Aramaic word · H671

אֲפָֽרְסְכָיֵא

'afarsekhaye'

governors

Uncertain. Most modern lexicons (e.g. HALOT) take it as a Persian title, probably from an Old Iranian word meaning 'investigators, inspectors' or 'officials'. It appears only here and in Ezra 6:6; a similar word appears in Ezra 4:9.

A Biblical Aramaic word, from the parts of the Old Testament written in Aramaic. Why Aramaic?

Appears 3 times in 3 verses of the Aramaic of the Old Testament. ·

What it means

Apharsachites = "as causers of division (?)" Apharsathchites = "I will divide the deceivers (?)"

1) (CLBL) an unknown office

2) (BDB) perhaps an office or an official

3) (TWOT)

3a) a people

3b) perhaps a title of an official

Also named: a.phar.sat.te.khay (אֲפָֽרְסַתְּכָיֵא "govenors" H0671B)

Abridged from Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Ezra 5:6

Range of meaning

Uncertain. Most modern lexicons (e.g. HALOT) take it as a Persian title, probably from an Old Iranian word meaning 'investigators, inspectors' or 'officials'. It appears only here and in Ezra 6:6; a similar word appears in Ezra 4:9.

Against the English

KJV, WEB and YLT transliterate it as 'Apharsachites', which reads like the name of a tribe. BSB 'the officials', ESV 'the governors' and NASB 'the officials' treat it as a title.

How it drifted

The ancient Greek and Latin translators did not recognise the Persian word and simply transliterated it, as if it were a people's name; the KJV followed this tradition.

Used elsewhere in the period

Ezra 5:6; 6:6 (compare 4:9). The Persian administration used inspectors who reported to the king; Greek sources speak of the 'King's Eye' and 'King's Ears' (Herodotus 1.114; Xenophon, Cyropaedia 8.2.10–12), though no direct link to this exact word can be proven.

Where it appears

Ezra · 3

  1. Ezra 4:9 וַאֲפַרְסַתְכָיֵ֞א and officials the

    From Rehum the commander, Shimshai the scribe, and the rest of their associates—the judges and officials over Tripolis, Persia, Erech and Babylon, the Elamites of Susa,

    Here: 'And the envoys/officials': probably an Old Persian title for a kind of commissioned official, perhaps an envoy or investigator. KJV turned it into a people, the 'Apharsathchites'.

  2. Ezra 5:6 אֲפַ֨רְסְכָיֵ֔א officials the

    This is the text of the letter that Tattenai the governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and their associates, the officials in the region, sent to King Darius.

    Here: Probably a Persian title, 'the investigators/inspectors', in apposition to 'his colleagues', describing what they were. Older translations took it as the name of a people ('Apharsachites').

  3. Ezra 6:6 אֲפַרְסְכָיֵ֔א officials the

    Therefore Darius decreed: To Tattenai governor of the region west of the Euphrates, Shethar-bozenai, and your associates and officials in the region: You must stay away from that place!

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.