King

King (Heb. and Chald. מֶלֶך, me'lek, ruler; βασιγεύς), the most general term for an absolute, independent, and life-long sovereign.

1. Scriptural Applications of the Title. — In the Bible the name does not always imply the same degree of power or importance, neither does it indicate the magnitude of the dominion or territory of the national ruler thus designated (Ge 36:31). Many persons are called " kings" in Scripture whom we should rather denominate chiefs or leaders; and many single towns, or towns with their adjacent villages, are said to have kings. Hence we need not be surprised at seeing that so small a country as Canaan contained thirty-one kings who were conquered (Jos 12:9,24), besides many who no doubt escaped the arms of Joshua. Adonibezek himself, no very powerful king, mentions seventy kings whom he had subdued and mutilated (Jg 1:7; 1Ki 4:21; 1Ki 20:1,16). Even at the present day the heads of Arab tribes are often called " king," which in this case also means no more than sheik or chief. In like manner, in the New Test., owing to the peculiar political relations of the Jews, the title "king" has very different significations:

(1.) The Roman emperor (1Pe 2:13,17); and so the " seven kings" (Re 17:10) are perhaps the first seven Casars (comp. Thilo, Apocr. 579).