SATRAPS

sa'-traps, sat'-raps ('achashdarpenim, Ezra 8:36; Esther 3:12; 8:9; 9:3, the King James Version "lieutenants"; Daniel 3:2-3,27; 6:1 ff, the King James Version "princes"): The viceroys or vassal rulers to whom was entrusted the government of the provinces in the Persian empire. The word answers to the Old Persian khshathrapavan, "protectors of the realm."

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.