H4427a H4427a
reign, be king (Qal); make king, cause to reign (Hifil)
Senses
1. reign, be king (Qal) — The basic Qal sense of מלך: to reign, rule as king, exercise royal authority. Arabic cognate مَلَكَ (malaka, Form I) confirms a single undifferentiated sense across all inflections — perfective مَلَكَ, imperfective يَمْلِكُ, participle مَالِكٌ/مَالِكَةٌ, and masdar مُلْكِ all derive from the same Form I root with no polysemy split. Korean renders uniformly as 다스리다 (tasrida, 'to rule'), 통치하다 (tongchihada, 'to govern'), or 왕이 되다 (wang-i doeda, 'to become king') — the agglutinative morphology shows no lexical distinction, only tense/aspect suffixes (다스렸다 past, 다스리리라 future, 다스리는 attributive). Swahili consistently uses -tawala (kutawala 'to rule', alitawala past, atatawala future, anatawala present, anayetawala relative) with no derivational variation, confirming a single sense. This covers all Qal perfect, imperfect, consecutive imperfect, imperative, infinitive construct, infinitive absolute, and participle forms regardless of person, number, or gender. 300×
AR["مَلَكَ"]·ben["তিনি-রাজত্ব-করলেন","রাজত্ব-করছিল","রাজত্ব-করছে","রাজত্ব-করত","রাজত্ব-করতেন","রাজত্ব-করলেন","রাজত্ব-করেছিল","রাজত্ব-করেছিলেন","রাজত্ব-করেছে","রাজা-হয়েছে"]·DE["er-regierte","hat-become-Koenig","hat-regierte","regierte"]·EN["has-become-king","has-reigned","he-reigned","reigned"]·FR["a-deviens-roi","a-régna","il-régna","régna"]·heb["מלך"]·HI["राज-करता-था","राज-किया","राजा-बना","राजा-रहा","राज्य-करता-था","राज्य-किया","राज्य-किया-उसने"]·ID["dia-memerintah","hanya","ia-memerintah","memerintah","menjadi-raja"]·IT["egli-regnò","ha-diventare-re","ha-regnò","regnò"]·jav["dados-raja","dados-ratu","jumeneng-nata","jumeneng-raja","mréntah"]·KO["그가-왕으로-다스렸다","다스렸다","왕으로-다스렸다","왕이-되었나이까","왕이-되었나이다","왕이-되었다"]·PT["reinou"]·RU["воцарился","царствовал"]·ES["reinaba","reinó"]·SW["Adoniya","alitawala","alivyotawala","ametawala","anamiliki","juu-ya","mwana-wa","saba","thelathini"]·TR["hüküm-sürdü","kral-oldu","krallık-etti","krallık-yaptı"]·urd["اُس-نے-بادشاہی-کی","اُس-نے-بادشاہی-کی۔","بادشاہ-ہوا","بادشاہت-کی","بادشاہی-کرتا-تھا","بادشاہی-کی"]
Josh 13:10, Josh 13:12, Josh 13:21, Judg 4:2, 1 Sam 13:1, 2 Sam 2:10, 2 Sam 5:4, 2 Sam 5:5, 2 Sam 5:5, 2 Sam 15:10, 1 Kgs 1:11, 1 Kgs 1:13 (+38 more)
2. make king, cause to reign (Hifil) — The causative Hifil sense of מלך: to make someone king, to install as ruler, to cause to reign. Arabic uses the Form II intensive/causative مَلَّكَ (mallaka) with shadda on the lam, clearly distinct from Form I مَلَكَ — this morphological contrast (Form I vs Form II) is the strongest Semitic evidence for a genuine sense boundary. Korean switches to a completely different verbal construction: 왕으로 세우다 (wang-euro seuda, 'to establish as king') or 왕으로 삼다 (wang-euro samda, 'to appoint as king'), using causative/appointment verbs rather than the intransitive 'rule' verbs of the Qal. Swahili shifts from simple -tawala to the periphrastic causative kumfanya mfalme ('to make [someone] a chief/king') or the rare -tawaza ('to enthrone'), both morphologically marked causatives. This covers all Hifil forms: perfect (מִלַּכְתִּי ,הִמְלִיךְ), imperfect (נַמְלִיךְ), consecutive imperfect (וַיַּמְלִיכוּ), infinitive (לְהַמְלִיךְ), and participle (הַמַּמְלִיךְ). 49×
