We’ve found something like 2000 clay seal impressions in Israel that contain the legend LMLK (lamed, mem, lamed, kaf).
This is a significant legend because it likely is to be parsed L-MLK.
L, in this case, being a preposition that means "to" but also can signal personal property.
MLK is probably to be understood as MeLeK, or "king."
LMLK thus probably means "Belonging to the King."
The king in question seems to have been King Hezekiah, who reigned about seven hundred years before Christ.
There are lots and lots of these seal impressions, but the thing is . . . we’re not sure what they were used for.
READ THE THEORIES.
Author: Jimmy Akin
Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."
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