'Princes' in the Bible

Pharaoh’s princes (officials) also saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken [for the purpose of marriage] into Pharaoh’s house (harem).

As for Ishmael, I have heard and listened to you; behold, I will bless him, and will make him fruitful and will greatly multiply him [through his descendants]. He will be the father of twelve princes (chieftains, sheiks), and I will make him a great nation.

These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their settlements, and by their encampments (sheepfolds); twelve princes (sheiks) according to their tribes.

Then the leaders of Israel, the heads of their fathers’ households, made offerings. (These were the leaders of the tribes; they were the ones who were over the men who were numbered.)

They brought their offering before the Lord, six covered carts and twelve oxen; a cart for each two of the leaders and an ox for each one; and they presented them before the tabernacle.

The leaders offered the dedication sacrifices for the altar on the day that it was anointed; and they offered their sacrifice before the altar.

However, if a single trumpet is blown, then the leaders, heads of the tribes of Israel, shall gather themselves to you.

and they rose up [in rebellion] before Moses, together with some of the Israelites, two hundred and fifty leaders of the congregation chosen in the assembly, men of distinction.

The well which the leaders dug,Which the nobles of the people hollowed outWith the scepter and with their staffs.”And from the wilderness Israel journeyed to Mattanah,

Balaam said to them, “Spend the night here and I will bring word back to you as the Lord may speak to me.” So the leaders of Moab stayed with Balaam [that night].

Balaam got up in the morning, and said to the leaders of Balak, “Go back to your own land [of Moab], for the Lord has refused to let me go with you.”

The leaders of Moab arose and went to Balak, and said, “Balaam refused to come with us.”

Then Balak again sent leaders, more numerous and [men who were] more distinguished than the first ones.

So Balaam got up in the morning and saddled his donkey and went with the leaders of Moab.

The Angel of the Lord said to Balaam, “Go with the men, but you shall speak only what I tell you.” So Balaam went along with the leaders of Balak.

Balak sacrificed oxen and sheep, and sent some to Balaam and to the leaders who were with him.

Balaam returned to Balak, and behold, he was standing by his burnt sacrifice, he and all the leaders of Moab.

When Balaam returned to Balak, he was standing beside his burnt offering, and the leaders of Moab were with him. And Balak said to him, “What has the Lord spoken?”

Moses and Eleazar the priest and all the leaders of the congregation went out to meet them outside the camp.

even all the cities of the plain and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses struck down along with the leaders of Midian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who lived in the land.

“Hear, O kings; listen, O rulers!I will sing to the Lord,I will sing praise to the Lord, the God of Israel.

“And the heads of Issachar came with Deborah;As Issachar, so was Barak;Into the valley they rushed at his heels;Among the divisions of ReubenThere were great searchings of heart.

Then the men of Ephraim took the two leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb, and they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and they killed Zeeb at the wine press of Zeeb, and pursued Midian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon from across the Jordan.

God has given the leaders of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb into your hands; and what was I able to do in comparison with you?” Then their anger toward him subsided when he made this statement.

But the leaders of Succoth said, “Are Zebah and Zalmunna already in your hands, that we should give bread to your army?”

Now the house was full of men and women; all the Philistine lords were there, and on the flat roof were about three thousand men and women who looked on while Samson was entertaining them.

And Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” And he stretched out with all his might [collapsing the support pillars], and the house fell on the lords and on all the people who were in it. So the dead whom he killed at his death were more than those whom he had killed during his life.

Then the Philistine commanders (princes) came out to battle, and it happened as often as they did, that David acted more wisely and had more success than all Saul’s servants. So his name was highly esteemed.

the Philistine commanders [having noticed David] said, “What are these Hebrews doing here?” Achish said to the Philistine commanders, “Is this not David, the servant of Saul king of Israel, who has been with me these days and years, and I have found no fault in him from the day he deserted to me to this day?”

But the Philistine commanders were angry with Achish and they said to him, “Make this man return, so that he may go back to his place where you have assigned him, and do not let him go down to battle with us, or in the battle he may [turn and] become our adversary. For how could David reconcile himself to his lord [Saul]? Would it not be with the heads of these [Philistine] men?

Achish answered David, “I know that you are blameless in my sight, like an angel of God; nevertheless the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us to the battle.’

But the princes of the Ammonites [were suspicious and] said to Hanun their lord, “Do you think that David is honoring your father because he has sent comforters to you? Has David not sent his servants to you in order to search the city, to spy it out and overthrow it?”

For you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have shown today that commanders and servants are nothing to you; for today I know that if Absalom had lived and all the rest of us had died today, then you would be pleased.

