ETHNARCH éth’ närk (ἐθνάρχης, G1617, found only once—2 Cor 11:32, “At Damascus, the governor [ethnarch] under King Aretas”). Paul in recounting his narrow escape from this officer uses this peculiar title of Gr. origin. It is a composite of the words, ἐθνος, “a company living together,” “body of people” and, ἀρχων, “ruler,” “prince.” It appears after the Hel. expansion under Alexander the Great and has various meanings ascribed by it. Usually it was the title of a governor of a town or county, who ruled for an overlord of a different race or culture than the subjects. Unfortunately none of the classical historians of the Hel. age give its origin. It is used by Strabo, the Byzantine Encyclopedists, and the LXX VS of the Apoc., e.g. 1 Maccabees 14:47 wherein it is applied to the high priest Simon as a representative of Syria. The chiefs of the seven districts of Rom. Egypt bore the title, as did the princes of the Bosporus under Caesar Augustus. The incident mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:32f. appears to be identical to the one narrated in Acts 9:22-26. In the latter text, it is the Jews who waited night and day to kill the apostle. The two texts, however, complement each other; the ethnarch of Damascus would have been a Jew, as indicated by the use of the term for Jewish magistrates in the communities of the Diaspora (e.g. Josephus [Jos. Antiq. XIV. vii. 2 et al.] but it is replaced by the more familiar στρατηγος, in certain editions). The point of the text is that the Jews were incensed against Paul. Damascus was at this time under the Arabian King Aretas, the father-in-law of Herod Antipas. So unusual was it for Damascus to have an ethnarch in control that Paul mentions it and it adds immeasurably to the historicity and situation of his narrative. Such details are by the nature of their accidence beyond the reach of invention and add an incontrovertible essence of authenticity to the Scripture account.