The idea
Not the king's wife (kings had many) but the king's mother — the gebirah, 'great lady.' Solomon rose, bowed, and set Bathsheba on a throne (Hebrew kisse', the very word used of Solomon's own throne in the previous verse — 'seat' in some translations undersells it, p 69) at his right hand, and she carried petitions to him. Almost every king of Judah is introduced with the name of his mother (p 75).
Key verses
- 1 Kings 2:19 — Solomon seats his mother at his right hand; 'I will not refuse you.'
- Jeremiah 13:18, Psalm 45:9 — 'the king and the queen mother'; the queen in gold at his right hand — a share in his authority, as the king at God's right hand shares in God's (Psalm 110:1, pp 70–71).
- 1 Kings 1:16 — as David's wife Bathsheba bowed to him; as Solomon's mother she is enthroned by him.
- 1 Kings 15:1 — the accession formula that names each king's mother.
The connection
| Old Testament root | New Testament fulfilment | |
|---|---|---|
| The gebirah beside the Davidic king | → | Mary beside Christ the King |
In the Davidic kingdom the queen was the king's mother, not his wife — the gebirah, enthroned at his right hand. Pitre uses this royal office to show Mary's queenship is a Jewish institution, not a borrowing from paganism.
Sources
- Modern scholars Pitre cites — Mordechai Cogan on 'throne'; Susan Ackerman on the queen mother's rank (pp 69–71)