H4428 — מֶלֶךְ (melek)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: H4428
Original: מֶלֶךְ
Transliteration: melek
Pronunciation: meh-lek
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: From H4427 מָלַךְ (malak) — to reign
Occurrences: 1,919 unique verses (2,564 tokens) in OT
Books: 35
First Occurrence: Gen 14:1 — "Amraphel king of Shinar..."
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A king:—king, royal.

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
the king	790	41.2%
king	494	25.7%
the king's	215	11.2%
of the king	98	5.1%
of the kings	70	3.6%
kings	64	3.3%
the kings	64	3.3%
a king	28	1.5%
O king	22	1.1%
to/unto the king	40	2.1%
royal	2	0.1%
Other bound forms	132	6.9%

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Esther	119	71.3
2 Kings	268	37.3
2 Samuel	204	29.4
1 Kings	231	28.3
2 Chronicles	218	26.5
Jeremiah	211	15.5
Daniel	40	11.2
Joshua	62	9.4
1 Samuel	75	9.3
Ezra	25	8.9
Hosea	16	8.1
Nehemiah	29	7.1
1 Chronicles	60	6.4
Isaiah	71	5.5
Ezekiel	31	2.4
Other books	503	varies

Highest density is in court/narrative books, especially Esther and Kings. Prophetic books use the word in historical superscriptions, foreign-king references, royal-oracle contexts, and divine/royal title language.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Named Rulers of Nations and Cities¶

Gen 14:1-2 — multiple city/region kings are named in the opening war list.
Exo 1:8 — "a new king over Egypt."
Jos 2:2-3 — "the king of Jericho" receives a report and sends orders.

2. Israelite and Judahite Royal Office¶

1Sa 8:5-6 — Israel asks for "a king to judge us."
2Sa 2:4 — David is anointed "king over the house of Judah."
1Ki 1:1 — "king David was old."

3. Royal Court, Possession, Command, and Speech¶

Est 1:2 — Ahasuerus sits "on the throne of his kingdom."
Dan 1:3 — "the king spake unto Ashpenaz."
Jon 3:6-7 — the king of Nineveh rises from his throne and issues a decree.

4. Plural Kings and International Power¶

Gen 14:5 — "the kings that were with him."
Psa 2:2 — "The kings of the earth set themselves..." (listed in Strong's output though KJV line lookup was unavailable).
Hab 1:10 — "they shall scoff at the kings."

5. Divine Kingship / Elevated Royal Title¶

Psa 5:2 — "my King, and my God."
Isa 6:5 — "mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts."
Zep 3:15 — "the king of Israel, even the LORD."

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
אָמַר (amar)	H559	614x	royal speech, commands, reports
יְהֹוָה (YHWH)	H3068	441x	kings in relation to YHWH, Israel/Judah narratives
בֵּן (ben)	H1121	400x	"son of..." dynastic and genealogical formulas
יִשְׂרָאֵל (Israel)	H3478	391x	kings of/over Israel
יְהוּדָה (Judah)	H3063	273x	kings of Judah, Judahite monarchy
בַּיִת (bayith)	H1004	253x	royal house, house of David, palace/temple contexts
דָּבָר (dabar)	H1697	252x	word/matter brought to or from the king
יָד (yad)	H3027	203x	hand/power of a king
אֶרֶץ (erets)	H776	192x	king of a land/country
אִישׁ (ish)	H376	182x	men/servants before a king

Word Family / Cognates¶

H4427 מָלַךְ (malak) — to reign, become king, rule.
H4410 מְלוּכָה (melukah) — royalty, reign, kingdom/rule.
H4438 מַלְכוּת (malkuth) — kingdom, reign, royal power.
H4430 מֶלֶךְ (melek, Aramaic) — Aramaic counterpart for "king."

Leadership Terms¶

H5057 נָגִיד (nagiyd) — commander, leader, prince/ruler; a publicly designated leader or office-holder.
H8269 שַׂר (sar) — prince, captain, chief, official.
H5387 נָשִׂיא (nasi) — prince, chief, lifted/appointed leader.

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
מֶלֶךְ (melek, Aramaic)	H4430	king, the king, O king	Aramaic counterpart in Aramaic sections; file prefix should be A when studied canonically.
מָלַךְ (malak)	H4427	king	Verb "to reign/be king"; H4428 is the noun/title.
βασιλεύς (basileus)	G935	king, kings	Greek equivalent in LXX/NT, not a Hebrew term.
מְלוּכָה (melukah)	H4410	king's	Abstract/realm/reign vocabulary, not the person/title.

Semantic Domains¶

[001002007005] Leaders — includes ruler/leader terms.
[003001007] Names of People — proper-name/person overlap in lexical database.
[003001004] Names of Deities — includes some deity-name compounds and divine-title usage.

LXX Mapping¶

Greek Equivalent	Co-occurrences	PMI	Notes
βασιλεύς (basileus) G935	1749	3.42	Dominant noun equivalent for "king."
βασιλεύω (basileuo) G936	97	2.13	Verbal royal/reign bridge.
βασίλισσα (basilissa) G938	23	3.03	Related royal feminine term in mapped contexts.
Βαβυλών (Babylon) G897	119	2.70	Co-occurs heavily in "king of Babylon" contexts.