king

Distinctions

melech (מלך)

Root מ-ל-ך. The commentators explain that this is one whose ascent to the throne is commissioned directly by the people: they willingly elect to anoint him, and that acceptance is what makes him king. The Vilna Gaon sharpens this: the melech rises from within the camp of the masses and holds no inherent advantage over any of them; strip away their recognition and he is their equal. Rabbi Moshe Soloveitchik of Switzerland reads the Midrash that likens a chasan to a melech (Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer ch. 16) on this basis: as even the most calculating king must keep conceding to his people so that they go on accepting him lovingly, so must a chasan act with patience and reliability so that his wife goes on wanting to remain his partner.

This is also what the article uses to answer a question on the Gemara. Rosh Hashanah 16a has Hashem say, "Recite before Me verses of kingship so that you make Me melech over you," and the Gemara takes the recital not merely as our affirming His kingship but as making Him King; why should that be contingent on our acceptance at all? On the above the answer is clear: by accepting His sovereignty willingly we consolidate His role as melech of the world rather than merely a dictatorial moshel.

moshel (מושל)

Root מ-ש-ל. One who takes the position rather than receiving it. The Vilna Gaon: the moshel leads by his abilities, not by the people's will; he proves himself in battle and the like, shows himself more capable than the rest, and on that strength seizes his constituency and forces them under his hand. This is why the people offered Gideon the post of moshel (Shoftim 8:22) and not of melech: even though the masses offered it willingly, he would still have been called a moshel, because they offered it only on the strength of his acknowledged military prowess.

A minority reading, recorded and not adopted: melech is the king at the top and moshel a governor or deputy to whom he has delegated power. The consensus holds the two equal in position and different only in origin.

Rendering guidance

• Bereishis 37:8, hamaloch timloch aleinu im mashol timshol banu: not a rhetorical doubling. "Will you be king over us? Will you rule us?" The brothers are asking two things, whether he expects their consent and whether he means to take it without.
• Tehillim 22:29, ki laHashem hameluchah umoshel bagoyim: "for the kingship is Hashem's, and He rules over the nations." The Vilna Gaon takes note of an apparent contradiction between this and the other pasuk at the close of Aleinu: here the shift implies two roles, melech to Yisrael, who accept His sovereignty, and moshel to the nations, who do not, while Zechariah 14:9, vehayah Hashem lemelech al kol ha'aretz, has Him melech over the whole world. The article resolves it by saying the answer must be that in time to come, when all truth is revealed, everyone will recognize and accept, so that He will be melech universally and not moshel.
• Rosh Hashanah 16a on Malchiyos works only on this distinction (see above). Render melech there as king and let the commentary carry the point that a melech is made by acceptance.
• Trap: "sovereign," "monarch," and "ruler" all read as free variants of "king" in English. Fix melech to king and moshel to ruler across a passage and keep them fixed; if a third word for power is present, recast rather than borrow one of these two.
• Trap: moshel in English easily picks up "dictator" or "tyrant." The word says how he came to power, not that he governs badly; use "ruler" and let the context supply the harshness.

Sources

Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein, "Divine Dictator or Populist King?", What's in a Word?, Ohr Somayach, 9 Av 5776 (2016-08-13): raw text in sources/whats-in-a-word/raw/6893-divine-dictator-or-populist-king.md. Primary loci cited: Bereishis 37:8; Pirkei d'Rabbi Eliezer ch. 16; Shoftim 8:22; Rosh Hashanah 16a; Tehillim 22:29; Zechariah 14:9 (both quoted at the close of Aleinu).