Who were the queens in the Old Testament?

[lissa70]

I had heard that the Old Testament queens were the mothers of the kings, not the king’s wife. Is this true - always, sometimes, never?

 

[midori]

The word you’re looking for is “gebirah” (“Queen”, “Great Lady”) (f. version of “gebir” “Master”, “Lord”); it’s transliterated in a couple of different spellings, but that should be enough to start you looking. Basically, the concept is that even though a king might have multiple wives or concubines, he only has one mother. The prominence of the gebirah would probably fluctuate based on the personality of the mother herself, but I’d be hard-pressed to come up with a more prominent position for any woman in those times, in that place.

I don’t know anything about the rest of the website, but it was pretty easy to turn up a list with some commentary:

agapebiblestudy.com/charts/Institution%20of%20the%20Gebirah.htm

I don’t know what the term is for a king’s wife queen. So all gebirah were probably king’s wife queens at some point in time, but not all king’s wife queens obtained the position and/or title of gebirah.

 

[runningdude]

I learned the same thing while I was in school - I know it at least applies to Solomon’s mother Bathsheba! (see my signature )

 

[Joe_Kelley]

In Kings when the author introduces a new king he always notes who was his mother, This would indicate that she held a special place. E.G.

1 In the twenty-seventh year of Jeroboam king of Israel Azariah the son of Amaziah, king of Judah, began to reign. 2* He was sixteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty-two years in Jerusalem. His mother’s name was Jecoliah of Jerusalem.

2 Kings 15:1-2

The custom may have been peculiar to the kingdom of Judea.

The custom may have started with Bathsheba and Solomon. Note that Bathsheba does homage to her husband, King David.

15 So Bathsheba went to the king into his chamber (now the king was very old, and Abishag the Shunammite was ministering to the king). 16 Bathsheba bowed and did obeisance to the king, and the king said, “What do you desire?”

1 King 1:15-16

However, Solomon placed his mother on a throne beside him.

19 So Bathsheba went to King Solomon, to speak to him on behalf of Adonijah. And the king rose to meet her, and bowed down to her; then he sat on his throne, and had a seat brought for the king’s mother; and she sat on his right.

1 Kings 2:19

 

[Jaypeeto4]

**Who were the queens in the Old Testament? **

Why, the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, of course !!

Okay, just kidding.
In nearly all cases, the Queen of Judah was the King’s mother, not his wife,
because sometimes the king had several wives.