'King' in the Bible

Woe to you, O land, when your king is a child and when your [incompetent] officials and princes feast in the morning.

Blessed [prosperous and admired] are you, O land, when your king is a man of noble birth, and your princes and officials feast at the proper time—for strength and not for drunkenness.

Moreover, do not curse the king, even in your bedroom, and in your sleeping rooms do not curse the rich, for a bird of the air will carry the sound and a winged creature will make the matter known.

“Draw me away with you and let us run together!Let the king bring me into his chambers.”

(The Shulammite Bride)“While the king was at his table,My perfume (Solomon) sent forth [his] fragrance [surrounding me].

“King Solomon has made for himself a palanquinFrom the [cedar] wood of Lebanon.

“Go forth, O daughters of Zion,And gaze on King Solomon wearing the crownWith which his mother [Bathsheba] has crowned himOn the day of his wedding,On the day of his gladness of heart.”

(The Bridegroom)“You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling,As lovely as Jerusalem,As majestic as an army with banners!

“Your head crowns you like Mount Carmel,And the flowing hair of your head like purple threads;I, the king, am held captive by your tresses.

“How beautiful and how delightful you are,My love, with all your delights!

“Your stature is like that of a palm treeAnd your breasts like its clusters [of dates].

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw [in a vision] the Lord sitting on a throne, high and exalted, with the train of His royal robe filling the [most holy part of the] temple.

Then I said,“Woe is me! For I am ruined,Because I am a man of [ceremonially] unclean lips,And I live among a people of unclean lips;For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”

Now it came to pass in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah, king of Judah, that Rezin king of Aram (Syria) and Pekah the son of Remaliah, king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to wage war against it, but they could not conquer it.

Then the Lord said to Isaiah, “Go out to meet Ahaz [king of Judah], you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the aqueduct of the Upper Pool, on the highway to the Fuller’s Field;

and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, do not fear and be weak-hearted because of these two stumps of smoldering logs, on account of the fierce anger of [King] Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah (Pekah, usurper of the throne of Israel).

“Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it; and let us breach its wall and tear it apart [each of us taking a portion] and set up the son of Tabeel over it as its [puppet] king,”

For the head (capital) of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is [King] Rezin (now within sixty-five years Ephraim will be broken to pieces and will no longer be a people).

Then the Lord spoke again to [King] Ahaz, saying,

The Lord will bring on you, on your people, and on your father’s house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim (the ten northern tribes) separated from Judah—[He will call for] the king of Assyria.”

In that day [when foreign armies swarm the land] the Lord will shave with a razor, hired from the regions beyond the Euphrates (that is, with the king of Assyria), [that razor will shave] the head and the hair of the legs; and it will also remove the beard [leaving Judah stripped, shamed and scorned].

for before the boy knows how to say, ‘My father’ or ‘My mother,’ the riches of Damascus (Aram’s capital) and the spoil of Samaria (Israel’s capital) will be carried away by the king of Assyria.”

“Because these people (Judah) have refused the gently flowing waters of ShiloahAnd rejoice in Rezin [the king of Aram] and Remaliah’s son [Pekah the king of Israel],

Now therefore, listen carefully, the Lord is about to bring on them the waters of the [Euphrates] River, strong and abundant—The king of Assyria and all his glory;And it will rise over all its channels and canals and go far beyond its banks.

They [who consult mediums and soothsayers] will pass through the land deeply distressed and hungry, and when they are hungry, they will become enraged and will curse their king and their God as they look upward.

Therefore the Lord raises against Ephraim adversaries from Rezin [king of Aram]And spurs their enemies on,

So when the Lord has completed all His work [of judgment] on Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will say, “I will punish the fruit [the thoughts, the declarations, and the actions] of the arrogant heart of the king of Assyria and the haughtiness of his pride.”

For the Assyrian king has said,“I have done this by the power of my [own] hand and by my wisdom,For I have understanding and skill.I have removed the boundaries of the peoplesAnd have plundered their treasures;Like a bull I have brought down those who sat on thrones.

Therefore, the Lord God of hosts says this, “O My people who dwell in Zion, do not be afraid of the Assyrian who strikes you with a rod and lifts up his staff against you, as [the king of] Egypt did.

They have gone through the pass, saying,“Geba will be our lodging place for the night.”Ramah trembles, and Gibeah [the city] of Saul has fled.

that you will take up this taunt against the king of Babylon, and say,“How the oppressor has ceased [his insolence],And how the fury has ceased!

