malchu · kingdom, reign

What it means

malchu (מַלְכוּ) is an Aramaic word of the Bible that means “kingdom, reign”.

(Aramaic). Related to the Hebrew "malchut".

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. A kingdom, above all the one God gives his people and that does not end (Aramaic).
2. The power and dignity of being king: his reign and his government (Aramaic).

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

Kingdom, reign (Aramaic): the territory a king governs and the time or the power of his rule. It is the Aramaic word that corresponds to מַלְכוּת (H4438), which has its own note; it appears only in Daniel and Ezra.

• The kingdoms of the statue in Daniel 2 Daniel 2:39Daniel 2:40Daniel 2:44
• “His kingdom {is} an eternal kingdom” Daniel 4:3Daniel 7:27
• The kingdom taken from Belshazzar Daniel 5:26Daniel 5:28
• Darius and the satraps of his kingdom Daniel 6:1Daniel 6:3
• Dates by the reign of a king Ezra 4:24Ezra 6:15

How we translate it

“Kingdom” 49 times and “kingdoms” 3; “reign” 4 in dates (“the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king”, Ezra 6:15) and in Daniel 6:28; once “royal” as an adjective. The Hebrew words מְלוּכָה, מַלְכוּת and מַמְלָכָה are rendered ‘kingdom’ as well, and this Aramaic form follows the same rule.

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• kingdom ×49
• reign ×4
• kingdoms ×3
• as a royal ×1

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Ezra×4
• Daniel×53

• Ezra 4:24

  Then the work of the house of Elah which is in Jerusalem ceased, and it remained stopped until the second year of the reign of Darius king of Persia.

• Ezra 6:15

  And this house was brought to completion by the third day of the month of Adar, which was the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king.

• Ezra 7:13

  by me an order is given that everyone in my kingdom from the people of Israel and its priests and the Levites who freely offers himself to go to Jerusalem with you may go.

• Ezra 7:23

  All that is by the order of the Elah of the heavens, let it be done exactly for the house of the Elah of the heavens; for why should there be anger upon the kingdom of the king and his sons?

• Daniel 2:37

  You, O king, king of kings, to whom the Elah of the heavens has given the kingdom, the power, and the might, and the honor;

• Daniel 2:39

  And after you will arise another kingdom lower than you, and another third kingdom of bronze, which will rule over all the earth.

• Daniel 2:40

  And a fourth kingdom will be strong as iron, inasmuch as iron crushes and shatters everything; and like iron that smashes, it will crush and smash all these.

• Daniel 2:41

  And as you saw the feet and the toes, partly potter’s clay and partly iron, the kingdom will be divided; and some of the firmness of iron will be in it, inasmuch as you saw the iron mixed with muddy clay.

• Daniel 2:42

  And the toes of the feet partly iron and partly clay, part of the kingdom will be strong and part of it will be brittle.

• Daniel 2:44

  And in the days of those kings the Elah of the heavens will set up a kingdom that forever will not be destroyed, and its kingdom will not be left to another people; it will crush and bring to an end all these kingdoms, and it will stand forever.

• Daniel 4:3

  His signs, how great! And his wonders, how mighty! His kingdom is an eternal kingdom, and his dominion is with generation and generation.

• Daniel 4:17

  The sentence is by the decree of the watchers, and the request by the word of the holy ones, so that the living may know that Illaya rules over the kingdom of men, and to whomever he wishes he gives it, and the lowliest of men he sets up over it.’

• Daniel 4:18

  This dream I, King Nebuchadnezzar, saw. And you, Belteshazzar, tell the interpretation, because all the wise men of my kingdom are not able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, because the spirit of the holy gods is in you.”

• Daniel 4:25

  that you will be driven away from men, and with the animals of the field your dwelling will be, and grass like oxen you will be made to eat, and with the dew of the heavens you will be drenched, and seven times will pass over you, until you know that Illaya rules over the kingdom of men, and to whomever he wishes he gives it.

• Daniel 4:26

  And as for what they said, to leave the stump of the roots of the tree, your kingdom for you will remain firm from the time that you know that the heavens rule.

