כִּסֵּא, H3678
A seat of honor or throne; the royal or divine seat of authority, and by extension any seat of dignity or judgment.
Kisse is the Hebrew Bible's word for the seat where power resides. In its overwhelming majority of occurrences, it designates the royal throne — of David, Solomon, Pharaoh, or God himself — and with it the authority, dynasty, and legitimacy that the throne represents. 'Your throne, O God, is forever and ever' (Ps 45:6) and 'I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever' (2 Sam 7:13) show how kisse became a metonym for kingship itself. The word's Semitic cognates are striking: Aramaic kurseyya, Arabic kursiyy, and Akkadian kussu all descend from the same root, and the Arabic form survives in Quran 2:255 as God's cosmic throne (al-Kursi). Yet the word also has a humbler side — Eli sits on his kisse by the doorpost of the tabernacle (1 Sam 1:9), and the Shunammite woman sets a kisse in the prophet's room (2 Kgs 4:10) — reminding us that every throne is, at bottom, a chair.
3. thrones as seats of authority — Thrones in the plural representing multiple seats of ruling or judicial authority — 4 occurrences. In Psalm 122:5 'there thrones for judgment were set, the thrones of the house of David' — the plural kis'ot evokes a judicial bench or council of rulers. In Isaiah 14:9 the shades of dead kings rise from their thrones in Sheol; in Ezekiel 26:16 the princes of the sea descend from their thrones. Spanish tronos, German Throne, and French trones all preserve the plural. The sense is not merely 'more than one throne' but thrones as institutional seats of collective or subordinate authority, distinct from the singular royal throne of sense 1. 4×
AR["كَراسيّ","كُرُسِيِّهِمْ","مِنْ-عُرُوشِهِمْ"]·ben["তাদের-সিংহাসন-থেকে","তাদের-সিংহাসনগুলি","সিংহাসনসমূহ"]·DE["Thron"]·EN["from-their-thrones","their-thrones","thrones"]·FR["comme-trône","trône"]·heb["כיסאות","כיסאותם","מ-כיסאותם"]·HI["उनके-सिंहासनों-से","सिंहासन"]·ID["dari-takhta-takhta-mereka","takhta-takhta","takhta-takhta-mereka"]·IT["trono"]·jav["dhampar-dhampar","dhampar-dhamparipun-sedaya","saking-dhamparipun"]·KO["그들의-보좌들-에서","보좌들-이","보좌들을-그들의"]·PT["de-seus-tronos","seus-tronos","tronos"]·RU["престолов-своих","престолы","с-престолов-их"]·ES["de-sus-tronos","sus-tronos","tronos"]·SW["kutoka-viti-vyao","viti-vya-enzi","viti-vyao-vya-enzi"]·TR["-den-tahtlarindan","tahtları","tahtlarının"]·urd["اُن-کے-تختوں-سے","تخت","تختوں-اپنے"]
▼ 2 more senses below
Senses
1. royal throne — The royal or divine throne — 125 occurrences, the dominant sense by far. This covers the thrones of Israelite and foreign kings (Exod 11:5; Deut 17:18; 2 Sam 3:10), the throne of God (Ps 45:6; Ps 93:2; Isa 6:1), and the throne as metonym for dynastic rule ('I will establish his throne forever,' 2 Sam 7:13). Spanish trono, French trone, German Thron, and Korean 왕좌/보좌 all select explicitly royal-authority vocabulary. The theological density is enormous: God's throne is in heaven (Ps 11:4), righteousness and justice are its foundation (Ps 89:14), and the promise of an eternal Davidic throne runs through the Prophets into the New Testament. 125×
