A queen could be a king’s wife, queen mother, or female ruler. Scripture mentions queens such as the queen of Sheba, Vashti, Esther, and Candace, and also uses the title figuratively for Babylon.
Definition
A queen may be a king’s wife, a queen mother, or a female ruler. Scripture uses the title for royal women such as Vashti, Esther, the queen of Sheba, and Candace, while also applying it figuratively to Babylon.
Biblical Usage
The Bible distinguishes a queen consort from a female sovereign. The queen of Sheba is called the queen of the south by Jesus, and Candace is identified as queen of the Ethiopians. The title may also refer to a queen mother or royal lady and, figuratively, to Babylon.
Historical Background
In an Oriental household, the king’s mother could exercise greater authority than his wife, which explains the prominence of the queen mother. Hebrew terms for queen include words for royal wife, mistress, princess, and female ruler. Scripture also uses “queen of heaven” for a pagan deity.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
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 Kings 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 Kings 15:13; 2 Chron. 15:16). In Cant. 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.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
This title is properly applied to the queen-mother, since in an Oriental household it is not the wife but the mother of the master who exercises the highest authority. Strange as such an arrangement at sight appears, it is one of the inevitable results of polygamy. An illustration of the queen-mother’s influence is given in (1 Kings 2:19) ff. The term is applied to Maachah, (1 Kings 15:13; 2 Chronicles 16:16) and to Jezetiel, (2 Kings 10:13) and to the mother of Jehoiachin or Jeconiah, (Jeremiah 13:18) compare 2Kin 24:12; Jere 29:2
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>kwen: The Bible applies this term:</p><p>(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 So 6:8 f. Another Hebrew word for queen consort is gebhirah, literally "mistress" (compare 1Ki 11:19, the wife of Pharaoh; 2Ki 10:13, "the children of the king and the children of the queen"). In Ne 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.</p><p>(2) To a female ruler or sovereign ("queen regnant"). The only instances are those of the queen (malkah) of Sheba (1Ki 10:1-13; compare 2Ch 9:1-12) and of Candace, the queen (basilissa) of the Ethiopians (Ac 8:27). In Mt 12:42 (compare Lu 11:31) Christ refers to the queen of the south (basilissa notou), meaning, of course, the queen of Sheba.</p><p>(3) To a heathen deity, melekheth ha-shamayim, "the queen of heaven" (Jer 7:18; 44:17).</p><p>See QUEEN OF HEAVEN.</p><p>(4) Metaphorically, to the city of Babylon (Rome) (Re 18:7): an expression denoting sovereign contempt and imaginary dignity and power.</p><p>William Baur</p>
