Difference between revisions of "Governor"

<div> '''A — 1: ἡγεμών ''' (Strong'S #2232 — Noun Masculine — hegemon — hayg-em-ohn' ) </div> <p> is a term used (a) for "rulers" generally, &nbsp;Mark 13:9; &nbsp;1 Peter 2:14; translated "princes" (i.e., leaders) in &nbsp;Matthew 2:6; (b) for the Roman procurators, referring, in the [[Gospels]] to [[Pontius]] Pilate, e.g., &nbsp;Matthew 27:2; &nbsp;Luke 20:20 (so designated by Tacitus, Annals, XV. 44); to Felix, &nbsp; Acts 23:26 . Technically the procurator was a financial official under a proconsul or propretor, for collecting the imperial revenues, but entrusted also with magisterial powers for decisions of questions relative to the revenues. In certain provinces, of which [[Judea]] was one (the procurator of which was dependent on the legate of Syria), he was the general administrator and supreme judge, with sole power of life and death. Such a governor was a person of high social standing. Felix, however, was an ex-slave, a freedman, and his appointment to Judea could not but be regarded by the [[Jews]] as an insult to the nation. The headquarters of the governor of Judea was Caesarea, which was made a garrison town. See [[Prince]] , Ruler. For anthupatos, "a proconsul," see Proconsul. </p> <div> '''A — 2: ἐθνάρχης ''' (Strong'S #1481 — Noun Masculine — ethnarches — eth-nar'-khace ) </div> <p> "an ethnarch," lit. "a ruler of a nation" (ethnos, "a people," arche, "rule"), is translated "governor" in &nbsp;2 Corinthians 11:32; it describes normally the ruler of a nation possessed of separate laws and customs among those of a different race. Eventually it denoted a ruler of a province, superior to a tetrarch, but inferior to a king (e.g., Aretas). </p> <div> '''A — 3: οἰκονόμος ''' (Strong'S #3623 — Noun Masculine — oikonomos — oy-kon-om'-os ) </div> <p> lit., "one who rules a house" (oikos, "a house," nomos, "a law"), &nbsp;Galatians 4:2 , denotes a superior servant responsible for the family housekeeping, the direction of other servants, and the care of the children under age. See [[Chamberlain]] , Steward. </p> <div> '''A — 4: ἀρχιτρίκλινος ''' (Strong'S #755 — Noun Masculine — architriklinos — ar-khee-tree'-klee-nos ) </div> <p> from arche, "rule," and triklinos, "a room with three couches," denotes "the ruler of a feast," &nbsp;John 2:8 , RV (AV, "the governor of the feast"), a man appointed to see that the table and couches were duly placed and the courses arranged, and to taste the food and wine. </p> <div> '''B — 1: ἡγέομαι ''' (Strong'S #2233 — Verb — hegeomai — hayg-eh'-om-ahee ) </div> <p> akin to A, No. 1, is used in the present participle to denote "a governor," lit., "(one) governing," &nbsp;Matthew 2:6; &nbsp;Acts 7:10 . </p> <div> '''B — 2: ἡγεμονεύω ''' (Strong'S #2230 — Verb — hegemoneuo — hayg-em-on-yoo'-o ) </div> <p> to be a hegemon, "to lead the way," came to signify to be "a governor of a province;" it is used of Quirinius, governor of Syria, &nbsp;Luke 2:2 , RV (for the circumstances see under ENROLLMENT); of Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, &nbsp;Luke 3:1 . In the first clause of this verse the noun hegemonia, "a rule of sovereignty," is translated "reign;" Eng., "hegemony." </p> &nbsp;James 3:4

<p> <b> GOVERNOR. </b> —The word ‘governor’ (ἡγεμών, Lat. <i> praeses, dux </i> ) is a comprehensive term, being the only Greek word which includes every class of provincial governor under the Roman empire. The following officials, for instance, are included under this title:—(1) Governors of Senatorial Provinces, namely, <i> pro consulibus </i> who are ex-consuls, and <i> pro consulibus </i> who are ex-praetors. The former class ruled the governmental spheres of duty, Asia and Africa; the latter all other provinces which by the arrangement between [[Augustus]] and the [[Senate]] in 27 