AR["عَرْشَ","عَرْشِ","كُرسِيَّ","كُرْسِيَّ","كُرْسِيِّ"]·ben["সিংহাসন","সিংহাসনগুলির","সিংহাসনে"]·DE["Thron","Thron-von","der-Thron-von","throne-von"]·EN["the-throne-of","throne-of"]·FR["le-trône-de","throne-de","trône","trône-de"]·heb["כִּסֵּא","כיסא","כסא"]·HI["किस्से","गद्दी","सिंहासन"]·ID["-takhta","takhta"]·IT["il-trono-di","throne-di","trono","trono-di"]·jav["dhampar","krajan-"]·KO["보좌를","오좌","왕좌","왕좌-위에","왕좌를","왕좌에","왕좌에서","의자","자리"]·PT["o-trono-de","trono-de"]·RU["престол","престола","престоле","престолов"]·ES["trono-de","tronos-de"]·SW["Yahwe-alivyosema","ikiwa","kiti-cha-enzi","kiti-cha-enzi-cha","kiti-cha-enzi-cha-","mfalme","na-ambaye"]·TR["taht","tahtlarının","tahtı","tahtına","tahtını","tahtının"]·urd["تخت"]
Exod 11:5, Exod 12:29, Deut 17:18, 2 Sam 3:10, 2 Sam 7:13, 1 Kgs 1:20, 1 Kgs 1:27, 1 Kgs 1:37, 1 Kgs 1:46, 1 Kgs 1:47, 1 Kgs 2:4, 1 Kgs 2:12 (+38 more)
2. seat or chair — A literal seat or chair without specific royal connotation — 6 occurrences where the context describes ordinary furniture for sitting. Eli's kisse by the doorpost of the tabernacle (1 Sam 1:9), from which he falls and dies (1 Sam 4:13, 4:18), is an old priest's chair, not a throne. The Shunammite woman furnishes Elisha's room with a bed, table, kisse, and lamp (2 Kgs 4:10). Haman's kisse above the other officials (Esth 3:1) may shade toward honor, but Spanish asiento ('seat') and the contextual details confirm a piece of furniture rather than a symbol of sovereignty. The distinction matters lexicographically: not every kisse carries royal weight. 6×
AR["الـ-كُرْسِيِّ","كُرْسِيٍّ","كُرْسِيَّهُ","وَكُرْسِيًّا"]·ben["আসন","আসনে","এবং-চেয়ার","তার-আসন"]·DE["Thron","der-seat","sein-Thron","und-ein-chair"]·EN["a-seat-at","and-a-chair","his-seat","the-seat"]·FR["et-un-chair","le-siège","trône"]·heb["ה-כיסא","ו-כיסא","כיסא","כסאו-ו"]·HI["उसकी-कुर्सी","और-कुर्सी","कुर्सी","कुर्सी-से","सिंहासन"]·ID["dan-kursi","kursi","kursinya"]·IT["e-un-chair","il-seggio","trono"]·jav["dhampar-ipun","kursi","lan-kursi","palungguhan"]·KO["그-의자","그리고-의자","그의-자리를","의자-에"]·PT["a-cadeira","assento","assento-seu","e-cadeira"]·RU["и-стул","престол-его","престола","престоле"]·ES["el-asiento","su-asiento","trono","y-una-silla"]·SW["kiti","kiti-cha-enzi","kiti-chake","na-kiti"]·TR["-sandalye","-sandalyenin","sandalyesinde","tahtını","ve-sandalye"]·urd["اس-کی-کرسی","اور-کرسی","کرسی","کرسی-پر"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
כִּסֵּא, כִּסֵּה, n.m. 2 S 7:16 seat of honour, throne (NH id.; Ph. (pl.) כרסים; Aramaic כּוּרְסְיָא, ܟܽܘܪܣܝܳܐ; Biblical Aramaic כָּרְסֵא, Zinj. כרסא DHMSendsch. 58. 44; Arabic كُرْسِىٌّ; but Assyrian kussu; perhaps Akkad. loan-word; ideogr. iṣ GU. ZA, cf. DlHWB 343);—abs. כִּסֵּא Gn 41:40 +; כִּסֵּה 1 K 10:19(×2) Jb 26:9, הַכִּסֶּא Ez 1:26; cstr. כִּסֵּא 2 S 3:10 +, כֵּס Ex 17:16 (si vera l.; v.…