'King' in the Bible

Jesse of David--the King. David (by Uriah's widow)

Now after the birth of Jesus, which took place at Bethlehem in Judaea in the reign of King Herod, excitement was produced in Jerusalem by the arrival of certain Magi from the east,

inquiring, "Where is the newly born king of the Jews? For we have seen his Star in the east, and have come here to do him homage."

Reports of this soon reached the king, and greatly agitated not only him but all the people of Jerusalem.

After hearing what the king said, they went to Bethlehem, while, strange to say, the star they had seen in the east led them on until it came and stood over the place where the babe was.

nor by the earth, for it is the footstool under His feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the City of the Great King.

The king was deeply vexed, yet because of his repeated oath and of the guests at his table he ordered it to be given her,

"For this reason the Kingdom of the Heavens may be compared to a king who determined to have a settlement of accounts with his servants.

"Tell the Daughter of Zion, 'See, thy King is coming to thee, gentle, and yet mounted on an ass, even on a colt the foal of a beast of burden.'"

"The Kingdom of the Heavens," He said, "may be compared to a king who celebrated the marriage of his son,

"Now the king came in to see the guests; and among them he discovered one who was not wearing a wedding-robe.

"The man stood speechless. Then the king said to the servants, "'Bind him hand and foot and fling him into the darkness outside: there will be the weeping aloud and the gnashing of teeth.'

"Then the King will say to those at His right, "'Come, my Father's blessed ones, receive your inheritance of the Kingdom which has been divinely intended for you ever since the creation of the world.

"But the King will answer them, "'In solemn truth I tell you that in so far as you rendered such services to one of the humblest of these my brethren, you rendered them to myself.'

Meanwhile Jesus was brought before the Governor, and the latter put the question, "Are you the King of the Jews?" "I am their King," He answered.

They twisted a wreath of thorny twigs and put it on His head, and they put a sceptre of cane in His right hand, and kneeling to Him they shouted in mockery, "Long live the King of the Jews!"

Over His head they placed a written statement of the charge against Him: THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

"He saved others," they said, "himself he cannot save! He is the King of Israel! Let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe in him.

King Herod heard of all this (for the name of Jesus had become widely known)

The girl immediately came in, in haste, to the King and made her request. "My desire is," she said, "that you will give me, here and now, on a dish, the head of John the Baptist."

Then the King, though intensely sorry, yet for the sake of his oaths, and of his guests, would not break faith with her.

So Pilate questioned Him. "Are *you* the King of the Jews?" he asked. "I am," replied Jesus.

"Shall I release for you the King of the Jews?" answered Pilate.

and when Pilate again asked them, "What then shall I do to the man you call King of the Jews?"

and went on to salute Him with shouts of "Long live the King of the Jews."

Over His head was the notice in writing of the charge against Him: THE KING OF THE JEWS.

This Christ, the King of Israel, let him come down now from the cross, that we may see and believe." Even the men who were being crucified with Him heaped insults on Him.

There was in the time of Herod, the king of Judaea, a priest of the name of Zechariah, belonging to the class of Abijah. He had a wife who was a descendant of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.

and He will be King over the House of Jacob for the Ages, and of His Kingdom there will be no end."

Or what king, marching to encounter another king in war, does not first sit down and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand men to meet the one who is advancing against him with twenty thousand?

So He said to them, "A man of noble family travelled to a distant country to obtain the rank of king, and to return.

"Now his countrymen hated him, and sent a deputation after him to say, 'We are not willing that he should become our king.'

But as for those enemies of mine who were unwilling that I should become their king, bring them here, and cut them to pieces in my presence.'"

"Blessed is the King," they cried, "who comes in the name of the Lord: in Heaven peace, and glory in the highest realms."

"We have found this man," they said, "an agitator among our nation, forbidding the payment of tribute to Caesar, and claiming to be himself an anointed king."

Then Pilate asked Him, "You, then, are the King of the Jews?" "It is as you say," He replied.

"Are *you* the King of the Jews? Save yourself, then!"

There was moreover a writing over His head: THIS IS THE KING OF THE JEWS.

"Rabbi," cried Nathanael, "you are the Son of God, you are Israel's King!"

Perceiving, however, that they were about to come and carry Him off by force to make Him a king, Jesus withdrew again up the hill alone by Himself.

took branches of the palm trees and went out to meet Him, shouting as they went, "God save him! Blessings on him who comes in the name of the Lord--even on the King of Israel!"

"Fear not, Daughter of Zion! See, thy King is coming riding on an ass's colt."

Re-entering the Praetorium, therefore, Pilate called Jesus and asked Him, "Are *you* the King of the Jews?"

"So then *you* are a king!" rejoined Pilate. "Yes," said Jesus, "you say truly that I am a king. For this purpose I was born, and for this purpose I have come into the world--to give testimony for the truth. Every one who is a friend of the truth listens to my voice."

