H8674 H8674
Tattenai, Persian official; governor of the province Beyond the River under Darius I
A proper name designating the Persian prefect who governed the Trans-Euphrates region (Syria-Palestine) during the early reign of Darius I. Tattenai investigated the Jerusalem temple reconstruction and corresponded with the Persian court about the Jews' authorization (Ezra 5:3, 6; 6:6, 13). Contemporary cuneiform tablets confirm a similar figure—Uštanni or Uštanu—as prefect in this region, suggesting textual identification with this biblical character.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Identifies a specific Persian administrator who plays a pivotal role in the Ezra narrative. Unlike hostile figures in Ezra 4, Tattenai conducts a legitimate investigation and, upon discovering Cyrus's original decree in the archives at Ecbatana, facilitates the temple's completion. The name appears consistently across translations, reflecting its function as a proper noun. His correspondence exemplifies Persian bureaucratic procedure—formal inquiry, archival research, imperial confirmation. 4×
AR["تَتْناي"]·ben["তত্তনয়"]·DE["[תתני]"]·EN["Tatnay", "Tattenay"]·FR["[תתני]"]·heb["תתני", "תתני ׀"]·HI["तत्तनै"]·ID["Tatnai"]·IT["Tattenai"]·jav["Tatnai", "gubernur"]·KO["닷니"]·PT["Tatnai"]·RU["Таттенай"]·ES["Tatnai"]·SW["Tatenai"]·TR["Tattenay"]·urd["تتنی", "تتنی-نے"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† תַּתְּנַי n.pr.m. Pers. prefect in Syria;—Ezr 5:3, 6; 6:6, 13; Θανθανας, Τανθαναι, A Θαθθαναι; 𝔊L Τανθαναιος, Σισιννης; Σισιννης also 3 Esdr 6:3; 7:26 JosAnt. xi, 12, 89, etc. (Lag Psalt. Hieron 162 n.; AS § 1335 n.; MeyEntst. J. 32 assumes *OP *Thithnaya, or Thathnaia); but Uštanni, Uštanu, was prefect in Syria under Darius, according to contr. tablets, v. Strassm Darius 27, 82; names prob.…