383. Tirshatha

From: Manners and Customs of the Bible By: James M. Freeman

Nehemiah 7:65⁶⁵And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim. (Nehemiah 7:65). And the Tirshatha said unto them.

This was the title of the Persian governor of Judea. Gesenius derives the word from the Persian torsh: “severe,” “austere,” which would make the meaning equivalent to your Severity. He compares it with the German gestrenger Herr, (that is, your “Worship”; but, literally, Severe Master,) a title which was formerly given to the magistrates of the free and imperial German cities. The English have a corresponding expression: “most dread Sovereign.”

See also Ezra 2:63⁶³And the Tirshatha said unto them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, till there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim. (Ezra 2:63); Nehemiah 7:70; 8:9; 10:1⁷⁰And some of the chief of the fathers gave unto the work. The Tirshatha gave to the treasure a thousand drams of gold, fifty basons, five hundred and thirty priests' garments. (Nehemiah 7:70)
⁹And Nehemiah, which is the Tirshatha, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites that taught the people, said unto all the people, This day is holy unto the Lord your God; mourn not, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law. (Nehemiah 8:9)
¹Now those that sealed were, Nehemiah, the Tirshatha, the son of Hachaliah, and Zidkijah, (Nehemiah 10:1).

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