UBS Dictionary of the Hebrew New Testament

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מְלֶכֶת

MainId: 004065000000000

Version: 5

HasAramaic: False

InLXX: False

AlphaPos: מ

StrongCodes: H4446

Authors: A. Salvesen

MainLinks: SADH@http://www.sahd.div.ed.ac.uk/_media/lexeme:pdf:ham-malka-salvesen_a-oxf-1999.pdf

ContributorNote: Queen of the heavens: 2. Syntagmatics, p. 1, 2; 4. Versions, p.2, 3. In relation to the identification of the godesses: Exegesis, A.3, p.4-7.

BaseForms:

BaseFormID: 004065001000000
PartsOfSpeech: nsf
RelatedLemmas: {'Word': 'מלך', 'Meanings': []}
LEXMeanings:
1. LEXID: 004065001001000
  LEXIsBiblicalTerm: M
  LEXIndent: 0
  LEXDomains: {'DomainCode': '003001004', 'DomainSource': 'Leaders', 'DomainSourceCode': '001001002003005', 'Domain': 'Names of Deities'}
  LEXCollocations: מְלֶכֶת הַשָּׁמַיִם
  LEXSenses:
  1. LanguageCode: en
    LastEdited: 2010-11-30 11:59:39
    DefinitionShort: literally: Queen of Heaven; hence: = epithet of a female deity, possibly to be identified with Ishtar or {L:Ashtoreth}; ► worshipped by the Israelites
    Glosses: Queen of Heaven
    Comments: The "Queen of Heaven" in Jeremiah is the mother godess. cf. versiones: LXX, Vg, Aq, Sym, Th. A likely identification of the title with the West Semitic Ashtoreth or the Mesopotamian Ishtar is based on the cakes offered to the deity in Jer 7:18; 44:19 which may have been star-shaped. Both Ashtoreth and Ishtar are fertility goddesses identified with Venus, the morning and evening star. Both were offered cakes as part of their cult, though it is only Ishtar in whose image cakes were baked and whose cult held a particular appeal for women. Ishtar was known as the queen or lady of heaven. Queen of Heaven in Jeremiah is therefore a syncretistic deity, combining aspects of Ashtoreth and Ishtar.
  LEXReferences: JER 7:18, JER 44:17, JER 44:18, JER 44:19, JER 44:25