“How you have fallen from heaven,O star of the morning [light-bringer], son of the dawn!You have been cut down to the ground,You who have weakened the nations [king of Babylon]!

In the year that King Ahaz [of Judah] died this [mournful, inspired] oracle (a burden to be carried) came:

“Do not rejoice, O Philistia, any of you,Because the rod [of Judah] that struck you is broken;For out of the serpent’s root will come a viper [King Hezekiah of Judah],And its offspring will be a flying serpent.

Send lambs to the ruler of the land [you Moabites],From Sela [that is, Petra in Edom] through the wilderness to the mountain of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem).

[Say to the ruler] “Give us advice, make a decision [for Moab, king of Judah];Cast your shadow [over us] like night in the midst of noon;Hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive [to his pursuer].

“And I will hand over the Egyptians to a hard and cruel master,And a mighty king will rule over them,” declares the Lord God of hosts.

In the year that the Tartan [the Assyrian commander in chief] came to Ashdod [in Philistia], when Sargon king of Assyria sent him and he fought against Ashdod and captured it,

in the same way the king of Assyria will lead away the Egyptian captives and the Cushite exiles, young and old, stripped and barefoot, even with buttocks uncovered—to the shame of Egypt.

So the inhabitants of this coastland [the Israelites and their neighbors] will say in that day, ‘Look what has happened to those in whom we hoped and trusted and to whom we fled for help to be spared from the king of Assyria! But we, how will we escape [captivity and exile]?’”

My mind reels, horror overwhelms me;The twilight I longed for has been turned into fear and trembling for me.

For the Lord God of hosts says this, “Go to this [contemptible] steward,To Shebna, who is in charge of the royal household [but is building himself a tomb worthy of a king, and say to him],

For Topheth [in Hinnom] has long been ready;Indeed, it has been prepared for the [Assyrian] king.He has made it deep and wide,A pit of fire with plenty of wood;The breath of the Lord, like a river of brimstone (blazing sulfur), kindles and fans it.

Behold, a King will reign in righteousness,And princes will rule with justice.

Your eyes will see the King in His beauty;They will see a far-distant land.

For the Lord is our Judge,The Lord is our Ruler,The Lord is our King;He will save us.

Now in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and conquered them.

And the king of Assyria sent the Rabshakeh [his military commander] from Lachish [the Judean fortress commanding the road from Egypt] to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem with a large army. And he stood by the canal of the Upper Pool on the highway to the Fuller’s Field.

Then the Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king, the king of Assyria says, “What is [the reason for] this confidence that you have?

Listen carefully, you rely on the staff of this broken reed, Egypt, which will pierce the hand of any man who leans on it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who rely on him.

So now, exchange pledges with my master the king of Assyria and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them.

Then the Rabshakeh stood and called out with a loud voice in Judean (Hebrew): “Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria.

This is what the king says, ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to rescue you;

nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, “The Lord will most certainly rescue us; this city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

Do not listen to Hezekiah,’ for this is what the king of Assyria says, ‘Make peace with me and come out to me, and each one of you will eat from his own vine and each from his own fig tree and each [one of you] drink from the water of his own cistern,

Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you by saying, “The Lord will rescue us.” Has any one of the gods of the nations [ever] rescued his land from the hand of the king of Assyria?

And when King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the Lord.

It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh [the commander], whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to taunt and defy the living God, and will avenge the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant [of His people] that is left.’”

So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah.

Isaiah said to them, “You shall say the following to your master: ‘This is what the Lord says, “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.

So the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah [a fortified city of Judah], for he had heard that the king had left Lachish.

And Sennacherib king of Assyria, heard them say concerning Tirhakah king of Cush (Ethiopia), “He has come out to fight against you.” And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,

“You shall say to Hezekiah king of Judah, ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.”

Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad [of northern Syria], the king of the city of Sepharvaim, [the king of] Hena, or [the king of] Ivvah?’”

Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent word to Hezekiah, saying, “For the Lord, the God of Israel says this, ‘Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria,

“Have you not heard [says the God of Israel]That I did it long ago,That I planned it in ancient times?Now I have brought it to pass,That you [king of Assyria] would [be My instrument to] turn fortified cities into ruinous heaps.

“Therefore, the Lord says this concerning the king of Assyria, ‘He will not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with shield, or raise an assault ramp against it.

So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned and lived at Nineveh.

In those days Hezekiah [king of Judah] became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, “For the Lord says this, ‘Set your house in order and prepare a will, for you shall die; you will not live.’”

I will rescue you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city [Jerusalem].”’

