Reference: Captain
Easton
(1.) Heb. sar (1Sa 22:2; 2Sa 23:19). Rendered "chief," Ge 40:2; 41:9; rendered also "prince," Da 1:7; "ruler," Jg 9:30; "governor,' 1Ki 22:26. This same Hebrew word denotes a military captain (Ex 18:21; 2Ki 1:9; De 1:15; 1Sa 18:13, etc.), the "captain of the body-guard" (Ge 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 (Da 2:14) held this office in Babylon.
The "captain of the guard" mentioned in Ac 28:16 was the Praetorian prefect, the commander of the Praetorian troops.
(2.) Another word (Heb. katsin) so translated denotes sometimes a military (Jos 10:24; 11/6/type/bbe'>Jg 11:6,11; Isa 22:3 "rulers;" Da 11:18) and sometimes a civil command, a judge, magistrate, Arab. kady, (Isa 1:10; 3:6; Mic 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; 1Ki 9:22; comp. 2Ki 9:25). This word is used also to denote the king's body-guard (2Ki 10:25; 1Ch 12:18; 2Ch 11:11) or aides-de-camp.
(4.) The "captain of the temple" mentioned in Ac 4:1; 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," 1Ch 9:11; 2Ch 31:13; Ne 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" (Jos 5:14-15) is the name given to that mysterious person who manifested himself to Abraham (Ge 12:7), and to Moses in the bush (Ex 3:2,6, etc.) the Angel of the covenant. (See Angel.)
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the Lord came to Abram, and said, I will give all this land to your seed; then Abram made an altar there to the Lord who had let himself be seen by him.
And in Egypt the men of Midian gave him for a price to Potiphar, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house.
Now Joseph was taken down to Egypt; and Potiphar the Egyptian, a captain of high position in Pharaoh's house, got him for a price from the Ishmaelites who had taken him there.
And Pharaoh was angry with his two servants, with the chief wine-servant and the chief bread-maker;
Then the chief wine-servant said to Pharaoh, The memory of my sin comes back to me now; Pharaoh had been angry with his servants, and had put me in prison in the house of the captain of the army, together with the chief bread-maker;
And the angel of the Lord was seen by him in a flame of fire coming out of a thorn-tree: and he saw that the tree was on fire, but it was not burned up.
And he said, I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. And Moses kept his face covered for fear of looking on God.
And he took six hundred carriages, all the carriages of Egypt, and captains over all of them.
Pharaoh's war-carriages and his army he has sent down into the sea: the best of his captains have gone down into the Red Sea.
But for the rest, take from among the people able men, such as have the fear of God, true men hating profits wrongly made; and put such men over them, to be captains of thousands, captains of hundreds and of fifties and of tens;
So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men and respected, and made them rulers over you, captains of thousands and captains of hundreds and captains of fifties and captains of tens, and overseers of your tribes.
And he said, No; but I have come as captain of the armies of the Lord. Then Joshua, falling down with his face to the earth in worship, said, What has my lord to say to his servant? And the captain of the Lord's army said to Joshua, Take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy. And Joshua did so.
And when they had made those kings come out to Joshua, Joshua sent for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, Come near and put your feet on the necks of these kings. So they came near and put their feet on their necks.
Now Zebul, the ruler of the town, hearing what Gaal, the son of Ebed, had said, was moved to wrath.
And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief so that we may make war against the children of Ammon.
So Jephthah went with the responsible men of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah said all these things before the Lord in Mizpah.
And everyone who was in trouble, and everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was bitter in soul, came together to him, and he became captain over them: about four hundred men were joined to him.
And the king of Israel said, Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon, the ruler of the town, and to Joash, the king's son;
Then Jehu said to Bidkar, his captain, Take him up, and put him in the field of Naboth the Jezreelite: for is not that day in your memory when you and I together on our horses were going after Ahab, his father, and the Lord put this fate on him, saying:
Then when the burned offering was ended, straight away Jehu said to the armed men and the captains, Go in and put them to death; let not one come out. So they put them to the sword; and, pulling the images to the earth, they went into the holy place of the house of Baal.
