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Topic:
Thoughts
And Things Of The Bible -- Captain
In regard to the word "captain" --
(1.) Heb. sar (1 Sam. 22:2; 2 Sam. 23:19). Rendered
"chief," Gen. 40:2; 41:9; rendered also "prince,"
Dan. 1:7; "ruler," Judg. 9:30; "governor,' 1 Kings 22:26.
This same Hebrew word denotes a military captain (Ex. 18:21; 2 Kings
1:9; Deut. 1:15; 1 Sam. 18:13, etc.), the "captain of the
body-guard" (Gen. 37:36; 39:1; 41:10; Jer. 40:1), or, as the word
may be rendered, "chief of the executioners" (marg.). The
officers of the king's body-guard frequently acted as executioners.
Nebuzar-adan (Jer. 39:13) and Arioch (Dan. 2:14) held this office in
Babylon. The "captain of the guard" mentioned in Acts 28:16
was the Praetorian prefect, the commander of the Praetorian troops.
(2.) Another word (Heb. katsin) so translated denotes sometimes a
military (Josh. 10:24; Judg. 11:6, 11; Isa. 22:3 "rulers;"
Dan. 11:18) and sometimes a civil command, a judge, magistrate, Arab.
kady , (Isa. 1:10; 3:6; Micah 3:1, 9).
(3.) It is also the rendering of a Hebrew word (shalish) meaning
"a third man," or "one of three." The LXX. render in
plural by tristatai ; i.e., "soldiers fighting from chariots,"
so called because each war-chariot contained three men, one of whom
acted as charioteer while the other two fought (Ex. 14:7; 15:4; 1 Kings
9:22; comp. 2 Kings 9:25). This word is used also to denote the king's
body-guard (2 Kings 10:25; 1 Chr. 12:18; 2 Chr. 11:11) or aides-de-camp.
(4.) The "captain of the temple" mentioned in Acts 4:1 and
5:24 was not a military officer, but superintendent of the guard of
priests and Levites who kept watch in the temple by night. (Comp.
"the ruler of the house of God," 1 Chr. 9:11; 2 Chr. 31:13;
Neh. 11:11.)
(5.) The Captain of our salvation is a name given to our Lord (Heb.
2:10), because he is the author and source of our salvation, the head of
his people, whom he is conducting to glory. The "captain of the
Lord's host" (Josh. 5:14, 15) is the name given to that mysterious
person who manifested himself to Abraham (Gen. 12:7), and to Moses in
the bush (Ex. 3:2, 6, etc.) the Angel of the covenant.
Derived from Easton's and Smith's Bible Dictionaries
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