RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
G-ough Governor
for church history, but retaining his chair of Hebrew.
GOVERNOR : The title of an administrative political officer. In the Old Testament the term " governor" is used almost exclusively for the Biblical Hebrew pehah, though the Hebrew Use of word is not always translated by Term. " governor." " Governor " is found in the books of Ezra (v. 3-14, vi. 6, 13, viii. 36), Nehemiah (ii. 7, 9, iii. 7 etc.), Esther (iii. 12) etc.; but in other passages of the Old Testament pehah is rendered " captain " (Jer. Ii. 23, 28; Ezek. xxiii. 6, 23; Dan. iii. 27, etc.), or " deputy " (Esther viii. 9, ix. 3). The Hebrew term is to be traced back to the Assyrian bel pihdtu, " ruler of a district," and denotes the civil ruler of a district who is dependent upon the sovereign and is entrusted with the chief military command. The term is used in the Old Testament of Israelitic, Syriac, Assyrian, Chaldean, and Persian governors. Above the pehah stood, according to Ezra viii. 36, Esther iii. 12, the " king's lieutenants," but their mutual relation is not entirely clear; lower in rank stood the seganim, " rulers " (Dan. iii. 2, 27; Jer. Ii. 23, 28, 57; Ezek. xxiii. 6, 12, 23). The corresponding term hegemon, hegemoneuon, in the New Testament is rendered throughout by " governor," whether it refers to an imperial legate of Syria (Luke ii. 2), or a procurator of Judea (Matt, xxvii. 2, 11, 14 etc.; Luke iii. 1 ; Acts xxiii. 24, 26), or a Roman governor in general (Matt. x. 18; I Peter ii. 14). The Greek anthypatos, which corresponds to the Roman title " proconsul," is translated in the Authorized Version by " deputy," in the Revised Version by " proconsul."
The official position and authority which these three classes of Roman governors — proconsuls, legates, and procurators — exercised in Appoint- New Testament times rested upon the ment and regulations of Augustus for the admin- Duties of istration of the Roman provinces. The Roman provinces of the Roman empire were Governors, divided into consular and pretorian, and were entrusted to men of proconsular rank with the chief command of an army or to propretors without such a command; but the office carried with it almost sovereign power. After Augustus, through the victory of Actium, 31 b.c, had become ruler, the senate conferred upon him the chief military command, and in this way he controlled all provinces that were endangered by external attacks or internal disturbances, while the peaceful provinces, i.e., mostly those nearest to Italy, remained under the direction of the senate; but even these were dependent upon the emperor in virtue of his dignity as general governor of all provinces. For the appointment of governors in the senatorial provinces, such as Ba3tica, Sicily, Africa, Crete, and Cyrene, the republican forms were preserved as far as possible, especially election by lot, duration of office one year, and the distinction between proconsular and pretorian provinces; but the distinction of title was removed — the governors of all senatorial provinces, whether of consular or pretorian rank, were without exception called proconsuls. In accordance with this principle, the
New Testament designates the governors of the provinces of Cyprus and Achaia, Sergius Paulus (Acts xiii. 7, 8, 12) and Gallio, the brother of Seneca (Acts xviii. 12), proconsuls (A.V " deputies "). The governors in the organized and independent imperial provinces, Britain, Gaul, Spain, Upper and Lower Germany, Pannonia, Dacia, Mcesia, Cilicia, Syria, Numidia, Arabia, and Assyria were appointed by the emperor himself, not for one year, but for an indefinite time; he could therefore recall them at will. Like the proconsuls of the senatorial provinces, they were chosen from former consuls and pretors, but in their office they had only pretorian rank, and were called not proconsuls, but as mere mandatories of the emperor, legates, more completely legati Ccesaris. There was, however, a distinction between legati consulares and legati prastorii ; as compared with proconsuls of the senatorial provinces, they possessed considerably greater power because they were entrusted with full military command. From these two kinds of provincial governors in the proper sense are to be distinguished the Roman officers in dependencies which, for various reasons, had not yet been included within the legal and administrative organization of the Roman empire. The governors in such territories were not so much state officers as administrators of the imperial court, and therefore they were chosen by the emperor himself, not from the senators, but from the nobility, and received subordinate titles. In a few districts they were called prefects, but in most of the territories belonging in this category, such as Mauretania, Rhstia, Vindilecia, Noricum, Thracia, Corsica, and Judea, the official title was procurator.
The relation of the procurators of Judea to the legates of Syria can not be accurately defined. After Pompey, in 64 b.c, had made Syria Governors proper a Roman province, he subjected of Judea. Palestine to Roman supremacy, incorporating a part in the province of Syria and subjecting the remainder to the supervision of the legate of Syria. But it is not clear whether this subjection to Syria was still in force when the territory of Archelaus, in the year 6 a.d., was subjected to immediate Roman rule under the administration of procurators. In the interior the power of the procurator of Judea was not much restricted by the Jewish administration which the Romans left in force in accordance with their usual practise. The Sanhedrin (q.v.) or college of elders at Jerusalem was allowed to continue the exercise of its administrative and legal functions in the southern part of the country or Judea proper, but in all its activity it remained dependent upon the consent of the procurator, as may be seen from the trial and condemnation of Jesus. But Roman citizens living in Judea were under the jurisdiction of the procurator (Acts xxiii. 24); they might even contest the judgment of the procurator and appeal their cause to the imperial court in Rome (Acts xxv. 10). The procurator of Judea, it is true, had command over the troops in the province, but this was of little importance since only a few cohorts were at his disposal. The seat of government and the residence of the procurator were at Caesarea (Acts
Governor Grace