ἐθνάρχης

From the study of 2 Corinthians 11:32

Range of meaning

'Ruler of an ethnos', meaning a people, nation or ethnic group. It was used for (1) a native ruler below the rank of king, ruling a people under a higher power; (2) the recognised head of an ethnic community living inside a foreign city; (3) a tribal chief or sheikh, especially among the Arab peoples of the Syrian desert. The title describes authority over a people rather than over a territory.

Against the English

BSB, KJV, WEB, NIV, ESV and NLT say 'governor'. NASB and YLT keep 'ethnarch'. 'Governor' suggests an official appointed to run the city. That is one possible meaning, but the Greek does not require it.

How it drifted

'Governor' is a translator's guess at an unfamiliar title. English readers think of a Roman provincial governor or a state governor, and so assume the whole city was under Nabataean government. Ancient evidence for that is thin.

Used elsewhere in the period

In 1 Maccabees 14:47 and 15:1–2, Simon the Hasmonean is 'high priest and ethnarch of the Jews'. Josephus says Julius Caesar made Hyrcanus II ethnarch (Antiquities 14.191), and Augustus gave Herod's son Archelaus the title 'ethnarch' instead of 'king' (Antiquities 17.317; War 2.93). Josephus also quotes Strabo on an 'ethnarch' who governed the Jewish community of Alexandria inside a Greek city (Antiquities 14.117). Greek inscriptions from the Hauran and the desert fringe of Syria use the word for Arab tribal leaders.