mashal, “to rule,” strong’s H4910

The first occurrence.

And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. Gen 1:18

The primitive root.

Strong’s H4910 משל mashal, a primitive root meaning, “to rule, to have dominion.” The 3-letter root is mem + shin + lamed.

mem מ, ם  = the water, thus chaos, mighty, blood
shin ש  = two front teeth, thus sharp, press, eat, two, again
lamed ל  = the shepherd’s staff, thus teach, yoke, to, bind

The story: Mighty (mem) pressure (shin) or coercion to bring under authority (lamed).

THE ANCIENT HEBREW LEXICON | INDEX OF HEBREW ROOTS