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 Psalms 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 Chron 15:16 ). In Cant 1 Kings 6:8 1 Kings 6:9 , 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.

These dictionary topics are from
M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition,
published by Thomas Nelson, 1897. Public Domain, copy freely.