Word study
Royal
8 Hebrew and 2 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with “royal”. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “royal” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- מֶלֶךְ melekkingtranslated this way 62 times of its 2,416 uses · Strong’s H4428Noun · Translated: king 1,810, kings 267, king's 134, royal 58Full study and all 1,901 verses →
Genesis 49:20 Asher’s food will be rich; he shall provide royal delicacies.
2 Samuel 14:26 And when he cut the hair of his head— he shaved it every year because his hair got so heavy— he would weigh it out to be two hundred shekels, according to the royal standard.
- מַלְכוּת malkûthroyalty, royal power, reign, kingdomtranslated this way 18 times of its 88 uses · Strong’s H4438Noun · Translated: kingdom 46, reign 20, royal 17, kingdoms 2Full study and all 80 verses →
1 Chronicles 29:25 The LORD highly exalted Solomon in the sight of all Israel and bestowed on him royal majesty such as had not been bestowed on any king in Israel before him.
2 Chronicles 2:1 Now Solomon purposed to build a house for the Name of the LORD and a royal palace for himself.
- מַמְלָכָה mamlâkâhkingdom, sovereignty, dominion, reigntranslated this way 8 times of its 117 uses · Strong’s H4467Noun · Translated: kingdom 51, kingdoms 42, royal 8, kings 2Full study and all 113 verses →
Deuteronomy 17:18 When he is seated on his royal throne, he must write for himself a copy of this instruction on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests.
Joshua 10:2 So Adoni-zedek and his people were greatly alarmed, because Gibeon was a great city, like one of the royal cities; it was larger than Ai, and all its men were mighty.
- מֶלֶךְ melekkingtranslated this way 8 times of its 166 uses · Strong’s H4430Noun · Translated: king 133, kings 12, royal 8, king's 5Full study and all 127 verses →
Ezra 4:13 Let it now be known to the king that if that city is rebuilt and its walls are restored, they will not pay tribute, duty, or toll, and the royal treasury will suffer.
Daniel 3:27 and when the satraps, prefects, governors, and royal advisers had gathered around, they saw that the fire had no effect on the bodies of these men. Not a hair of their heads was singed, their robes were unaffected, and there was no smell of fire on them.
- מְלוּכָה melûkâhkingship, royaltytranslated this way 7 times of its 24 uses · Strong’s H4410Noun · Translated: kingship 6, kingdom 6, royal 6Full study and all 23 verses →
2 Samuel 12:26 Meanwhile, Joab fought against Rabbah of the Ammonites and captured the royal fortress.
1 Kings 1:46 Moreover, Solomon has taken his seat on the royal throne.
- בֶּגֶד begedtreacherytranslated this way 4 times of its 213 uses · Strong’s H899Noun · Translated: clothes 76, garments 61, clothing 16, garment 13Full study and all 189 verses →
1 Kings 22:10 Dressed in royal attire, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.
2 Chronicles 18:9 Dressed in royal attire, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them.
- מַלְכוּ malkûroyalty, reign, kingdomtranslated this way 3 times of its 54 uses · Strong’s H4437Noun · Translated: kingdom 35, reign 4, sovereignty 3, royal 3Full study and all 42 verses →
Daniel 4:30 the king exclaimed, “Is this not Babylon the Great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the glory of my majesty?”
Daniel 5:20 But when his heart became arrogant and his spirit was hardened with pride, he was deposed from his royal throne, and his glory was taken from him.
- אֲחַשְׁתָּרָן ăchashtârânroyaltranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s H327Noun · Translated: royal 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Esther 8:10 Mordecai wrote in the name of King Xerxes and sealed it with the royal signet ring. He sent the documents by mounted couriers riding on swift horses bred from the royal mares.
Esther 8:14 The couriers rode out in haste on their royal horses, pressed on by the command of the king. And the edict was also issued in the citadel of Susa.
Greek words (New Testament)
- βασιλικός basilikósconnected with a king, royal, regaltranslated this way 3 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G937Adjective · Translated: royal 2, royal official 1, official 1, king's 1Full study and all 5 verses →
John 4:46 So once again He came to Cana in Galilee, where He had turned the water into wine. And there was a royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.
Acts 12:21 On the appointed day, Herod donned his royal robes, sat on his throne, and addressed the people.
- διάδημα diádēmaa head-wreath, crowntranslated this way 3 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G1238Noun · Translated: royal crowns 3Full study and all 3 verses →
Revelation 12:3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: a huge red dragon with seven heads, ten horns, and seven royal crowns on his heads.
Revelation 13:1 Then I saw a beast with ten horns and seven heads rising out of the sea. There were ten royal crowns on its horns and blasphemous names on its heads.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.