H0323 H0323
Satraps; Persian provincial governors who administered the empire's territories
A loanword from Old Persian (khshatrapavan, 'protectors of the realm'), designating the highest-ranking provincial governors in the Achaemenid Empire. The term appears exclusively in the late biblical books of Ezra and Esther, reflecting the Persian administrative world in which post-exilic Jews lived. In Esther, the satraps are among the officials who receive and implement royal decrees — including both Haman's genocidal edict (Esth 3:12) and Mordecai's counter-decree (Esth 8:9; 9:3). Ezra 8:36 shows returned exiles presenting royal orders to these same officials.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Satraps — Persian imperial governors over provinces. English renders 'the-satraps' and 'satraps-of,' Spanish 'los-sátrapas' and 'sátrapas-de,' clearly treating it as a recognized political title. French and German preserve the Hebrew form directly, suggesting the term remained somewhat exotic even in translation. All four passages (Ezra 8:36; Esth 3:12; 8:9; 9:3) depict satraps as powerful administrators who enforced royal decrees across the Persian Empire's vast provincial system, underscoring the political reality the Jewish diaspora navigated. 4×
AR["الْوُلَاةِ", "لِ-مَرازِبَة", "وَ‒الأَخَشْدَرْفَنِينَ", "وُلَاةِ"]·ben["-ক্ষত্রপদের-", "ও-ক্ষত্রপরা", "মহাক্ষত্রপদের-কাছে", "সামন্তশাসকদের"]·DE["[אחשדרפני]", "[האחשדרפנים]", "[והאחשדרפנים]", "[לאחשדרפני]"]·EN["and-the-satraps", "satraps-of-", "the-satraps", "to-the-satraps-of"]·FR["[אחשדרפני]", "[האחשדרפנים]", "[והאחשדרפנים]", "[לאחשדרפני]"]·heb["אחשדרפני", "ה-אחשדרפנים", "ו-ה-אחשדרפנים", "ל-אחשדרפני"]·HI["और-क्षत्रप", "क्षत्रपों", "क्षत्रपों-को"]·ID["dan-satrap-satrap", "kepada-para-satrap", "satrap-satrap"]·IT["[אחשדרפני]", "[האחשדרפנים]", "[והאחשדרפנים]", "[לאחשדרפני]"]·jav["dhateng-para-satarap", "lan-para-wakil-raja", "para-wakil-raja-"]·KO["그-총독들에게-", "그리고-총독들과", "에게-총독들", "태수들에게-"]·PT["aos-sátrapas-de", "e-os-sátrapas", "os-sátrapas", "sátrapas-de-"]·RU["и-сатрапы", "сатрапам", "сатрапам-"]·ES["a-los-sátrapas-de", "los-sátrapas", "sátrapas-de", "y-los-sátrapas"]·SW["kwa-maliwali", "na-kwa", "na-magavana", "na-maliwali"]·TR["satraplara-", "satraplarnia", "satraplarına-", "ve-satrapları"]·urd["اور-صوبےدار", "صوبےداروں", "صُوبہ-داروں-کو"]
Related Senses
H4421 1. war, battle, armed conflict (319×)H0341 1. enemy, adversary, foe (284×)H3898a 1. Nifal: to fight, wage war (167×)H2026 1. kill, slay (active) (146×)H2451 1. wisdom, discernment (146×)H5483b 1. horse (the animal) (138×)H0006 1. to perish, be destroyed (105×)H7843 1. Hifil: destroy, annihilate (83×)H2491a 1. slain, fatally pierced (74×)H6862c 1. adversary, enemy, foe (69×)H8045 1. destroy, exterminate (69×)G0615 1. kill, put to death (60×)H6571b 1. horseman, cavalryman (52×)H8077a 1. desolation, waste (abstract state) (52×)G4678 1. of wisdom (51×)G4717 1. crucify, fasten to a cross (46×)H2763a 1. utterly destroy (Hifil active) (44×)G0622 1. perish, be destroyed (intransitive) (41×)H0006 2. to destroy, annihilate (Piel) (38×)H8074 1. be desolate, lie waste (36×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנִים n.m.pl. satraps (Pers. Khshatřapâvan, protectors of the realm, v. SpiegAPK 215 = ἐξατράπης, σατράπης, cf. Lag G. Abh. 68, 14; Sem. i. 42f, who rds אַחְשַׁדְרְפָן)—א׳ Est 8:9; 9:3; cstr. אֲחַשְׁדַּרְפְּנֵי 3:12 Ezr 8:36.