H4428

מֶלֶךְ

melek · meh'-lek

a king

Lexicon

Derivation: from H4427 (מָלַךְ);

a king

Definition from Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (1890). Wording is Strong's own, including his etymological notes, which are not separate meanings.

KJV renderings: king, royal.

Letters

Mem

Lamed

Kaf

מMem40
Picture: waves of water
Concrete
water · sea · blood · liquid
Extended
chaos · mighty and uncontrollable · the masses · from / out of
לLamed30
Picture: shepherd's staff or goad
Concrete
staff · goad · yoke · cattle prod
Extended
authority · to lead · to teach · to bind · toward
כKaf20
Picture: open palm
Concrete
palm · open hand · sole of the foot
Extended
to open · to allow · to cover · to tame · like / as

Possible cultural reading (auto-composed)

water, chaos, the mighty deep › authority, the one who leads › the open hand that covers

Water, chaos, the mighty deep of authority, the one who leads of the open hand that covers.

Interpretive, not lexical. The dictionary sense of מֶלֶךְ above is the attested meaning; this pictographic reading is a tradition about how the sign-shapes may have been heard. Both can be held at once, they are answering different questions.

Usage

2526 occurrences · 2526 OT · 0 NT · 254 distinct forms

KJV renderings of this word, by how often each one is used.

king436 · 24%
the king424 · 24%
and the king209 · 12%
of the king107 · 6%
unto the king72 · 4%
of the kings68 · 4%
to the king66 · 4%
kings50 · 3%
the king's48 · 3%
of the king's42 · 2%
and king33 · 2%
of king32 · 2%
then the king31 · 2%
that the king23 · 1%
o king20 · 1%
for the king18 · 1%
so the king16 · 1%
and the king's15 · 1%
and all the kings14 · 1%
the kings14 · 1%
unto king14 · 1%
against the king13 · 1%
with the king11 · 1%
a king11 · 1%
to king10 · 1%

Where it is used, by book.

Inflected forms found in the text.

מֶֽלֶךְ־339מֶ֣לֶךְ294הַמֶּ֔לֶךְ191הַמֶּ֖לֶךְ147מֶ֥לֶךְ117הַמֶּ֙לֶךְ֙107הַמֶּ֑לֶךְ93הַמֶּֽלֶךְ׃88הַמֶּ֣לֶךְ85הַמֶּ֜לֶךְ60מַלְכֵ֣י51הַמֶּ֗לֶךְ47

Counts are computed from the tagged Hebrew and Greek text aligned to the King James Version, not from an estimate.

Concordance

Subjects this word carries

Leadership & government