No explicit mention of queens is made till we read of the "queen of Sheba." The wives of the kings of Israel are not so designated. In Psalm 45:9 , the Hebrew for "queen" is not Malkah , One actually ruling like the Queen of Sheba, but Shegal , Which simply means the king's wife. In 1 Kings 11:19 , Pharaoh's wife is called "the queen," but the Hebrew word so rendered (g'birah) is simply a title of honour, denoting a royal lady, used sometimes for "queen-mother" ( 1 Kings 15:13 ; 2 Chronicles 15:16 ). In Song of Solomon 6:8,9 , the king's wives are styled "queens" (Heb. melakhoth). In the New Testament we read of the "queen of the south", i.e., Southern Arabia, Sheba ( Matthew 12:42 ; Luke 11:31 ) and the "queen of the Ethiopians" ( Acts 8:27 ), Candace.
Source
- part_of
source-manifest/easton— Easton's Bible Dictionary (PD)