• Daniel 4:29

  At the end of twelve months he was walking on the palace of the kingdom of Babylon.

• Daniel 4:30

  The king answered and said, “Is not this great Babylon, which I have built as a royal house by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?”

• Daniel 4:31

  While the word was still in the mouth of the king, a voice fell from the heavens: “To you it is said, King Nebuchadnezzar: the kingdom has passed from you,

• Daniel 4:32

  and from men you are being driven away, and with the animals of the field will be your dwelling; grass like oxen you will be made to eat, and seven times will pass over you, until you know that Illaya rules over the kingdom of men, and to whomever he wishes he gives it.”

• Daniel 4:34

  And at the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to the heavens, and my understanding returned to me, and I blessed Illaya, and I praised and glorified the one who lives forever, whose dominion is an eternal dominion, and his kingdom is with generation and generation.

• Daniel 4:36

  At that time my understanding returned to me, and for the honor of my kingdom, my majesty and my splendor returned to me; and my advisers and my nobles sought me, and I was reestablished over my kingdom, and extraordinary greatness was added to me.

• Daniel 5:7

  The king called out with strength to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the diviners. The king answered and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man who reads this writing and declares to me its interpretation will be clothed with purple, and a necklace of gold will be on his neck, and as third in the kingdom he will rule.”

• Daniel 5:11

  There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods, and in the days of your father light and insight and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him; and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father, made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and diviners, — your father, the king —

• Daniel 5:16

  But I have heard of you that you can give interpretations and loosen knots. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you will be clothed with purple, and a necklace of gold will be on your neck, and as third in the kingdom you will rule.”

• Daniel 5:18

  You, O king, — Elah Illaya gave to Nebuchadnezzar your father the kingdom and greatness and honor and majesty;

• Daniel 5:20

  But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he acted proudly, he was brought down from the throne of his kingdom, and his honor was taken from him.

• Daniel 5:21

  And from the sons of men he was driven away, and his heart was made like that of the animals, and with the wild donkeys was his dwelling; grass like oxen he was made to eat, and with the dew of the heavens his body was drenched, until he knew that Elah Illaya rules over the kingdom of men, and whomever he wishes he sets up over it.

• Daniel 5:26

  This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, Elah has counted your kingdom and brought it to an end.

• Daniel 5:28

  Peres, your kingdom has been divided and given to the Medes and the Persians.”

• Daniel 5:29

  Then Belshazzar gave the word, and they clothed Daniel with purple, and put a necklace of gold on his neck, and they proclaimed concerning him that he would be ruler as third in the kingdom.

• Daniel 5:31

  And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.

• Daniel 6:1

  It seemed good to Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and twenty satraps, who would be throughout the kingdom,

• Daniel 6:3

  Then this Daniel was distinguishing himself above the supervisors and the satraps, because an extraordinary spirit was in him, and the king was planning to set him over all the kingdom.

• Daniel 6:4

  Then the supervisors and the satraps were seeking to find a pretext against Daniel in regard to the kingdom; but they could find no pretext or fault, because he was faithful, and no negligence or fault was found in him.

• Daniel 6:7

  All the supervisors of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the advisers and the governors, have agreed to establish a royal statute and to enforce a prohibition, that whoever makes a request of any god or man for thirty days, except of you, O king, shall be thrown into the den of the lions.

• Daniel 6:26

  From before me a decree is made that in all the dominion of my kingdom people are to be trembling and fearing before the Elah of Daniel, for he is the living Elah, and enduring forever; and his kingdom is one that will not be destroyed, and his dominion is to the end.

• Daniel 6:28

  And this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

• Daniel 7:14

  And to him was given dominion and honor and kingdom, and all the peoples, nations, and languages will serve him; his dominion is an eternal dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom one that will not be destroyed.

• Daniel 7:18

  But the saints of Illaya will receive the kingdom and possess the kingdom forever, and forever and ever.’

• Daniel 7:22

  until the Ancient of Days came, and judgment was given to the saints of Illaya, and the time came, and the saints possessed the kingdom.

And 17 more times.