AR["فَأَمْلَكَ","فَأَمْلَكُوهُ","فَـ-مَلَّكُوا","فَـ-مَلَّكْتُمْ","فَمَلَّكُوا","فَمَلَّكُوهُ","لِيُمَلِّكُوا","وَ-مَلَّكَ","وَ-مَلَّكُوا","وَ-مَلَّكُوهُ","وَمَلَّكَ","وَمَلَّكُوا","وَمَلَّكُوهُ"]·ben["-রাজা-করতে","আর-তারা-রাজা-করল","আর-রাজা-করলেন","এবং-তাঁকে-রাজা-করলেন","এবং-তারা-রাজা-করল","এবং-রাজা-করল","এবং-রাজা-করলেন","এবং-রাজা-করেছ","এবং-রাজা-করেছিল","ও-রাজা-করল"]·DE["herrschen","und-herrschen","und-machte-Koenig","und-sie-machte-Koenig"]·EN["and-made-king","and-they-made-king","to-make-king"]·FR["et-fit-roi","et-ils-fit-roi","et-régner","régner"]·heb["ו-המליכו","ו-המלכתם","ו-ימליך","ו-ימליכו","וַ-יַּמְלִיכוּ","ל-המליך"]·HI["और-राजबनाया","और-राजा-बनाया","और-राजा-बनाया-उसे","राजा-बनाने"]·ID["Dan-Firaun-Nekho-mengangkat-raja","Dan-ia-mengangkat-sebagai-raja","Dan-mengangkat","dan-kamu-mengangkat-raja","dan-mengangkat","dan-merajakan","dan-mereka-mengangkat","dan-mereka-mengangkat-menjadi-raja","dan-mereka-mengangkat-raja","dan-mereka-menjadikan-dia-raja","dan-mereka-menjadikan-raja","dan-rakyat-negeri-mengangkat-raja","untuk-merajakan"]·IT["e-essi-fece-re","e-fece-re","e-regnare","regnare"]·jav["Lan-ngangkat-ratu","Lan-piyambakipun-ngangkat-dados-raja","kanggé-njumenengaken","lan-dados-rajèng-piyambakipun","lan-ndadosaken-raja","lan-ngangkat-dados-raja","lan-ngangkat-raja","lan-ngangkat-ratu","lan-ngraja-kaken","lan-njumenengaken-raja","lan-piyambakipun-dados-Raja-aken","lan-piyambakipun-sami-ngangkat-dados-raja","lan-sami-ngangkat-ratu","tiyang-"]·KO["그들이-왕으로-세웠다","그래서-왕으로-세웠다","그리고-그들이-왕으로-세웠다","그리고-세웠다","그리고-왕으로-삼았다","그리고-왕으로-세웠다","그리고-왕으로-세웠다-그들이","에-왕으로삼다"]·PT["E-fez-rei","E-fizeram-reinar","e-fez-rei","e-fez-reinar","e-fizeram-rei","e-fizeram-reinar","e-fizestes-rei","para-fazer-reinar"]·RU["воцарить","и-воцарил","и-воцарили","и-поставили","и-поставили-царём","и-сделали-царём"]·ES["E-hicieron-rey","E-hizo-rey","e-hicieron-reinar","e-hicieron-rey","e-hicisteis-rey","e-hizo-rey","para-hacer-rey","y-hicieron-rey","y-lo-hicieron-rey"]·SW["Na-wakamfanya-mfalme","kumfanya-mfalme","na-akamfanya-mfalme","na-mkamfanya-mfalme","na-wakamfanya-mfalme","na-wakamtawaza","wayaּmliykwּ"]·TR["Ve-kral-ettiler","kral-yapmak-için","ve-kral-ettiler","ve-kral-ettiniz","ve-kral-yaptiler","ve-kral-yaptı","ve-kral-yaptılar"]·urd["اور-بادشاہ-بنایا","اور-بادشاہ-بنایا-اُنہوں-نے","بادشاہ-بنانے-کو"]
Judg 9:6, Judg 9:16, Judg 9:18, 1 Sam 8:22, 1 Sam 11:15, 1 Sam 12:1, 1 Sam 15:11, 1 Sam 15:35, 2 Sam 2:9, 1 Kgs 1:43, 1 Kgs 3:7, 1 Kgs 12:1 (+37 more)
3. sense 3 1×
AR["مُلِكَ"]·ben["রাজা-হলেন"]·DE["der-Koenig"]·EN["was-made-king"]·FR["le-roi"]·heb["הומלך"]·HI["राजा-बना"]·ID["menjadi-raja"]·IT["il-re"]·jav["dipun-dadosaken-raja"]·KO["왕-이-되었는데"]·PT["reinou"]·RU["воцарился"]·ES["reinó"]·SW["alifanywa-mfalme"]·TR["kral-oldu"]·urd["بادشاہ-بنا"]
BDB / Lexicon Reference
II. מָלַךְ346 vb. denom. be, or become king, or queen, reign;— Qal296 Pf. מ׳ Jos 13:10 +, etc.; Impf. יִמְלֹךְ (-לוֹךְ) Ex 15:18 +; וַיִּמְלֹךְ Gn 36:32 +; 2 ms. תִּמְלֹךְ Gn 37:8 +, (הֲתִֽמֲלֹךְ Je 22:15 Bear); Imv. מְלָךְ־, Ju 9:14; מָלְכָה Ju 9:8; מָלְכִי Ju 9:10, 12; Inf. abs. מָלֹךְ Gn 37:8 1 S 24:21; cstr. מְלֹךְ 1 K 2:15 +; sf. מָלְכוֹ 1 S 13:1 +; Pt. מֹלֵךְ Je 22:11 + 2 times; מֹלֶכֶת 2 K…