And Azariah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God;
Seraiah, the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God,
Give ear to the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; let your hearts be turned to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.
When one man puts his hand on another in his father's house, and says, You have clothing, be our ruler and be responsible for us in our sad condition:
All your rulers ... have gone in flight; all your strong ones have gone far away.
So Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, sent Nebushazban, the Rab-saris, and Nergal-shar-ezer, the Rabmag, and all the chief captains of the king of Babylon,
The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after Nebuzaradan, the captain of the armed men, had let him go from Ramah, when he had taken him; for he had been put in chains, among all the prisoners of Jerusalem and Judah who were taken away prisoners to Babylon.
And the captain of the unsexed servants gave them names; to Daniel he gave the name of Belteshazzar, to Hananiah the name of Shadrach, to Mishael the name of Meshach, and to Azariah the name of Abed-nego.
Then Daniel gave an answer with wisdom and good sense to Arioch, the captain of the king's armed men, who had gone out to put to death the wise men of Babylon;
After this, his face will be turned to the islands, and he will take a number of them: but a chief, by his destruction, will put an end to the shame offered by him; and more than this, he will make his shame come back on him.
And I said, Give ear, now, you heads of Jacob and rulers of the people of Israel: is it not for you to have knowledge of what is right?
Then give ear to this, you heads of the children of Jacob, you rulers of the children of Israel, hating what is right, twisting what is straight.
And while they were talking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came up to them,
Now, at these words, the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were greatly troubled about what might be the end of this business.
And when we came into Rome, they let Paul have a house for himself and the armed man who kept watch over him.
Because it was right for him, for whom and through whom all things have being, in guiding his sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation complete through pain.
Fausets
CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE (Lu 22:4; Ac 4:1; 5:24): not military, but over the guard of the temple, consisting of priests and Levites (2Ki 12:9), "the priests that kept the door" (2Ki 25:18); they visited the posts by night, and saw that the sentries were on the alert. In Heb 2:10, (Greek "Prince leader of their salvation,") the antitypical Joshua who leads us into the heavenly Canaan. The same Greek in Heb 12:2, "the Author," rather "Prince leader of our faith." Ac 3:15, "Prince of life."
See Verses Found in Dictionary
But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and making a hole in the cover of it, put it by the altar, on the right side when one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who kept the door put in it regularly all the money which was taken into the house of the Lord.
But Jehoiada the priest took a chest, and making a hole in the cover of it, put it by the altar, on the right side when one comes into the house of the Lord; and the priests who kept the door put in it regularly all the money which was taken into the house of the Lord.
And the captain of the armed men took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three door-keepers;
And the captain of the armed men took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the second priest, and the three door-keepers;
And he went away and had a discussion with the chief priests and the rulers, about how he might give him up to them.
And he went away and had a discussion with the chief priests and the rulers, about how he might give him up to them.
And put to death the Lord of life; whom God gave back from the dead; of which fact we are witnesses.
And put to death the Lord of life; whom God gave back from the dead; of which fact we are witnesses.
And while they were talking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came up to them,
And while they were talking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came up to them,
Now, at these words, the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were greatly troubled about what might be the end of this business.
Now, at these words, the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were greatly troubled about what might be the end of this business.
Because it was right for him, for whom and through whom all things have being, in guiding his sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation complete through pain.
Because it was right for him, for whom and through whom all things have being, in guiding his sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation complete through pain.
Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of God's seat of power.
Having our eyes fixed on Jesus, the guide and end of our faith, who went through the pains of the cross, not caring for the shame, because of the joy which was before him, and who has now taken his place at the right hand of God's seat of power.