Jehu met the relatives of Ahaziah king of Judah and said, “Who are you?” They answered, “We are the relatives of Ahaziah; and we came down to greet the royal princes and the sons of the queen mother [Jezebel].”

Jehoiachin king of Judah surrendered to the king of Babylon, he and his mother and his servants and his captains and his [palace] officials. So the king of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his [own] reign.

He led away into exile all Jerusalem and all the captains and all the brave men, ten thousand captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained except the poorest people of the land.

these mentioned by name were leaders in their families; and their fathers’ houses increased greatly [so they needed more land].

All these were sons (descendants) of Asher, heads of their fathers’ houses, choice men, courageous men, chiefs of the leaders. Their number, enrolled by genealogies for service in war, was 26,000 men.

But the leaders of the Ammonites said to Hanun, “Do you think that David has sent people to console and comfort you because he honors your father? Have his servants not come to you to search and to overthrow and to spy out the land?”

David also commanded all the leaders of Israel to help Solomon his son, saying,

Shemaiah, the son of Nethanel the scribe, from the Levites, recorded them in the presence of the king, the officers, Zadok the priest, Ahimelech the son of Abiathar [the priest who escaped Saul’s massacre at Nob], and the heads of the fathers’ households of the priests and of the Levites; one father’s household taken for Eleazar and one taken for Ithamar.

Then the rulers of the fathers’ households, and leaders of the tribes of Israel, and the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, with the overseers of the king’s work, offered willingly

Then Shemaiah the prophet came to Rehoboam and the leaders of Judah who had gathered at Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said to them, “Thus says the Lord: ‘You have abandoned (turned away from) Me, so I have abandoned you into the hands of Shishak.’”

Then the leaders of Israel and the king humbled themselves and said, “The Lord is righteous.”

Then in the third year of his reign he sent his officials, Ben-hail, Obadiah, Zechariah, Nethanel, and Micaiah, to teach in the cities of Judah;

When Jehoram had ascended over the kingdom of his father and made himself secure, he killed all his brothers with the sword [to eliminate any rivals], and some of the leaders of Israel as well.

It came about that when Jehu was executing judgment on the house of Ahab, he found the leaders of Judah and the sons of Ahaziah’s [murdered] brothers ministering to Ahaziah, and he killed them.

All the officers and all the people rejoiced and brought their tax and dropped it into the chest until they had finished [and the chest was full].

Now after the death of Jehoiada [the priest, who had hidden Joash], the officials of Judah came and bowed down to King Joash; then the king listened to them.

Now it happened at the end of the year, that the army of Aram (Syria) went up against Joash. They came to Judah and Jerusalem and killed all the leaders among the people and sent all their spoil to the king of Damascus.

So the armed men [of Israel] left the captives and the spoil [of Judah] before the officers and all the assembly.

Although Ahaz took a portion [of treasure] from the house of the Lord and from the house (palace) of the king and from the leaders, and gave it [as tribute] to the king of Assyria, it did not help Ahaz.

Also King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to exclaim praises to the Lord with the words of David and of Asaph the seer. And they exclaimed praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.

For the king and his officials and all the assembly in Jerusalem had decided to celebrate the Passover in the second month,

So the runners went throughout Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his officials, in accordance with the command of the king, saying, “O sons (descendants) of Israel, return to the Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel (Jacob), so that He will return to those of you who escaped and are left from the hand (power) of the kings of Assyria.

Also the hand of God was on Judah to give them one heart to do that which the king and the officials had commanded by the word of the Lord.

For Hezekiah king of Judah gave to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep, and the officials gave the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep. And a large number of priests consecrated themselves [for service].

When Hezekiah and the rulers came and saw the heaps, they blessed the Lord and His people Israel.

And so in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who were sent to him to inquire about the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, in order to know everything that was in his heart.

His officers also contributed a voluntary offering to the people, the priests and the Levites. Hilkiah, Zechariah, and Jehiel, the officials of the house of God, gave to the priests for the Passover offerings 2,600 from the flocks [of lambs and young goats], and 300 bulls.

And as for all the articles of the house of God, great and small, and the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king and of his officials, he brought them all to Babylon.

“Now therefore, our God, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who keeps the covenant and lovingkindness,Do not let all the hardship seem insignificant before You,Which has come upon us, our kings, our princes, our priests, our prophets, our fathers and on all Your people,Since the time of the kings of Assyria to this day.

Our kings, our princes, our priests, and our fathers have not kept Your lawOr paid attention to Your commandments and Your warnings which You have given them.

