מֶלֶךְ melekh

Hebrew word for “king” · Strong’s H4428 · used 2,525 times in 1,921 verses

Explore it in the Word Atlas

Meaning

1) king; Aramaic equivalent: me.lekh (מֶ֫לֶךְ "king" H4430)

Senses in the lexicon

• king (2,512)
• King's (4)
• `the king` (3)
• Milcom (3)
• King's (2)
• King's (1)

How it is translated

Glosses given for melekh in context, with how often each is used:

• king 2,214
• kings 278
• belonged to the king 8
• against the king 7
• milcom 3
• had belonged to the king 2
• like a king 2
• will be king 2
• against the kings 1
• among the kings 1
• like the kings 1
• belonged to the kings 1

Where it is used

Also in 23 more books.

Chapters where it is used most

2 Samuel 19 (38), 1 Kings 1 (35), 1 Kings 22 (29), 2 Samuel 14 (23), 1 Kings 20 (22), Joshua 12 (21), 2 Kings 18 (21), 2 Chronicles 18 (21), 2 Kings 15 (20), 2 Samuel 13 (19)

Forms

• המלך 1,048
• מלך 896
• למלך 151
• מלכי 117
• מלכים 39
• למלכי 39
• המלכים 37
• והמלך 35
• ומלך 30
• במלך 19

Words used with it

Words that share verses with melekh more often than their overall frequency would suggest:

• יְהוּדָה yehudah “Judah” 273
• דָּבָר davar “word” 259
• בָּבֶל bavel “Babylon” 142
• דָּוִד david “David” 171
• שַׂר sar “ruler” 133
• יְרוּשָׁלִַם yerushalaim “Jerusalem” 144
• שָׁלַח shalach “to send” 155
• שָׁנָה shaneh “year” 130
• עִיר ir “city” 143
• שְׁלֹמֹה shelomoh “Solomon” 102
• אַשּׁוּר ashshur “Assyria” 89
• עֶבֶד eved “servant/slave” 130

Key verses

The verses using melekh that are most connected by cross-references (King James Version):

• 2 Kings 15:29 — In the days of Pekah king of Israel came Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and took Ijon, and Abel-beth-maachah, and Janoah, and Kedesh, and Hazor, and Gilead,…
• 2 Chronicles 19:2 — And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD?…
• Psalms 2:6 — Yet have I set my king upon my holy hill of Zion.
• Isaiah 44:6 — Thus saith the LORD the King of Israel, and his redeemer the LORD of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God.
• Isaiah 49:7 — Thus saith the LORD, the Redeemer of Israel, and his Holy One, to him whom man despiseth, to him whom the nation abhorreth, to a servant of rulers, Kings shall…
• Isaiah 49:23 — And kings shall be thy nursing fathers, and their queens thy nursing mothers: they shall bow down to thee with their face toward the earth, and lick up the…
• Jeremiah 10:10 — But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide…
• Jeremiah 23:5 — Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and…
• Jeremiah 25:9 — Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the LORD, and Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against…
• Ezekiel 37:24 — And David my servant shall be king over them; and they all shall have one shepherd: they shall also walk in my judgments, and observe my statutes, and do them.
• Hosea 3:5 — Afterward shall the children of Israel return, and seek the LORD their God, and David their king; and shall fear the LORD and his goodness in the latter days.
• Zechariah 9:9 — Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding…

See all 1,921 verses in the Word Atlas

Hebrew and Greek text, tagging, glosses and lexicon definitions: STEPBible.org, Tyndale House Cambridge (TAHOT, TAGNT, TBESH, TBESG; CC BY 4.0), adapted. Counts follow King James verse numbering; a word counts each time it is written.