jos 11:101Sa 10:181Sa 13:131Sa 13:141Sa 24:20(21)1Sa 27:51Sa 28:172Sa 3:102Sa 3:282Sa 5:122Sa 7:122Sa 7:132Sa 7:161Ki 2:461Ki 4:21(5:1)1Ki 9:51Ki 10:201Ki 11:111Ki 11:131Ki 11:311Ki 11:341Ki 12:261Ki 14:81Ki 18:10 (2×)2Ki 19:152Ki 19:191Ch 29:302Ch 9:192Ch 12:82Ch 13:52Ch 13:82Ch 17:102Ch 20:62Ch 20:292Ch 21:42Ch 22:92Ch 32:152Ch 36:23
Word studymam-la-KAHnoun

What mamlakhah means

a kingdom: either the concrete realm of a king (territory, nation, political domain) or the authority and institution of royal rule itself

TranslatabilityPartialCertaintySettled

The word covers the full range that English "kingdom" covers: from specific territories and nations governed by kings, to the royal office and sovereign authority a king exercises. Most occurrences are concrete, naming a particular political entity, the kingdom of Sihon, the kingdoms of Canaan, the kingdoms of the earth. But the same word also names the institution of rule, the ongoing reign a dynasty sustains or loses.

The concrete and abstract senses shade into each other naturally. When the prophets speak of God overturning "the kingdoms" (Haggai 2:22), they mean the nations and their thrones together, territorial dominion and royal power as one thing. When God promises David an everlasting kingdom (2 Samuel 7:12-16), he is pledging the enduring institution of royal rule, not a fixed piece of geography. Israel itself is called "a kingdom of priests" in Exodus 19:6, naming a vocation and a status, not a land.

The word is close in meaning to two related nouns: H4438 (מַלְכוּת), which leans toward the dignity and exercise of royalty, and H4410 (מְלוּכָה), which names kingship as a status or office. H4467 by contrast is the most common of the three and tends toward the political entity, the organized realm, nation, or power, as much as toward the abstract quality of ruling.

Nuances

1aa kingdom as a political realm: a territory, nation, or domain governed by a king
Num 32:33 (2×)Deu 3:4Deu 3:10Deu 3:13Jos 10:2Jos 11:101Ki 4:21(5:1)1Ki 10:201Ki 18:10 (2×)Neh 9:22Psa 135:11Isa 13:19
1bkingship or royal sovereignty: the institution, office, or ongoing authority of a king's rule
Exo 19:61Sa 13:131Sa 13:141Sa 24:20(21)2Sa 3:282Sa 7:122Sa 7:132Sa 7:161Ki 9:52Ch 13:5Isa 9:7(6)Mic 4:8

What scholars say about mamlakhah

Standard Hebrew lexicography treats H4467 as the primary word for "kingdom" in the Old Testament, naming both the concrete political entity and the abstract institution of royal rule. HALOT distinguishes the territorial sense (a realm, state, or domain) from the institutional sense (kingship, royal authority), while recognizing that the two shade into each other throughout the corpus. BDB similarly identifies the word with both the domain and the royal power. The plural forms (ממלכות) almost always name concrete foreign nations or kingdoms in prophetic and historical contexts. The singular forms range more freely across the territorial and institutional senses. The word is theologically significant in the Davidic covenant texts (2 Samuel 7) and in Israel's self-description as a "kingdom of priests" (Exodus 19:6); both uses have been extensively discussed in Old Testament theology. Scholarship generally resists pressing the word toward a purely "spiritual" reading in covenant contexts, while recognizing that its theological use in the prophets and Psalms often focuses on God's universal sovereign authority over the nations.

Sources

  • HALOT, s.v. מַמְלָכָהlexicon
  • BDB, s.v. מַמְלָכָהlexicon
  • DCH, s.v. מַמְלָכָהlexicon
  • TDOT, vol. 8, s.v. מָלַךְ (melek)dictionary
  • NIDOTTE, vol. 2, s.v. מָלַךְdictionary

All attested forms of מַמְלָכָה

f s absolute

מַּמְלָכָה, מַמְלָכָה

Jos 10:2, 1Sa 27:5, 1Sa 28:17, 2Sa 3:10, 1Ki 2:46, 1Ki 11:11, 1Ki 11:13, 1Ki 11:31

f p construct

מַמְלְכוֹת, מַּמְלְכוֹת, מַמְלְכֹת

Deu 28:25, 2Ki 19:15, 2Ki 19:19, 1Ch 29:30, 2Ch 12:8, 2Ch 17:10, 2Ch 20:6, 2Ch 20:29

f p absolute

מַמְלָכוֹת, מַּמְלָכוֹת

1Ki 10:20, Neh 9:22, Psa 46:6, Psa 79:6, Psa 102:22, Isa 13:19, Isa 14:16, Isa 23:11

f s construct

מַמְלֶכֶת, מַמְלֶכַת

Exo 19:6, Num 32:33, Num 32:33, Deu 3:4, Deu 3:10, Deu 3:13, 1Sa 24:20, 2Ch 13:8

f s construct

מַמְלַכְתּוֹ

Gen 10:10, Deu 17:18, Deu 17:20, 2Sa 5:12, 2Sa 7:12, 2Sa 7:13, Isa 9:7

f s construct

מַמְלַכְתְּךָ

1Sa 13:13, 1Sa 13:14, 2Sa 7:16, 1Ki 9:5

f s construct

מַמְלַכְתִּי

Gen 20:9, 2Sa 3:28