“Now because of all thisWe are making an agreement in writing;And on the sealed document are the names of our princes, our Levites, and our priests.”

Then I had the leaders of Judah come up on the wall, and I appointed two large thanksgiving choirs, the first one proceeding to the right on top of the wall toward the Refuse Gate.

Hoshaiah and half of the leaders of Judah followed them,

in the third year of his reign he held a banquet for all his officials and his attendants. The army officers of Persia and Media, the nobles and the officials of the provinces were there in his presence.

to bring Queen Vashti before the king, wearing her royal crown (high turban), to display her beauty before the people and the officials, for she was lovely to see.

and who were close to him [as advisors]: Carshena, Shethar, Admatha, Tarshish, Meres, Marsena, and Memucan, the seven officials of Persia and Media who had access to the king and were ranked highest in the kingdom.

And Memucan answered in the presence of the king and the officials, “Vashti the queen has not only wronged the king but [also] all the officials (royal representatives) and all the peoples who are in all the provinces of King Ahasuerus.

This [very] day the ladies of Persia and Media who have heard of the queen’s refusal will speak [in the same way] to all the king’s officials, and there will be plenty of contempt and anger.

This statement (advice) pleased the king and the officials, and the king did what Memucan proposed.

Then the king held a great banquet, Esther’s banquet, for all his officials and his servants; and he made a festival for the provinces and gave gifts in accordance with the resources of the king.

After these things King Ahasuerus (Xerxes) promoted Haman, the son of Hammedatha the Agagite, and advanced him and established his authority over all the officials who were with him.

Then the king’s scribes (secretaries) were summoned on the thirteenth day of the first month, and it was written just as Haman commanded to the king’s satraps (chief rulers), and to the governors who were over each province and to the officials of each people, each province according to its script (writing), each people according to their own language; being written in the name of King Ahasuerus and sealed with the king’s signet ring.

Then Haman recounted to them the glory of his riches, the large number of his sons, and every instance in which the king had magnified him and how he had promoted him over the officials and servants of the king.

and let the robe and the horse be handed over to one of the king’s most noble officials. Let him dress the man whom the king delights to honor [in the royal robe] and lead him on horseback through the open square of the city, and proclaim before him, ‘This is what shall be done for the man whom the king desires to honor.’”

So the king’s scribes were called at that time in the third month (that is, the month of Sivan) on the twenty-third day; and it was written in accordance with everything that Mordecai commanded, to the Jews, to the chief rulers (satraps), and the governors and officials of the provinces which extended from India to Ethiopia (Cush), 127 provinces, to every province in its own script (writing), and to every people in their own language and to the Jews according to their script and their language.

Even all the officials of the provinces and the chief rulers (satraps) and the governors and those who attended to the king’s business supported the Jews [in defeating their enemies], because the fear of Mordecai [and his God’s power] had fallen on them.

Or with princes who had gold,Who filled their houses with silver.

“He pours contempt on princes and noblesAnd loosens the belt of the strong [disabling them].

The princes stopped talkingAnd put their hands on their mouths;

“God who says to a king, ‘You are worthless and vile,’Or to princes and nobles, ‘You are wicked and evil’?

“Who is not partial to princes,Nor does He regard the rich above the poor,For they all are the work of His hands.

In place of your fathers will be your sons;You shall make princes in all the land.

The princes of the people have gathered together as the people of the God of Abraham,For the shields of the earth belong to God;He is highly exalted.

The youngest is there, Benjamin, ruling them,The princes of Judah and their company [the southern tribes],The princes of Zebulun and the princes of Naphtali [the northern tribes].

Princes and envoys shall come from Egypt;Ethiopia will quickly stretch out her hands [with the offerings of submission] to God.

He will cut off the spirit of princes;He is awesome and feared by the kings of the earth.

“Nevertheless you will die like menAnd fall like any one of the princes.”

Make their nobles like Oreb and ZeebAnd all their princes like Zebah and Zalmunna,

To imprison his princes at his will,That he might teach his elders wisdom.

He pours contempt on princesAnd makes them wander in a pathless wasteland.

That He may seat them with princes,With the princes of His people.

It is better to take refuge in the LordThan to trust in princes.

Even though princes sit and talk to one another against me,Your servant meditates on Your statutes.

Shin.Princes persecute me without cause,But my heart stands in [reverent] awe of Your words [so I can expect You to help me].

Do not trust in princes,In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation (help).

Kings of the earth and all people;Princes and all judges of the earth;

“By me princes rule, and nobles,All who judge and govern rightly.