Queen

Webster's Dictionary

(1): ( n.) The fertile, or fully developed, female of social bees, ants, and termites.

(2): ( n.) The most powerful, and except the king the most important, piece in a set of chessmen.

(3): ( v. i.) To make a queen (or other piece, at the player's discretion) of by moving it to the eighth row; as, to queen a pawn.

(4): ( n.) A woman eminent in power or attractions; the highest of her kind; as, a queen in society; - also used figuratively of cities, countries, etc.

(5): ( v. i.) To act the part of a queen.

(6): ( n.) A male homosexual, esp. one who is effeminate or dresses in women's clothing.

(7): ( n.) A playing card bearing the picture of a queen; as, the queen of spades.

(8): ( n.) A woman who is the sovereign of a kingdom; a female monarch; as, Elizabeth, queen of England; Mary, queen of Scots.

(9): ( n.) The wife of a king.

Holman Bible Dictionary

 1 Kings 10:1-13 Acts 8:27 2 Kings 11:1-3 2 Samuel 3:3 1 Kings 3:1 1 Kings 16:31 2 Kings 8:25-27 1 Kings 7:8 1 Kings 16:32-33 1 Kings 18:19 1 Kings 21:7-14 1 Kings 1:11-40 1 Kings 14:21 1 Kings 15:13 1 Kings 22:42 2 Kings 8:26 1 Kings 15:13 2 Kings 11:1-2 Proverbs 31:1 1 Kings 22:52 2 Kings 3:13 2 Kings 9:22

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

Malkah "queen regnant" ( 1 Kings 10:1;  Daniel 5:10;  Esther 1:9); Sheegal "the queen consort" ( Psalms 45:9;  Daniel 5:2-3); Gebirah "powerful mistress," "the queen mother." Polygamy, lessened the influence of the kings wives, whose hold on his affections was shared by others and was at best precarious; but the queen mother enjoyed a fixed position of dignity. So Bathsheba ( 1 Kings 2:19, etc.); Maachah ( 1 Kings 15:13);  2 Kings 10:13, Jezebel; Jehoiachin's mother ( 2 Kings 24:12;  Jeremiah 13:18;  Jeremiah 29:2).

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

1: Βασίλισσα (Strong'S #938 — Noun Feminine — basilissa — bas-il'-is-sah )

the feminine of basileus, "a king," is used (a) of the "Queen of Sheba,"  Matthew 12:42;  Luke 11:31; of "Candace,"  Acts 8:27; (b) metaphorically, of "Babylon,"  Revelation 18:7 .

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

(βασίλισσα)

The only person bearing this title that meets us in the apostolic writings is Candace, queen of the Ethiopians ( Acts 8:27). This people appear frequently to have had female sovereigns, and the name Candace seems to have been handed on from one to another, as we meet with several queens of this name in their early history. The only other passage in which the title occurs is  Revelation 18:7, where Babylon is represented as sitting as a queen, priding herself upon her power and immunity from sorrow (cf.  Isaiah 47:7).

G. Wauchope Stewart.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Queen. 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  2 Kings 24:12;  Jeremiah 29:2.

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Queen. This title in the A. V. represents three Hebrew words. It is applied to a ruling queen, as the queen of Sheba,  1 Kings 10:1; and to Athaliah,  2 Kings 11:1-21; to the wives of the king,  Esther 1:9;  Esther 7:1; and to the queen-mother, as Bathsheba, Maachah,  1 Kings 2:19;  1 Kings 15:13; and to Jezebel,  2 Kings 10:13.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

 Psalm 45:9 Malkah Shegal   1 Kings 11:19 1 Kings 15:13 2 Chronicles 15:16 Song of Solomon 6:8,9

In the New Testament we read of the "queen of the south", i.e., Southern Arabia, Sheba ( Matthew 12:42;  Luke 11:31 ) and the "queen of the Ethiopians" ( Acts 8:27 ), Candace.

Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types

 Psalm 45:9 (b) This is one of the names applied to the church. She will one day be married to the Bridegroom and will stand at His right hand as His bride forever. She is called a queen because she is married to the King of kings.

 Revelation 18:7 (b) This word describes the pride of Babylon (the great false religions of Christendom) in which she takes the place of being the bride of the King of kings, whereas in reality she is really a harlot, and is so named by our Lord.

King James Dictionary

QUEEN, n.

1. The consort of a king a queen consort. 2. A woman who is the sovereign of a kingdom a queen-regent as Elizabeth, queen of England Mary, queen of Scotland. 3. The sovereign of a swarm of bees, or the female of the hive.

