The king of ancient Israel was not an absolute monarch. He had to obey the laws of the Torah. The Torah includes both religious laws and 'secular' laws. Torah () is a Hebrew word meaning teaching, instruction, or law. ...

The ministers of the king were not allowed to listen to the king if he commanded to break any laws.

However, the king had certain rights that the average citizen did not have, such as being allowed to create a thoroughfare through private property.

The king could be tried by the sanhedrin, the supreme court of Israel which was made of 71 of the biggest Rabbis of the generation. This right originally applied to all kings of Israel, but was limited to kings of the house of King David when King Yanai of the house of Hasmoneans intimidated the sanhedrin. For the tractate in the Mishnah, see Sanhedrin (tractate). ... This page is about the Biblical king David. ... Coin of Alexander Jannaeus (103-76 BC). ... The Hasmonean Kingdom (pronunciation) in ancient Judea and its ruling dynasty from 140 BC to 37 BC was established under the leadership of Simon Maccabaeus, two decades after Judah the Maccabee defeated the Seleucid army in 165 BC. Origin of the Hasmonean dynasty The origin of the Hasmonean dynasty is...

The king had certain laws that he had to follow over and above the rest of the nation, such as having to always have a Torah scroll with him, and having limits on the amount of money and horses he was allowed to have.

The Jewish hope for a Messiah is that a king arise from the house of David who, while ruling over the people of Israel, will follow the laws of the Torah and build its institutions. In Judaism, the Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ anointed one, Standard Hebrew , Tiberian Hebrew Arabic ) initially meant any person who was anointed by a prophet of God. ...

Along with the central king and the sanhedrin, the was also smaller courts in each city, called a beit deen. There was one court made of 23 rabbis, and one made up of 3 rabbis in each city. The court of 23 was able to judge cases dealing with capitol punishment, and the court of 3 was able to deal with monotary cases. Each Rabbi in the court needed to know all the laws in gemara, or the talmud, which consists of about 40 books. In our times, there is no official courts, but the Jewish Rabbis still learn the talmud.