Biblica Analytica

גְּבִירָה

ge.vi.rah (H1377)

queen

6 verses 4 books OT 6 / NT 0
AI Word Study

# Gəbirāh: The Hebrew Term for Queen The Hebrew word *gəbirāh* (גְּבִירָה) carries the basic meaning of "queen" and appears six times in the biblical text. This limited frequency suggests it was a specialized term reserved for a specific royal title rather than a common word in everyday Hebrew vocabulary. The precise nature of these six occurrences—whether referring to queens consort, queens regnant, or other royal women—cannot be determined from the lexical data alone, but the consistent translation as "queen" indicates the word denoted a woman of the highest royal rank. The rarity of this term in the biblical corpus is noteworthy. With only six attestations across the entire Hebrew Bible, *gəbirāh* appears to have been used selectively when the biblical authors needed to designate a woman holding genuine royal authority or status. This contrasts with other potential terms for royal women and suggests that *gəbirāh* may have carried particular weight or specificity in how it characterized feminine royal power within ancient Israelite and Judean contexts.

AI synthesis uses only provided lexicon data -- never training knowledge.

1 Kings 11:19

Hadad found great favor in the sight of Pharaoh, so that he gave him as wife the sister of his own wife, the sister of Tahpenes the queen.

1 Kings 15:13

He also removed Maacah his mother from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah. Asa cut down her image and burned it at the brook Kidron.

2 Kings 10:13

Jehu met with the brothers of Ahaziah king of Judah, and said, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are the brothers of Ahaziah. We are going down to greet the children of the king and the children of the queen.”

2 Chronicles 15:16

Also Maacah, the mother of Asa the king, he removed from being queen, because she had made an abominable image for an Asherah; so Asa cut down her image, ground it into dust, and burned it at the brook Kidron.

Jeremiah 13:18

Say to the king and to the queen mother, “Humble yourselves. Sit down, for your crowns have come down, even the crown of your glory.

Jeremiah 29:2

(after Jeconiah the king, the queen mother, the eunuchs, the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, the craftsmen, and the smiths, had departed from Jerusalem),