A hive of bees cannot subsist without a queen.

Queen of the meadows, meadow sweet, a plant of the genus Spiraea.

QUEEN, To play the queen to act the part or character of a queen.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

This is applied, as now, to one reigning in her own right, as the queen of Sheba,  2 Chronicles 9:1-12; and Candace, queen of the Ethiopians,  Acts 8:27 . The title was also given to the consort of a reigning sovereign, as queen Esther; and to the queen-mother, who often had great influence at court, as Bathsheba, Jezebel, etc.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

QUEEN . The functions of a queen reigning in her own right would be identical with those of a king (wh. see). The queen as the wife of a monarch in Israel held a position of comparatively little importance, whereas that of a dowager-queen (‘queen-mother’) commanded great influence (cf. the cases of Bathsheba, Jezebel, Athaliah).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

kwēn  : The Bible applies this term: (1) To the wife of a king ("queen consort") ( מלכּה , malkāh ). In the Book of Esther it is the title given to Vashti (  Esther 1:9 ) and Esther ( Esther 2:22 ); compare  Song of Solomon 6:8 f. Another Hebrew word for queen consort is גּבירה , gebhı̄rāh , literally "mistress" (compare  1 Kings 11:19 , the wife of Pharaoh;  2 Kings 10:13 , "the children of the king and the children of the queen"). In  Nehemiah 2:6 and   Psalm 45:9 we find the expression שׁגּל , shēghāl , which some trace back to שׁגל , shāghal , "to ravish," a rather doubtful derivation. Still another term is שׂרה , sārāh , literally, "princess" ( Isaiah 49:23 ). The Septuagint sometimes uses the word βασίκισσα , bası́lissa  ; compare  Psalm 45:9 . (2) To a female ruler or sovereign ("queen regnant"). The only instances are those of the queen ( malkāh ) of Sheba ( 1 Kings 10:1-13; compare  2 Chronicles 9:1-12 ) and of Candace, the queen ( basilissa ) of the Ethiopians ( Acts 8:27 ). In  Matthew 12:42 (compare   Luke 11:31 ) Christ refers to the queen of the south (βασίλισσα νότου , bası́lissa nótou ), meaning, of course, the queen of Sheba. (3) To a heathen deity, השּׁמים מלכת , melekheth ha - shāmayim , "the queen of heaven" ( Jeremiah 7:18;  Jeremiah 44:17 ff). See Queen Of Heaven .

(4) Metaphorically , to the city of Babylon (Rome) (  Revelation 18:7 ): an expression denoting sovereign contempt and imaginary dignity and power.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

The Hebrews had no word properly answering to our term 'queen,' which is the feminine of 'king;' neither had they the dignity which that word denotes. Among them there was neither a 'queen regnant' nor a 'queen consort.' The Jewish kings however had, like other eastern monarchs, a chief wife in their harem, and this is no doubt the rank indicated in the Bible by the words which we render 'queen.'

Very different was, and is to this day, in Western Asia, the position of the king's mother, whose state is much the nearest to that of an European queen of any with which the East is acquainted. It is founded on that essential principle of Oriental manners which in all cases considers the mother of the husband as a far superior person to his wife, and as entitled to more respect and attention. This principle should be clearly understood, for it extends throughout the Bible, and is yet entirely different from our own social arrangements, under which the mother, as soon as she becomes widowed, abandons her place as head of the family to the daughter-in-law. Examples of the great influence possessed by the king's mother, occur frequently in Scripture.

In how marked a manner does the mother of Solomon come forward at the end of her husband's and the beginning of her son's reign! She takes an active part in securing her son's succession; it is in the conviction of her commanding influence that Adonijah engages her to promote his suit, alleging 'he will not say thee nay;' and then, when Bathsheba appears before her son, the monarch rises from his place, advances to meet her, bows himself before her, and seats her on the right hand of his throne (1 Kings 1-2). That the king's mother possessed high dignity is further evinced by the fact that Asa found it necessary to remove his mother Maachah 'from being queen,' on account of her abuse of the power which that character conferred . Jezebel was, as already stated, very powerful in the lifetime of her husband; but it is only under her son that she is called 'the queen;' and the whole history of his reign evinces the important part which she took in public affairs . Still more marked was the influence which her daughter Athaliah exercised in Judah during the reign of her son Ahaziah, which was indeed such as enabled her at his death to set the crown on her own head, and to present the anomaly in Jewish history of a regnant queen (2 Kings 11).

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

Bibliography Information McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Queen'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/q/queen.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.