In the Bible, it was not only men who ruled as kings, but additionally some women reigned as queens in their very own right. This is their story…
Types of queens within the Old Testament
In the Bible there are five various kinds of queens. In English we now have one word for ‘queen’ to cover the roles of what are sometimes words in Hebrew. The Hebrew word for a reigning queen was “malkah”, being the feminine type of “mlek” for king, which is used to explain the Queen of Sheba. A “shegal” was a queen consort, and a “gebirah” was a queen mother.
In the Old Testament there are examples of some queens regnant who ruled in their very own right as monarch, or female king. Most of the queens were queen consorts, who were married to the king. Some kings had multiple wife, but they might not all be called queen. Queen moms were the mother of the reigning king, who was normally the previous queen consort.
A queen consort might develop into a dowager queen when she was widowed, and retain the title of queen when a recent king got here, which can or not could also be her son. Queen moms is perhaps queen regents who were the actual ruler, ruling on behalf of their young son, or occasionally grandson, who was the official king in name only, but not sufficiently old to reign. Some of those roles overlapped and a dowager queen is perhaps a queen mother and a queen regent.
Queen consorts
Queen consorts were women married to the king, or Emperor or Pharaoh. Bathsheba was married to King David (2 Samuel 11 and 12; 1 Kings 1 and a pair of) and was the mother of King Solomon. Some kings had many wives in a harem, and these women weren’t all regarded as queens, equivalent to King Solomon’s harem in 1 Kings 11:3. There are some well-known queen consorts within the Bible equivalent to Queen Jezebel, the wife of King Ahab of Israel, who was notorious for introducing pagan worship (1 Kings 16 – 2 Kings 9).
Esther
The most famous queen consort within the Bible is Queen Esther, who was married to the Emperor of Persia, who replaced Queen Vashti in his affections. The biblical book of Esther tells her story, which is recalled every year within the Jewish festival of Purim.
Queen moms in within the Bible
Many queen moms are specifically named within the Old Testament. In the books of 1 Kings, 2 Kings and a pair of Chronicles, when the text introduces a recent king of Judah, it nearly at all times mentions the name of the king’s mother, who was the queen mother. Often, she was probably the most powerful woman within the court. The queen mother would sometimes intercede on behalf of others. In 1 Kings 2: 13-21 we read of Adonijah who went to the queen mother, Queen Bathsheba, to intercede with King Solomon for his request.
The role of queen mother may very well be removed. In 1 Kings 15:9-13 we read that king Jeroboam of Israel removed Maacah from being queen mother because she made an idol to Asherah. In Proverbs we examine King Lemuel’s mother, who was probably a queen mother. Her name is just not recorded, although she gives her son excellent advice and wisdom in his leadership role in Proverbs 31:1-9.
Queen regents
When kings were very young, the queen mother was often the actual ruler, ruling as regent within the name of her son, until he was sufficiently old to rule. In 2 Kings 21:1 it says that Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king, and his mother was Hephzibah. In 2 Kings 22:1 we read that King Josiah was 8 years old when he became king and his mother was Jedidah. In 2 Chronicles 24:1 we read that King Jehoash (also called Joash) of Judah was 7 years old when he became king, and his mother was Zibiah.
The queen regent was not at all times the mother, but sometimes the grandmother. In 1 Kings 15:9-15 we read of the queen regent, Queen Maacah who was actually King Asa of Judah’s grandmother.
Queens regnant
As well as queen consorts and queen moms, the Bible records various queens regnant who ruled in their very own right. These are the Queen of Sheba and Queen Athaliah of Judah.
Queen of Sheba
The Queen of Sheba is the primary ruling queen mentioned within the Bible. The story of her visiting King Solomon of Israel may be read in 1 Kings 10:1-13 and a pair of Chronicles 9:1-12. She is unnamed however the narrative indicates that she was ruler in her own right.
In the New Testament in Matthew 12:42 and Luke 11:31, she is named the Queen of the South, which most scholars consider was southern Arabia, around modern-day Yemen and perhaps across the Red Sea into modern-day Ethiopia. As often happens the shortage of detailed information within the Bible is filled in by tradition. The Queen of Sheba plays a outstanding role within the Ethiopian “Kebra Nagast” ancient narratives. According to this tradition, the Queen of Sheba was called Makeda, and she or he had a son by King Solomon who became King Menilek I, founding father of the royal house of Ethiopia.
Queen Athaliah
People sometimes think that Judah and Israel only had kings, but this is just not quite true. The Old Testament describes one queen regnant of Judah. Queen Athaliah ruled Judah in her own right for six years. Her story is recorded in 2 Kings 8:16-11:16 and a pair of Chronicles 22:10 to 23:1. It was a lot better known, and she or he was made famous by an oratorio called “Athalia”, which was written by Handel in 1733.
Queen Alexandra
Queen Athaliah was not the last queen regnant of Judea, however the last one is just not mentioned within the Bible, but is value mentioning. Queen Alexandra was from the Hasmonean dynasty. She is described by Josephus and is mentioned within the Talmud and within the Dead Sea Scrolls. She supported the Pharisees over the Sadducees. She was a ruler of Judea and died 4 years before the Roman conquest, and a couple of many years before the birth of Jesus.
Queen Candace
In Acts 8:27-39, we read the story of Philip the Evangelist who met the treasurer to the court of Queen Candace. Candace in truth was a title, like Pharaoh or Caesar, relatively than the name of a selected person, and referred to a queen. The Candaces were a line of queens who ruled in Cush, which is in modern-day Sudan, in an area then generally known as Ethiopia in Greek. It is just not clear which category of queen she was, but can have been a queen mother.
The Books of Kings
The Bible doesn’t have any specific law that only men can reign or be rulers. Before the monarchy, Israel was ruled by the Judges and probably the most famous of those was Deborah. In the Septuagint translation of the Bible, from which our name of the books of Kings comes, the name of the books can higher be translated as “Reigns”. By calling them the book of Kings, we may be misled into forgetting that these books also tell the stories of queens.
Conclusion
Some queens were good, and a few are portrayed as bad. Others are only mentioned by name, and a few aren’t named in any respect. The Queen of Sheba who comes across as an excellent queen is rarely named. The only ruling queen of Judah was Queen Athaliah who is just not an excellent queen. Some people have argued that because she was not an excellent queen, that may be a reason why women shouldn’t be rulers, but considering that there are more examples of bad kings, by that logic men shouldn’t be rulers either.
The monarch was normally a person but sometimes a girl, and the monarch had ultimate authority. However, evidently the queen mother got here second in authority, and if she was the regent, she held the actual authority until her son was sufficiently old. There is nothing within the Bible which says that girls couldn’t take the role of king, and evidently many did.
