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Hebrew

To rule

מָשַׁלStrong’s H4910

mashal (ma-shal)

Appears in 74 verses of the Old Testament

In short

Mashal is the Hebrew word usually translated “ruling”, “ruler” and “rule”. It appears in 74 verses of the Old Testament.

“And a mighty king shall stand up, that shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will.”
Daniel 11:3 KJV
Meaning
  1. To rule, have dominion, reign(Qal) to rule, have dominion · (Hiphil)
How it's translated
  • ruling 11
  • a ruler 6
  • he will rule 5
  • and ruler 4
  • to rule 4
  • rulers 4
  • rules 3
  • ruler 3

Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.

Where it's used most
  • Proverbs 11
  • Psalms 10
  • Isaiah 10
  • Genesis 7
  • Judges 5
  • Daniel 5

23 books in all.

Related words
Explore in Scripture
All 74 verses, by book
Exodus 1
21:8
Deuteronomy 1
15:6
Joshua 2
12:212:5
2 Samuel 1
23:3
1 Kings 1
4:21
1 Chronicles 1
29:12
2 Chronicles 4
7:189:2620:623:20
Nehemiah 1
9:37
Job 1
25:2
Ecclesiastes 2
9:1710:4
Lamentations 1
5:8
Ezekiel 2
19:1119:14
Joel 1
2:17
Micah 1
5:2
Habakkuk 1
1:14
Zechariah 1
6:13
Hebrew dictionary

מָשַׁל mashal · to rule

1) to rule, have dominion, reign 1a) (Qal) to rule, have dominion 1b) (Hiphil) 1b1) to cause to rule 1b2) to exercise dominion

From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

How the English word “rule” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.

RULE, noun

[Latin regula, from rego, to govern, that is, to stretch, strain or make straight.]

  1. Government; sway; empire; control; supreme command or authority.“A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame” Proverbs 17:2
  2. That which is established as a principle, standard or directory; that by which any thing is to be adjusted or regulated, or to which it is to be conformed; that which is settled by authority or custom for guidance and direction.
  3. An instrument by which lines are drawn.
  4. Established mode or course of proceeding prescribed in private life.
All definitions and other forms of “rule”
  1. In literature, a maxim, canon or precept to be observed in any art or science.
  2. In monasteries, corporations or societies, a law or regulation to be observed by the society and its particular members.
  3. In courts, rules are the determinations and orders of court, to be observed by its officers in conducting the business of the court.
  4. In arithmetic and algebra, a determinate mode prescribed for performing any operation and producing a certain result.
  5. In grammar, an establish form of construction in a particular class of words; or the expression of that form in words.

RULE, verb transitive

  1. To govern; to control the will and actions of others, either by arbitrary power and authority, or by established laws.“If a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?” 1 Timothy 3:5
  2. To govern the movements of things; to conduct; to manage; to control.
  3. To manage; to conduct, in almost any manner.
  4. To settle as by a rule
  5. To mark with lines by a ruler; as, to rule a blank book.
  6. To establish by decree or decision; to determine; as a court.

RULE, verb intransitive

To have power or command; to exercise supreme authority.

  1. “By me princes rule” Proverbs 8:16“They shall rule over their oppressors” Isaiah 14:2

Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.

Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.