Hastings
This word occurs very frequently in the OT (AV and RV), and appears to have been favoured by the translators as a comprehensive term to denote a ruler, or a military commander of any unit, whatever its size might be. In modern military language it means especially the commander of a company of infantry, numbering about 100 to 110 men, and is quite unsuitable as a translation. It represents in OT 13 different Hebrew words. In Ezekiel it is often used for the secular head of the Messianic kingdom: 'prince' will there and often elsewhere do as a rendering; 'officer' and 'chief' will suit other passages. There are further places where none of these words will do as a translation. In the NT it translates four Greek words, and means: (1) Joh 18:12; Ac 22:28 a Roman military officer, a tribune of the soldiers, in command of about 1000 men, constituting the garrison of Jerusalem (hence Re 6:15; 19:18 in a general sense); (2) Lu 22:4,52; Ac 4:1 etc., the captain of the Temple, a Levite, who had under him a body of police, probably themselves also priests, whose duty it was to keep order in the Temple at Jerusalem and guard it by night; (3) Heb 2:10 (RV 'author') leader, initiator; (4) Ac 28:16 AV 'captain of the guard' (wanting in RV), a doubtful reading and of doubtful sense. See also Army,
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And he went away and had a discussion with the chief priests and the rulers, about how he might give him up to them.
And Jesus said to the chief priests and the captains of the Temple and the rulers, who had come against him, Have you come out as against a thief, with swords and sticks?
Then the band and the chief captain and the police took Jesus and put cords round him.
And while they were talking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came up to them,
And the chief captain said, I got Roman rights for myself at a great price. And Paul said, But I had them by birth.
And when we came into Rome, they let Paul have a house for himself and the armed man who kept watch over him.
Because it was right for him, for whom and through whom all things have being, in guiding his sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation complete through pain.
And the kings of the earth, and the rulers, and the chief captains, and the men of wealth, and the strong, and every servant and free man, took cover in the holes and the rocks of the mountains;
So that you may take for your food the flesh of kings, and of captains, and of strong men, and of horses and of those who are seated on them, and the flesh of all men, free and unfree, small and great.
Morish
In the O.T. this word is used for one filling any office of rule or command: as the head of a tribe, Nu 2:3-29; commander of an army, etc. The person who appeared to Joshua as 'a man' declared himself to be 'captain of the Lord's host.' He told Joshua to remove his shoes from his feet, for the ground was holy, evincing that he was God's representative to lead their warfare. Jos 5:14-15. In the N.T. the Lord is called 'Captain' of our salvation, ???????, 'chief leader.' Heb 2:10.
There was also a 'CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE,' ?????????. Lu 22:4,52; Ac 4:1; 5:24,26. This word is literally 'the leader of an army;' it is also applied to magistrates, Ac 16:20, but the captain of the temple was set not over the soldiers, but over the priests and Levites: cf. Nu 3:32; 1Ch 9:11; Jer 20:1.
THE CHIEF CAPTAIN or HIGH CAPTAIN is ?????????, lit. 'Captain of a thousand,' applied to the chief of the soldiers in Jerusalem. Acts 21 - 25.
