Governor
Easton's Dictionary
(1.) Heb. nagid, a prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (2 Chr. 28:7; comp. 1 Kings 4:6), chief of the temple (1 Chr. 9:11; Jer. 20:1), the leader of the Aaronites (1 Chr. 12:27), keeper of the sacred treasury (26:24), captain of the army (13:1), the king (1 Sam. 9:16), the Messiah (Dan. 9:25).
(2.) Heb. nasi, raised; exalted. Used to denote the chiefs of families (Num. 3:24, 30, 32, 35); also of tribes (2:3; 7:2; 3:32). These dignities appear to have been elective, not hereditary.
(3.) Heb. pakid, an officer or magistrate. It is used of the delegate of the high priest (2 Chr. 24:11), the Levites (Neh. 11:22), a military commander (2 Kings 25:19), Joseph’s officers in Egypt (Gen. 41:34).
(4.) Heb. shallit, one who has power, who rules (Gen. 42:6; Ezra 4:20; Eccl. 8:8; Dan. 2:15; 5:29).
(5.) Heb. aluph, literally one put over a thousand, i.e., a clan or a subdivision of a tribe. Used of the “dukes” of Edom (Gen. 36), and of the Jewish chiefs (Zech. 9:7).
(6.) Heb. moshel, one who rules, holds dominion. Used of many classes of rulers (Gen. 3:16; 24:2; 45:8; Ps. 105:20); of the Messiah (Micah 5:2); of God (1 Chr. 29:12; Ps. 103:19).
(7.) Heb. sar, a ruler or chief; a word of very general use. It is used of the chief baker of Pharaoh (Gen. 40:16); of the chief butler (40:2, etc. See also Gen. 47:6; Ex. 1:11; Dan. 1:7; Judg. 10:18; 1 Kings 22:26; 20:15; 2 Kings 1:9; 2 Sam. 24:2). It is used also of angels, guardian angels (Dan. 10:13, 20, 21; 12:1; 10:13; 8:25).
(8.) Pehah, whence pasha, i.e., friend of the king; adjutant; governor of a province (2 Kings 18:24; Isa. 36:9; Jer. 51: 57; Ezek. 23:6, 23; Dan. 3:2; Esther 3: 12), or a perfect (Neh. 3:7; 5:14; Ezra 5:3; Hag. 1:1). This is a foreign word, Assyrian, which was early adopted into the Hebrew idiom (1 Kings 10:15).
(9.) The Chaldean word segan is applied to the governors of the Babylonian satrapies (Dan. 3:2, 27; 6:7); the prefects over the Magi (2:48). The corresponding Hebrew word segan is used of provincial rulers (Jer. 51:23, 28, 57); also of chiefs and rulers of the people of Jerusalem (Ezra 9:2; Neh. 2:16; 4:14, 19; 5:7, 17; 7:5; 12:40).
In the New Testament there are also different Greek words rendered thus.
(1.) Meaning an ethnarch (2 Cor. 11:32), which was an office distinct from military command, with considerable latitude of application.
(2.) The procurator of Judea under the Romans (Matt. 27:2). (Comp. Luke 2:2, where the verb from which the Greek word so rendered is derived is used.)
(3.) Steward (Gal. 4:2).
(4.) Governor of the feast (John 2:9), who appears here to have been merely an intimate friend of the bridegroom, and to have presided at the marriage banquet in his stead.
(5.) A director, i.e., helmsman; Lat. gubernator, (James 3:4).
Smith's Dictionary
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 king’s 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 king’s 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.