Ezra 5:3 - Exposition

Tatnai , governor on this side the river . The title given to Tatnai is the same which is assigned to Zerubbabel, both in Ezra 6:7 and in Haggai ( Haggai 1:1 , Haggai 1:14 , etc.), viz; pechah , which is a somewhat vague term of authority, translated sometimes "captain" ( 1 Kings 20:24 ; Daniel 3:2 , Daniel 3:3 , etc.), sometimes "deputy ( Esther 8:9 ; Esther 9:3 ), but generally, as here, "governor." The etymology is uncertain, but seems not to be Semitic. The respective rank of Tatnai and Zerub-babel is indicated, not by this term, but by what follows it. Tatnai was pechah " be yond the river," i.e. governor of the whole tract west of the Euphrates; Zerubbabel was pechah of Judah only. A Greek writer would have called the one " satrap of Syria," the other " sub-satrap of Judaea." It was the duty of Tatuai to watch the proceedings of his sub-satraps.