Easton's Bible Dictionary: M. G. Easton, M.A., D.D.

Governor

  1. Heb.nagid, a prominent, conspicuous person, whatever his capacity: as, chief of the royal palace (2 Chr. 28:7; comp. 1 Ki. 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 Ki. 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 (Mic. 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 Ki. 22:26, 20:15; 2 Ki. 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 Ki. 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 Ki. 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 (Mt. 27:2). (Comp. Lk. 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 (Jn. 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, (Jas. 3:4).

Original from The Bible Foundation - bf.org. They claim public domain status for their original text.