שֵׁגָל
𐤔𐤂𐤋
shêgâl
H7694 noun
SILEX Entry
Definition
A consort of high status, typically denoting the principal wife of a king; sovereign consort. The term שֵׁגָל designates a woman in a royal relationship, most often as the principal female partner of the reigning king, with semantic emphasis on status, relationship, and public role as queen consort. In some contexts (especially late biblical books), it may refer to any royal consort, irrespective of precise legal or ethnic standing.
Semantic Range
queen consort, principal wife of a king, sovereign consort, royal consort
Root / Etymology
From the Hebrew root שׁגל (שׁ-ג-ל), which in its verbal form denotes sexual relations or cohabitation, often euphemistically. The noun formation שֵׁגָל (shêgâl) develops from this root, indicating a woman who stands in a favored or official marital/sexual relationship to a king. Root meaning relates to 'to have intercourse, to cohabit.' The noun, however, specialized to mean 'queen consort' by association with the king's favored wife.
Historical & Contextual Notes
In the Hebrew Bible, שֵׁגָל appears predominantly in late books (e.g., Nehemiah 2:6, Psalms 45:10 [MT]), typically indicating the queen as a royal consort. The term is distinguished from מַלְכָּה (malkâh, also 'queen'), which can denote a female ruler in her own right (queen regnant) or consort, depending on context. שֵׁגָל, by contrast, is limited to consort status and does not independently denote rulership. In Nehemiah 2:6, it explicitly refers to the woman accompanying King Artaxerxes—likely a Persian queen consort—whereas in Psalms 45:10, it presents a generic or idealized Israelite consort arrayed in royal splendor. After the biblical period, cognates in Aramaic and other Northwest Semitic languages continue to denote royal consorts. Traditional English translations sometimes render שֵׁגָל as 'queen,' but this may obscure the connotation of principal wife or consort (as distinct from ruling queen). In Greek LXX and later translations, the term occasionally receives euphemistic treatment, aiming to avoid the sexual connotations inherent in the Hebrew root. Distinct from later usages of terms like 'queen' or 'Jewess,' which carry post-exilic or post-biblical associations.
Original Strong's Gloss (1890)
from שָׁגַל; a queen (from cohabitation); queen.
Bantu Hebrew
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שגל (š-g-l) — to have intercourse, to cohabit, to have sexual relations
Word Forms
2 distinct forms
| SIDANCE | Surface | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 | Occurrences |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H7694-02 |
וְ/הַ/שֵּׁגַ֣ל | vehashegal | HC/Td/Ncfsa |
and the queen | and the queen consort | and the queen consort | 1 |
H7694-01 |
שֵׁגַ֥ל | shegal | HNcfsa |
the queen | sovereign consort | sovereign consort | 1 |
Occurrences in Scripture
2 occurrences
| SIDANCE | Reference | Word | Transliteration | Morphology | Common | SIBI-P1 | SIBI-P2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
H7694-01 |
Psalms 45:10 | שֵׁגַ֥ל | shegal | HNcfsa |
the queen | sovereign consort | sovereign consort |
H7694-02 |
Nehemiah 2:6 | וְ/הַ/שֵּׁגַ֣ל | vehashegal | HC/Td/Ncfsa |
and the queen | and the queen consort | and the queen consort |