RABSARIS

(Rabʹsa·ris) [Chief Court Official].

The title of the chief court official in the Assyrian and Babylonian governments. The Rabsaris was one of the committee of three high Assyrian dignitaries that was sent by the king of Assyria to demand the surrender of Jerusalem in King Hezekiah’s time.​—2Ki 18:17.

The Rabsaris was one of the Babylonian officials taking control of Jerusalem for Nebuchadnezzar when the city fell in 607 B.C.E., and Nebushazban is named as the Rabsaris in connection with Jeremiah’s being directed to dwell with Gedaliah. (Jer 39:3, 13, 14; 40:1-5) Excavations have unearthed inscriptions bearing the title.​—Bulletin of the Israel Exploration Society, Jerusalem, 1967, Vol. XXXI, p. 77; Le palais royal d’Ugarit, III, Paris, 1955, No. 16:162, p. 126.