ETNARCH (gr. ἐπισκέφας). — Etymologically the term signifies the head of a particular ethnic group. The word is very rare in the classical world (found in Lucian, Macrobius, 17) and appears to have been used in the Semitic world.
A certain Nabatean bore the title of e. under King Aretas (2 Cor 11:32) in Damascus. Among the Jews, the first e. appeared at the time of the Maccabees, when the Seleucid kings imposed this title on an authority representing the inhabitants of Judea before the central government. In practice, this amounted to sanctioning a relationship of a vassal state with rather extensive powers (1 Macc 14:47; 15:2). The Romans reestablished the same hierarchy when they appointed Hyrcanus I (v.) as e. of the Jews. Later, Archelaus (v.) saw his broad title of king replaced by that of e. under Augustus.
Outside of Palestine, the Jewish community of Alexandria was governed by an e. with supreme powers in internal matters and great authority to deal with the imperial government (Flavius Josephus, Ant. Jud., XIV, 117).