This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after he had been sick and had recovered from his illness:

At that time Merodach-baladan son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent [messengers with] letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he had heard that he had been sick and had recovered.

Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and asked, “What did these men say? From where have they come to you?” And Hezekiah said, “They came to me from a far country, from Babylon.”

‘And some of your own sons (descendants) who will come from you, whom you will father, will be taken away, and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.’”

“Present your case [for idols made by men’s hands],” says the Lord.“Produce your evidence [of divinity],”Says the king of Jacob.

“I am the Lord, your Holy One,The Creator of Israel, your King.”

“For the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts says this,‘I am the First and I am the Last;And there is no God besides Me.

“You have gone to the king [of a pagan land] with oilAnd increased your perfumes;You have sent your messengers a great distanceAnd made them go down to Sheol (the realm of the dead).

to whom the word of the Lord came during the thirteenth year (627 b.c.) of the reign of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.

It came [to Jeremiah] also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah, [continuing] until the end of the eleventh year of Zedekiah the son of Josiah, king of Judah, [and continuing] until the exile of [the people of] Jerusalem in the fifth month (July-August, 586 b.c.).

Moreover, the Lord said to me in the days of Josiah the king [of Judah], “Have you seen what that faithless Israel has done—how she went up on every high hill and under every green tree, and there she was a prostitute?

Yet in spite of all this her treacherous sister Judah did not return to Me with her whole heart, but rather in [blatant] deception [she merely pretended obedience to King Josiah’s reforms],” declares the Lord.

“It shall come about in that day,” says the Lord, “that the heart and courage of the king will fail (be paralyzed), and also the heart of the princes; the priests will be appalled and the prophets will be astounded and horrified.”

Behold, [hear the sound of] the cry of the daughter of my people from the distant land [of Babylon]:“Is not the Lord in Zion? Is not her King within her?”[But the Lord answers] “Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images and with foreign idols?”

Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?For it is appropriate and it is Your due!For among all the wise men of the nationsAnd in all their kingdoms,There is none like You.

But the Lord is the true God and the God who is Truth;He is the living God and the everlasting King.The earth quakes and shudders at His wrath,And the nations are not able to endure His indignation.

Say to the king and the queen mother,“Humble yourselves and take a lowly seat,For your beautiful crown [the crown of your glory]Has come down from your head.”

I will make them an object of horror to all nations of the earth because of Manasseh [the despicable] son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for the [evil and detestable] things which he did in Jerusalem.

Then [my enemies] said, “Come and let us work out schemes against Jeremiah. Surely the law is not going to be lost to the priest [as Jeremiah predicts], nor the counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come and let us strike him with our tongue [by making charges against him before the king], and let us ignore anything he says.”

For thus says the Lord, ‘Behold, I will make you a terror to yourself and to all your friends; they will fall by the sword of their enemies while you look on. And I will give all Judah into the hand of the king of Babylon; he will carry them away to Babylon as captives and will slaughter them with the sword.

The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord when King Zedekiah sent to him Pashhur the son of Malchijah, and Zephaniah the priest the son of Maaseiah, saying,

“Please inquire of the Lord for us, because Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal [favorably] with us according to all His wonderful works and force him to withdraw from us.”

‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Behold, I will turn back and dull the edge of the weapons of war that are in your hands, [those] with which you fight against the king of Babylon and the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls; and I will bring them into the center of this city (Jerusalem).

Then afterward,” says the Lord, “I will hand over Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the virulent disease, the sword, and the famine, to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of their enemy, into the hand of those who seek their lives. And he will strike them with the edge of the sword; he will not spare them nor have mercy and compassion on them.”’

For I have set My face against this city to do harm and not good,” says the Lord. “It shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon and he will burn it with fire.”’

“And concerning the royal house of the king of Judah [you shall say], ‘Hear the word of the Lord,

Thus says the Lord, “Go down to the house of the king of Judah and speak this word there:

‘Hear the word of the Lord, O king of Judah, you who sit on the throne of David—you and your servants and your people who enter by these gates.

For thus says the Lord in regard to the house of the king of Judah:“You are [as valuable] to Me as [the green pastures of] Gilead [east of the Jordan]Or as the [plentiful] summit of Lebanon [west of the Jordan],Yet most certainly [if you will not listen to Me] I will make you a wilderness,And uninhabited cities.

For thus says the Lord in regard to Shallum (Jehoahaz) the [third] son of Josiah, king of Judah, who reigned instead of Josiah his father and who went from this place, “Shallum will not return here anymore;