Tirshatha

Tirshatha is a Persian title for the governor of the post-exilic Judean province. In the UPDV the underlying word is rendered "the governor" rather than transliterated, so the title surfaces in the prose only as the official acting in the returned community.

At the Sorting of the Priestly Lines

When returning families could not produce their priestly genealogy, the governor's ruling fenced them from the most holy food until a priest with Urim and Thummim could decide their case. The Ezra register reads, "And the governor said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, until there stood up a priest with Urim and with Thummim" (Ezr 2:63). The Nehemiah parallel matches it: "And the governor said to them, that they should not eat of the most holy things, until there stood up a priest with Urim and Thummim" (Neh 7:65).

At the Funding of the Work

The same office is named in the contributions list for the rebuilding work: "And some from among the heads of fathers' [houses] gave to the work. The governor gave to the treasury a thousand darics of gold, fifty basins, five hundred and thirty priests' garments" (Neh 7:70).

Nehemiah Named as the Governor

In the law-reading scene the title is attached by name to Nehemiah. He, with Ezra and the Levites, addresses the assembly: "And Nehemiah, who was the governor, and Ezra the priest the scribe, and the Levites who taught the people, said to all the people, This day is holy to Yahweh your⁺ God; don't mourn, nor weep. For all the people wept, when they heard the words of the law" (Neh 8:9).