CAPTAIN OF THE GUARD, Ac 28:16, is ??????????????, properly 'commander of a camp,' but here the prefect of the Praetorian Guard, an officer to whom state prisoners were entrusted at Rome.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Those whose tents are on the east side, looking to the dawn, will be round the flag of the children of Judah, with Nahshon, the son of Amminadab, as their chief. The number of his army was seventy-four thousand, six hundred. read more. And nearest to him will be the tribe of Issachar, with Nethanel, the son of Zuar, as their chief. The number of his army was fifty-four thousand, four hundred. After him, the tribe of Zebulun, with Eliab, the son of Helon, as their chief. The number of his army was fifty-seven thousand, four hundred. The number of all the armies of Judah was a hundred and eighty-six thousand, four hundred. They go forward first. On the south side is the flag of the children of Reuben, in the order of their armies, with Elizur, the son of Shedeur, as their chief. The number of his army was forty-six thousand, five hundred. And nearest to him, the tribe of Simeon, with Shelumiel, the son of Zurishaddai, as their chief. The number of his army was fifty-nine thousand, three hundred. Then the tribe of Gad, with Eliasaph, son of Reuel, as their chief. The number of his army was forty-five thousand, six hundred and fifty. The number of all the armies of Reuben together came to a hundred and fifty-one thousand, four hundred and fifty. They go forward second. Then the Tent of meeting is to go forward, with the tents of the Levites, in the middle of the armies; in the same order as their tents are placed, they are to go forward, every man under his flag. On the west side will be the flag of the children of Ephraim, with Elishama, the son of Ammihud, as their chief. The number of his army was forty thousand, five hundred. And by him the tribe of Manasseh with Gamaliel, the son of Pedahzur, as their chief. The number of his army was thirty-two thousand, two hundred. Then the tribe of Benjamin, with Abidan, the son of Gideoni, as their chief. The number of his army was thirty-five thousand, four hundred. The number of all the armies of Ephraim was a hundred and eight thousand, one hundred. They go forward third. On the north side will be the flag of the children of Dan, with Ahiezer, the son of Ammishaddai, as their chief. The number of his army was sixty-two thousand, seven hundred. Nearest to him will be the tribe of Asher, with Pagiel, the son of Ochran, as their chief. The number of his army was forty-one thousand, five hundred; Then the tribe of Naphtali, with Ahira, the son of Enan, as their chief.
Eleazar, the son of Aaron the priest, will be head over all the Levites and overseer of those responsible for the care of the holy place.
And he said, No; but I have come as captain of the armies of the Lord. Then Joshua, falling down with his face to the earth in worship, said, What has my lord to say to his servant? And the captain of the Lord's army said to Joshua, Take off your shoes from your feet, for the place where you are is holy. And Joshua did so.
Now it came to the ears of Pashhur, the son of Immer the priest, who was chief in authority in the house of the Lord, that Jeremiah was saying these things;
And he went away and had a discussion with the chief priests and the rulers, about how he might give him up to them.
And Jesus said to the chief priests and the captains of the Temple and the rulers, who had come against him, Have you come out as against a thief, with swords and sticks?
And while they were talking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came up to them,
Now, at these words, the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were greatly troubled about what might be the end of this business.
Then the captain and some of the police went and took them, but not violently, for fear that they might be stoned by the people.
And when they had taken them before the authorities, they said, These men, who are Jews, are greatly troubling our town;
And when we came into Rome, they let Paul have a house for himself and the armed man who kept watch over him.
Because it was right for him, for whom and through whom all things have being, in guiding his sons to glory, to make the captain of their salvation complete through pain.
Smith
Captain.
1. As a purely military title, "captain" answers to sar in the Hebrew army and tribune in the Roman. The captain of the guard in
was probably the prefectus pratorio.
2. Katsin, occasionally rendered captain, applies Sometimes to a military,
Jos 10:24; 11/6/type/bbe'>Jg 11:6,11; Isa 22:3; Da 11:18
sometimes to a civil command, e.g.
3. The captain of the temple, mentioned
superintended the guard of priests and Levites who kept watch by night in the temple.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And when they had made those kings come out to Joshua, Joshua sent for all the men of Israel, and said to the chiefs of the men of war who had gone with him, Come near and put your feet on the necks of these kings. So they came near and put their feet on their necks.
And they said to Jephthah, Come and be our chief so that we may make war against the children of Ammon.
So Jephthah went with the responsible men of Gilead, and the people made him head and chief over them; and Jephthah said all these things before the Lord in Mizpah.
Give ear to the word of the Lord, you rulers of Sodom; let your hearts be turned to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah.
All your rulers ... have gone in flight; all your strong ones have gone far away.
After this, his face will be turned to the islands, and he will take a number of them: but a chief, by his destruction, will put an end to the shame offered by him; and more than this, he will make his shame come back on him.
And while they were talking to the people, the priests and the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees came up to them,
Now, at these words, the captain of the Temple and the chief priests were greatly troubled about what might be the end of this business.