Duke

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

DUKE . The title of ‘duke’ in the AV [Note: Authorized Version.] has a very general meaning. It is an inheritance from the Eng. of earlier versions, in which (after Vulg. [Note: Vulgate.] dux ) ‘duke’ meant any leader or chief. Latimer calls Gideon a duke, and Wyclif uses this title of Christ, as in his Works (iii. 137), ‘Jesus Christ, duke of oure batel.’ The title of ‘duke’ is confined in AV [Note: Authorized Version.] to the chiefs of Edom, with the exception of   Joshua 13:21 ‘dukes of Sihon,’ and 1Ma 10:65 (applied to Jonathan Maccabæus).

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) A leader; a chief; a prince.

(2): ( v. i.) To play the duke.

(3): ( n.) In England, one of the highest order of nobility after princes and princesses of the royal blood and the four archbishops of England and Ireland.

(4): ( n.) In some European countries, a sovereign prince, without the title of king.

King James Dictionary

DUKE, n. G., L, to lead to draw, to tug. Gr.

1. In Great Britain, one of the highest order of nobility a title of honor or nobility next below the princes as the Duke of Bedford or of Cornwall. 2. In some countries on the Continent, a sovereign prince, without the title of king as the Duke of Holstein, of Savoy, of Parma, &c. 3. A chief a prince as the dukes of Edom.  Genesis 36 .

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

In  Genesis 36:15-43 , is a long list of "dukes" of Edom; but the word duke, from the Latin dux, merely signifies a leader, and not an order of nobility; and the word chief or sheikh would have been preferable in our translation,  1 Chronicles 1:51 .

Morrish Bible Dictionary

A title often given in the early genealogies, signifying head of a family or of a tribe, which were called after his name.  Genesis 36:15-43;  1 Chronicles 1:51-54 .

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Genesis 36:15-43 Exodus 15:15 1 Chronicles 1:51-54

Holman Bible Dictionary

Chief

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

dūk  : The rendering in the King James Version in  Genesis 36:15;  Exodus 15:15 , and  1 Chronicles 1:51 of אלּוּף , 'allūph (the American Standard Revised Version and the English Revised Version, margin "chief"), and in  Joshua 13:21 of ם , neṣı̄khı̄m ("dukes," the Revised Version (British and American) "princes"). It occurs also, as the rendering of stratēgós , in 1 Macc 10:65 (the Revised Version (British and American) "captain"). Elsewhere neṣı̄khı̄m is translated "princes" or "principal men." The fact that with two exceptions the term is applied in English Versions of the Bible only to the chiefs of Edom has led to the impression that in the family of Esau the chiefs bore a special and hereditary title. But 'allūph was a general term for tribal chief or prince (compare  Zechariah 9:7;  Zechariah 12:5 ,  Zechariah 12:6; the Revised Version (British and American) "chieftains," the King James Version "governors").

Moreover, at the time the King James Version was made the word "duke" was not used as a title in England: the term had the same general force as dux , the word employed in the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible , 390-405 ad) So Sir T. Elyot (died 1546) speaks of "Hannibal, duke of Carthage" ( The Governour , II, 233); Shakespeare, Henry V , III, 2, 20, "Be merciful, great duke, to men of mould" (compare Midsummer Night's Dream , I, 1, 21); Sylvester (1591) Du Bartas , "The great Duke, that (in dreadful aw) (Upon Mt. Horeb learn'd th' eternal law." In a still earlier age Wycliff uses the word of the Messiah ( Matthew 2:6 ); and in Select Works , III, 137, "Jesus Christ, duke of oure batel."

Yet in all probability the Hebrew word was more specific than "chief" or "duke" in the broad sense. For if 'allūph is derived from 'eleph , "thousand," "tribe," the term would mean the leader of a clan, a "chiliarch" (compare Septuagint,  Zechariah 9:7;  Zechariah 12:5 ,  Zechariah 12:6 ). the American Standard Revised Version has eliminated the word "duke." See Chief .

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(from the Latin dux, a leader) stands in our version for two Hebrews terms: אִלּוּ (see a dissertation on this word by Sprenger, in the Zeitschr. F. Deutsch. Nmorgen. Gesellschvft , XII, 2:316), Alluph , a leader, which, besides its ordinary sense of guide or friend, is used technically of the Phylarch , or head of a tribe or nation, especially of the Edomitish chieftains ( Genesis 36:15-43;  Exodus 15:15;  1 Chronicles 1:51-54), rarely of the Jews ("governor,"  Zechariah 9:7;  Zechariah 12:5-6), and once of chiefs in general ("captain,"  Jeremiah 13:21); also נָסַיךְ , Nasik , one anointed (usually in poetry), spoken of the magnates of Sihon, perhaps by a paraphrase for that king himself ( Joshua 13:21), elsewhere of other "princes" ( Psalms 83:11;  Ezekiel 32:30;  Daniel 11:8; "principal men,"  Micah 5:5).