“queen mother.” The Hebrew word translated “queen mother” is gebereth (#01404 גְּבֶרֶת), and it can refer to the queen mother, the queen, or a mistress over servants (Gen. 16:4; 2 Kings 5:3). In this context it refers to a woman who is the queen mother, that is, the mother of the king and thus still considered a queen (BDB Hebrew and English lexicon). The Queen mother was the most powerful woman in the kingdom, much more powerful than any of the wives of the king, who often did not have much real power at all. Isaiah 47:5 refers to Babylon as the “queen mother” of kingdoms because it was the most powerful kingdom in the biblical world at that time.