Chancellor

CHANCELLOR. A Persian official in Palestine (Ezra.4.8-Ezra.4.9, Ezra.4.17 kjv). RSV translates this word as “commander,” NIV “commanding officer.”

---

In the Middle Ages, the chancellor acted as secretary to the cathedral chapter. In the Church of England now, he usually has jurisdiction (authorized by a patent under the seal of the bishop) over the consistory court, and is the chief representative of the bishop in the administration of the temporal affairs of his diocese. Not normally ordained, the chancellor must be at least twenty-six years old, “learned in the civil and ecclesiastical laws and at least a Master of Arts, or Bachelor of Law”; he must be “zealously bent to religion,” must take the oath of allegiance, and assent to the Articles of Religion. He issues marriage licenses through his surrogates, hears applications for faculties, dispensations, etc., and hears complaints against clerics for immorality.

---

CHANCELLOR (בְּעֵל־טְעֵ֗ם). An officer in the Pers. court (Ezra 4:8, 9, 17 KJV; RSV COMMANDER).

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915)

chan’-sel-er: The rendering in Ezr 4:8,9,17 of the Hebrew be`el Te`em; Septuagint Baal (4:9), Balgam (4:17), the latter being an incorrect translation of Hebrew `ayin. In 1 Esdras 2:16,25, Beeltethmos (compare Ezr 4:8) occurs as a corruption, doubtless of be`el Te`em. The term in question designates an Assyrian office, namely, that of the "master or lord of official intelligence," or "postmaster" (Sayce).