GOVERNOR, a term used by the A. V. to denote various degrees of authority and power : absolute and limited, acquired by_ birth or by election, military and civil. The numerous and mostly yague original terms are found in other passages translated by ruler, chief, prince, cap Min, one who reigneth, holds dominion,' etc..
LXX., apxcev, inqu'av etc. ; Luther: Regent, 'Oberst, Fiirst, Befehls'haber, etc. Yet there is, in some cases at least, a distinc. tive meaning inherent as well in the roots as in the peculiar formation of the respective words of the text. So that, however much their primary significance may have been widened in the course of time,—in accordance with the ever-shifting circumstances of the Jewish commonwealth,—we are occasionally still able to trace it to a certain deg-ree ; aided chiefly by comparisons with cognate idioms. In stances of the different applications, principally of the Hebrew terms, in the Bible, no less than in the Rabbinical writings, will further illustrate their meaning and history.
We shall commence our list with those words of the O. T., the Katfil- or Katil-form of which points them out at once as participles passive : or, in other words, that the power which they express is a more or less delegated one—undoubtedly the first form of dominion and nilership. Next we shall enumerate those formed from the participle active, and finally speak of the one foreign, probably Per sian, equivalent introduced, together with the cor responding dignity and office, at a very early period, into the Hebrew language and community.
1+):, Nagi'd ; Phcen. t•.;`,p); Ar. ; Syr. 1?0_1/4e, from 1.1), a verb only used in Hiph. and Hoph. in the signification of to tell.
The original meaning of this verb is to rise, to become conspicuous, visible, to be in front (cf. 1))), firaesto, vorstehen, to lead, to be first ;' [Germ., Furst.-- Prince]. The substantive 'r,n is used of • a chief or prefect, governor' of the royal palace (Azrikam) ; rozri,, 2 Chron. 7 (—
royi, Kinrrs iv. 6 ; rozri it',"N, Is. xxii• 15 ; oltcbitoitor, ch'arnberlain, secretary of state), whose power 0-1.emt.,$) seems to have been very consider able, cf. Is. xxii. 21, ff. (`Shebnah . . . a nail to the throne '), and who, it would appear, was dis timmished from the other court officers by a parti curarly brilliant uniform (girdle and robe), and to whose insignia belonged o. key worn over the shoulder. In a wider sense the word is applied to the chief of the temple : Azariah, the high-priest, ruler of the House of God,' Chron. ix. II (2 Chron. xxxi. 13) ; Pashur, chief governor of the House of God' (Jer. xx. 1) ; further, to the leader of the Aaronites,' Jehojadah (r Chron. xii. 27). Again, it is used of the keeper of the sacred treasury, Shebuel, ruler of the treasures,' Chron. xxvi. 24 ; of the chieftains of a tribe, Zebadiah, the ruler of the house of Judah ' (2 Chron. xix. rr) ; of the captains' of the army (r Chron. xiii. ; 2 Chron. xxxii. 21) ; of the eldest son of the king, thc heir-apparent Abijah, the son of Maachah [the chief] to be ruler among his brethren' (2 Chron. xi. 22). It is finally applied to the king him self :—to Saul (A. V. 'anoint him to be cap tain,' I Sam. ix. 16, etc.), to Cyrus, -on rovn, Messiah [the Anointed], the Prince' (Dan. ix. 25, etc.) In Plur. the word occurs in the more gene ral sense of Aristocracy, Nobles,' (Prov. viii. 16). The Tarmim renders nroutiv, their judges,' by j1r114='; and in the Talmud t4.1'.n is used para.
bolically for 'leader of a flock' (cf. Z..; b'Zn) ; .
Nn't= N1'n "OnV rr)3, N41/1 Prl 'When the shepherd is angry with his flock he gives it a blind leader' (Baba K. 52)-a corrupt generation to which God appoints a bad king. How far the Tahnudical use of in the sense of flagellate' (Pes. 52) and of extend' (Baba Mez. 74), may be connected with the notion of supremacy, reign, we cannot decide here.
N't% Nast ; from NZ), to carry, lift up; lit.