b.c. were put under the authority of that body, such as Sicily, Macedonia, Achaia. (2) Governors of Imperial Provinces, namely, <i> legati [[Augusti]] pro practoribus </i> who are ex-consuls; <i> legati Augusti pro practoribus </i> who are ex-praetors; <i> procuratores </i> ; <i> praefecti Acgypti </i> , etc. Examples of Imperial provinces are Syria, the [[Gauls]] (except Narbonensis), Judaea, and Egypt. These governors were all accountable to the Emperor, being put in charge of his provinces, but were by no means of equal rank. The <i> legati </i> were always members of the Senate, but the others were of the lower rank of <i> equites </i> . It was to this class that [[Pilate]] belonged (Matthew 27, 28; see under Procurator, Pilate). Every senator, being a member of the same class as the [[Emperor]] himself, was a possible rival to him; those of inferior rank were practically in the position of his servants. </p> <p> Governors of provinces had certain powers of jurisdiction delegated to them, which it is now impossible accurately to define. These were embodied in <i> mandata </i> given to them before setting out. They were also, of course, influenced by the traditions of the province to which they were going. They administered the law with a competence and a justice which have never been surpassed. As the provinces had an appeal from their decisions to the Senate in the case of Senatorial provinces, and to the Emperor in the case of Imperial, it was dangerous for a governor to go against the strongly expressed wish of the subjects of Rome. A procurator, for example, could be cast aside by the Emperor and ruined for life, without the slightest chance of redress. </p> <p> Governors were commonly changed annually. The emperor Tiberius, however, retained many governors for a number of years in one position, and he also instituted the custom of payment of definite salaries to such, thus doing away with the necessity for plunder in order to recoup themselves. The Roman system was sufficiently elastic to permit the appointment of officers for special service and the suspension of the regular order of things. It was probably under an arrangement of this kind that P. Sulpicius [[Quirinius]] was ‘governor of Syria’ (&nbsp;Luke 2:2) in a.d. 6–9 (Ramsay, <i> Was Christ Born at [[Bethlehem]] </i> ? ch. xi.), in order to carry on a campaign against the Homonadenses, and leave the ordinary governor free for civil duties. See art. Birth of Christ. </p> <p> In &nbsp;Matthew 10:18, &nbsp;Mark 13:9, and &nbsp;Luke 21:12 ‘kings’ are coupled with ‘governors.’ The reference here is to ‘client-kings’ of the Roman empire (such as Herod) as well as the ordinary governors. The territory ruled by such kings was part of the <i> imperium Romanum </i> in the fullest sense of that term. In other words, the Romans had suzerainty over these kingdoms; but they left them under the rule of their kings until they were sufficiently civilized to become ordinary provinces under ordinary governors. Then they were taken over. In &nbsp;Luke 21:12 the ‘kings’ are mentioned before the ‘governors.’ If this change is not accidental, it would appear that St. Luke wished βασιλεῖς to be understood in the sense of ‘emperors,’ a sense quite in accordance with the Greek. The plural need be no difficulty, as it was the common practice for emperors to have their successors invested with the imperatorial powers, while they themselves were still alive and active. </p> <p> Literature.—H. F. Pelham, <i> Outlines of Roman History </i> , hk. v. ch. iii.; J. B. Bury, <i> A History of the Roman [[Empire]] </i> , ch. vi.; A. H. J. Greenidge, <i> Roman Public Life </i> , ch. xi.; for the regular course of an administrative career, see R. Cagnat, <i> Cours d’Epigraphie Latine </i> 3 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] (1898, with Supplement 1904), pp. 86–155; Schürer, <i> HJ </i> P [Note: JP History of the [[Jewish]] People.] i. ii. 43–48. </p> <p> Alex. Souter. </p>

<p> <strong> [[Governor]] </strong> . This word represents various Heb. and Gr. words, technical and non-technical. In &nbsp; [[Genesis]] 42:6 (Joseph, cf. 41:40) it is probably the <em> Ta-te </em> , the second after the king in the court of the palace; cf. &nbsp; 1 Kings 18:3 , &nbsp; Daniel 2:48 for similar offices. It frequently represents an Assyr. [Note: Assyrian.] word, <em> pechah </em> , used of [[Persian]] satraps in general (&nbsp; Esther 3:12; &nbsp; Esther 8:8 ), and of [[Assyrian]] generals (&nbsp; 2 Kings 18:24 , cf. &nbsp; 1 Kings 20:24 ). It is applied particularly to Tattenai, the governor of the large Persian province of which Judæa was a sub-district (&nbsp; Ezra 5:3; &nbsp; Ezra 6:6 etc., cf. &nbsp; Nehemiah 2:7 ). It is also, like <em> tirshatha </em> (wh. see), applied to the subordinate governor of Judæa (&nbsp; Ezra 5:14 [Sheshbazzar] 6:7 [Nehemiah], &nbsp; Haggai 1:1; &nbsp; Haggai 1:14 [Zerubbabel]). The first passage shows that the subordinate <em> pechah </em> was directly appointed by the king. </p> <p> In the NT the word usually represents Gr. <em> hçgemôn </em> , and is used of Pontius Pilate (&nbsp; Luke 3:1 etc.), of [[Felix]] (&nbsp; Acts 23:26 ), and of [[Festus]] (&nbsp; Acts 26:30 ). The proper title of these governors was ‘ <strong> procurator </strong> ’ (Tac. <em> Ann </em> . xv. 44), of which originally <em> eparchos </em> and then <em> epitropos </em> were the Gr. equivalents. Josephus, however, uses <em> hçgemôn </em> , as well as these words, for the governor of Judæa, so that there is no inaccuracy in its employment by NT writers. But, being a general word, it does not help us to decide the nature of the ‘governorship’ of Quirinius (&nbsp; Luke 2:2 ). The procurator, originally a financial official, was appointed directly by the Emperor to govern provinces, such as Thrace, Cappadocia, and Judæa, which were in a transitional state, being no longer ruled by subject kings, but not yet fully Romanized, and requiring special treatment. The procurator was in a sense subordinate to the legate of the neighbouring ‘province,’ <em> e.g. </em> [[Cappadocia]] to Galatia, Judæa to Syria; but except in emergencies he had full authority, military, judicial, and financial. In &nbsp; 1 Peter 2:14 the word is specially appropriate to any provincial governor, as ‘sent’ by the Emperor. In &nbsp; 2 Corinthians 11:32 it represents ‘ <strong> ethnarch </strong> ,’ a word apparently used originally of the ruler of a nation ( <em> ethnos </em> ) living with laws of its own in a foreign community; but as applied to [[Aretas]] it may mean no more than petty king. In &nbsp; Galatians 4:2 it means ‘ <strong> steward </strong> ’ (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ), the ‘tutor’ controlling the ward’s person, the steward his property (Lightfoot, <em> ad loc. </em> ). In &nbsp; James 3:4 RV [Note: Revised Version.] has ‘steersman.’ The ‘ <strong> governor of the feast </strong> ’ (&nbsp; John 2:8 , RV [Note: Revised Version.] ‘ruler’) was probably a guest, not a servant, chosen to control and arrange for the feast; It is doubtful whether he is to be identified with the ‘friend of the bridegroom’ or best man. </p> <p> C. W. Emmet. </p>

<li> A director, i.e., helmsman; Lat. gubernator, (&nbsp;James 3:4 ). <div> <p> '''Copyright Statement''' These dictionary topics are from M.G. Easton M.A., D.D., Illustrated Bible Dictionary, Third Edition, published by [[Thomas]] Nelson, 1897. Public Domain. </p> <p> '''Bibliography Information''' Easton, Matthew George. Entry for 'Governor'. Easton's Bible Dictionary. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ebd/g/governor.html. 1897. </p> </div> </li>