Governor

Smith’s Bible Dictionary · William Smith, F. N. Peloubet, M. A. Peloubet

In the Authorized Version this one English word is the representative of no less than ten Hebrew and four Greek words.

The chief of a tribe or family.
A ruler in his capacity of lawgiver and dispenser of justice.
A ruler consider especially as having power over the property and persons of his subjects. (Genesis 24:2; Joshua 12:2; Psalms 100:20) The "governors of the people," in (2 Chronicles 23:20) appear to have been the kings body-guard; cf. (2 Kings 11:19)
A prominent personage, whatever his capacity. It is applied to a king as the military and civil chief of his people, (2 Samuel 5:2; 6:21; 1 Chronicles 29:22) to the general of an army, (2 Chronicles 32:21) and to the head of a tribe. (2 Chronicles 19:11) It denotes an officer of high rank in the palace, the lord high chamberlain. (2 Chronicles 28:7) It is applied in (1 Kings 10:15) to the petty chieftains who were tributary to Solomon, (2 Chronicles 9:14) to the military commander of the Syrians, (1 Kings 20:24) the Assyrians, (2 Kings 18:24; 23:8) the Chaldeans, (Jeremiah 51:23) and the Medes. (Jeremiah 51:38) Under the Persian viceroys, during the Babylonian captivity, the land of the Hebrews appears to have been portioned out among "governors" (pachoth) inferior in rank to the satraps, (Ezra 8:30) like the other provinces which were under the dominion of the Persian king. (Nehemiah 2:7,9) It is impossible to determine the precise limits of their authority or the functions which they had to perform. It appears from (Ezra 6:8) that these governors were intrusted with the collection of the kings taxes; and from (Nehemiah 5:18; 12:26) that they were supported by a contribution levied upon the people, which was technically termed "the bread of the governor" comp. (Ezra 4:14) They were probably assisted in discharging their official duties by A council. (Ezra 4:7; 6:6) The "governor" beyond the river had a judgment-seat beyond Jerusalem, from which probably he administered justice when making a progress through his province. (Nehemiah 3:7) At the time of Christ Judea was a Roman province, governed by a procurator (governor) appointed by Rome.

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Source of the article

William Smith; revised by F. N. Peloubet and M. A. Peloubet; CrossWire SWORD module Smith 1.3

Bible Strong digital edition from CrossWire module 1.3, based on the 1884 Peloubet revision with later digital enrichments preserved