Category:Deputy

Dep"u*ty, n.; pl. Deputies. Etym: [F. député, fr. LL. deputatus. See Depute.]

1. One appointed as the substitue of another, and empowered to act for him, in his name or his behalf; a substitute in office; a lieutenant; a representative; a delegate; a vicegerent; as, the deputy of a prince, of a sheriff, of a township, etc. There was then [in the days of Jehoshaphat] no king in Edom; a deputy was king. 1 Kings 22:47. God's substitute, His deputy anointed in His sight. Shak.

Note: Deputy is used in combination with the names of various executive officers, to denote an assistant empowered to act in their name; as, deputy collector, deputy marshal, deputy sheriff.

2. A member of the Chamber of Deputies. [France] Chamber of Deputies, one of the two branches of the French legilative assembly; -- formerly called Corps Législatif. Its members, called deputies, are elected by the people voting in districts.

Syn. -- Substitute; representative; legate; delegate; envoy; agent; factor.

---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary.

Deputy - In 1 Kings 22:47, means a prefect; one set over others. The same Hebrew word is rendered "officer;" i.e., chief of the commissariat appointed by Solomon (1 Kings 4:5, etc.). In Esther 8:9; Esther 9:3 (R.V., "governor") it denotes a Persian prefect "on this side" i.e., in the region west of the Euphrates. It is the modern word pasha. In Acts 13:7, Acts 13:8, Acts 13:12; Acts 18:12, it denotes a proconsul; i.e., the governor of a Roman province holding his appointment from the senate. The Roman provinces were of two kinds, (1.) senatorial and (2.) imperial. The appointment of a governor to the former was in the hands of the senate, and he bore the title of proconsul (Gr. anthupatos ). The appointment of a governor to the latter was in the hands of the emperor, and he bore the title of propraetor (Gr. antistrategos).