But you have a custom that I should release one prisoner to you at the Passover. So shall I release to you the King of the Jews?"

Then they began to march up to Him, saying in a mocking voice, "Hail King of the Jews!" And they struck Him with the palms of their hands.

Upon receiving this answer, Pilate was for releasing Him. But the Jews kept shouting, "If you release this man, you are no friend of Caesar's. Every one who sets himself up as king declares himself a rebel against Caesar."

It was the day of Preparation for the Passover, about six o'clock in the morning. Then he said to the Jews, "There is your king!"

This caused a storm of outcries, "Away with him! Away with him! Crucify him!" "Am I to crucify your king?" Pilate asked. "We have no king, except Caesar," answered the High Priests.

And Pilate wrote a notice and had it fastened to the top of the cross. It ran thus: JESUS THE NAZARENE, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

This led the Jewish High Priests to remonstrate with Pilate. "You should not write 'The King of the Jews,'" they said, "but that he claimed to be King of the Jews."

and delivered him from all his afflictions, and gave him favour and wisdom when he stood before Pharaoh, king of Egypt, who appointed him governor over Egypt and all the royal household.

until there arose a foreign king over Egypt who knew nothing of Joseph.

Now, about that time, King Herod arrested certain members of the Church, in order to ill-treat them;

Now the people of Tyre and Sidon had incurred Herod's violent displeasure. So they sent a large deputation to wait on him; and having secured the good will of Blastus, his treasurer, they begged the king to be friendly with them again, because their country was dependent on his for its food supply.

Next they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a Benjamite, who reigned forty years.

After removing him, He raised up David to be their king, to whom He also bore witness when He said, "'I have found David the son of Jesse, a man I love, who will obey all My commands.'

A short time after this, Agrippa the king and Bernice came to Caesarea to pay a complimentary visit to Festus;

and, during their rather long stay, Festus laid Paul's case before the king. "There is a man here," he said, "whom Felix left a prisoner,

Then Festus said, "King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see here the man about whom the whole nation of the Jews made suit to me, both in Jerusalem and here, crying out that he ought not to live any longer.

I have nothing very definite, however, to tell our Sovereign about him. So I have brought the man before you all--and especially before you, King Agrippa--that after he has been examined I may find something which I can put into writing.

"As regards all the accusations brought against me by the Jews," he said, "I think myself fortunate, King Agrippa, in being about to defend myself to-day before you,

"Therefore, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision;

For the King, to whom I speak freely, knows about these matters. I am not to be persuaded that any detail of them has escaped his notice; for these things have not been done in a corner.

King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you believe them."

So the King rose, and the Governor, and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them;

Yet Death reigned as king from Adam to Moses even over those who had not sinned, as Adam did, against Law. And in Adam we have a type of Him whose coming was still future.

Let not Sin therefore reign as king in your mortal bodies, causing you to be in subjection to their cravings;

For He must continue King until He shall have put all His enemies under His feet.

In Damascus the governor under King Aretas kept guards at the gates of the city in order to apprehend me,

Now to the immortal and invisible King of the Ages, who alone is God, be honour and glory to the Ages of the Ages! Amen.

For, as its appointed time, this will be brought about by the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

For this man, Melchizedek, King of Salem and priest of the Most High God--he who when Abraham was returning after defeating the kings met him and pronounced a blessing on him--

to whom also Abraham presented a tenth part of all--being first, as his name signifies, King of righteousness, and secondly King of Salem, that is, King of peace:

The locusts had a king over them--the angel of the bottomless pit, whose name in Hebrew is 'Abaddon,' while in the Greek he is called 'Apollyon.'

The seventh angel blew his trumpet; and there followed loud voices in Heaven which said, "The sovereignty of the world now belongs to our Lord and His Christ; and He will be King until the Ages of the Ages."

saying, "We give thee thanks, O Lord God, the Ruler of all, Who art and wast, because Thou hast exerted Thy power, Thy great power, and hast become King.

And they were singing the song of Moses, God's servant, and the song of the Lamb. Their words were, "Great and wonderful are Thy works, O Lord God, the Ruler of all. Righteous and true are Thy ways, O King of the nations.

And the Wild Beast which once existed but does not now exist--he is an eighth king and yet is one of the seven and he goes his way into perdition.

They will make war upon the Lamb, and the Lamb will triumph over them; for He is Lord of lords and King of kings. And those who accompany Him--called, as they are, and chosen, and faithful--shall share in the victory."

And I seemed to hear the voices of a great multitude and the sound of many waters and of loud peals of thunder, which said, "Hallelujah! Because the Lord our God, the Ruler of all, has become King.

And on His outer garment and on His thigh He has a name written, KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.