Tirshatha
The official title of the Persian governor of Judaea (Ezr 2:63; Neh 7:65; Neh 7:70); applied to Nehemiah (Neh 8:9; Neh 10:1); also to Zerubbabel (Ezr 2:63). From a Persian root, "his severity." Like the German title of consuls of free and imperial cities, gestrenger herr. So "our most dread sovereign." Pecheh (our pasha) is the title of Nehemiah in Neh 12:26; Hag 1:1; Hag 2:2; Ezr 5:3; implying governor of a province less than a satrapy.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia on Tirshatha
Tirshatha ter-sha'-tha, tur'-sha-tha (tirshatha'; Hathersatha): A title which occurs 5 times in Ezra and Nehemiah (Ezr 2:63; Ne 7:65, the American Standard Revised Version and the English Revised Version margin "governor"). In Ne 8:9; 10:1, Nehemiah is called the tirshatha'. In Ezr 2:63; Ne 7:65,70, it is the title of Sheshbazzar, or Zerubbabel. As in Ne 12:26, Nehemiah is called a pechah, or governor, a title which in Ezr 5:14 is given to Sheshbazzar also, it has been supposed that pechah and tirshatha' were equivalent terms, the former being of Assyrio-Babylonian and the latter of Persian origin. According to Lagarde, it comes from the Bactrian antarekshatra, that is, "he who takes the place of the king." According to Meyer and Scheftelowitz it is a modified form of a hypothetical Old Persian word tarsata. According to Gesenius and Ewald, it is to be compared with the Persian torsh, "severe," "austere," i.e. "stern lord." It seems more probable that it is derived from the Babylonian root rashu, "to take possession of," from which we get the noun rashu, "creditor." In this case it m…
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible on Tirshatha
The word occurs in five places ; the LXX omits it altogether in Neh 8" 10' ; reads on the doubtful authority of a late corrector 'AeapaaSd in Neh 7"; and in Ezr 2<^, Neh 1" fluctuates between A 'ABep(ja.dA, B 'Adepaad, and 'kaepaaOd. The term occurs also under the dis- guised form of Attharias in 1 Es S*" and of Atthar- ates in 1 Es 9"* (cf. vol. i. p. 203). That the word is the name of an oifice, is indicated by the constant presence of the article ; but Ewald's (UI, Eng. tr. V. 87) conjecture of the high-shrievalty is not happy. The word is genuine Persian, a modified form of a hj'pothetical Old Pers. tarsata (cf. J. Scheftelowitz, Ariseh^ imAT, p. 93), of which ' his reverence ' in its literal sense and not in its ecclesiastical usage may be taken as a close modern erjuivalent. In Neh 12^ and elsewhere, for the Persian term is substituted the Semitic nnrrt (see GovEliNoi;), which is the title of the prefect or viceroy, with both civil and military functions, of a province or smaller district under either Assyrian or Persian rule. The ap])ointment was made directly by the king ; an…
Smith's Bible Dictionary on Tirshatha
(always written with the article), the title of the governor of Judea under the Persians, perhaps derived from a Persian root signifying stern, severe, is added as a title after the name of Nehemiah, (Nehemiah 8:9; 10:1) and occurs also in three other places. In the margin of the Authorized Version (Ezra 2:63; Nehemiah 7:65; 10:1) it is rendered “governor.”
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- Easton, M.G. (1893) Easton's Bible Dictionary. 3rd edn. Thomas Nelson. [Public Domain]
- Nave, O.J. (1897) Nave's Topical Bible. Topical Bible Publishing Co.. [Public Domain]
- Hastings, J. (ed.) (1909) A Dictionary of the Bible. Edinburgh: T&T Clark. [Public Domain]
- Smith, W. (ed.) (1884) Smith's Bible Dictionary. London: John Murray. [Public Domain]
- Fausset, A.R. (1878) Fausset's Bible Dictionary. [Public Domain]A Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopaedia