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/mstc'>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.)
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Then the LORD appeared unto Abram and said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land." And he built an altar there unto the LORD which appeared to him.
And the Midianites sold him in Egypt unto Potiphar, a lord of Pharaoh's: and his chief marshal.
Joseph was brought unto Egypt, and Potiphar - a lord of Pharaoh's, and his chief marshal, an Egyptian - bought him of the Ishmaelites which brought him thither.
And Pharaoh was angry with them and put them in ward in his chief marshal's house:
Then spake the chief butler unto Pharaoh, saying, "I do remember my fault this day. Pharaoh was angry with his servants, and put in ward in the chief marshal's house both me and the chief baker.
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of a bush. And he perceived that the bush burned with fire, and consumed not.
And he said, "I am the God of thy father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look upon God.
and took six hundred chosen chariots and all the chariots of Egypt and captains upon all his people.
Pharaoh's chariots and his host hath he cast into the sea. His jolly captains are drowned in the reed sea;
Moreover, seek out, among all the people, men of activity which fear God; and men that are true and hate covetousness: and make them heads over the people, captains over thousands, over hundreds, over fifty, and over ten.
And then I took the heads of your tribes, men of wisdom and that were expert, and made them rulers over you: captains over thousands and over hundreds, over fifty and over ten, and officers among your tribes.
And he answered, "Nay, but I am the captain of the host of the LORD and am now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did reverence, and said unto him, "What sayeth my Lord unto his servant?" And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, "Put thy shoes off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy." And Joshua did so.
And when they had brought out those kings unto Joshua: Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war, which came with him, "Come near and put your feet upon the necks of these kings." And they came near and put their feet upon the necks of them.
And when Zebul the ruler of the city heard the words of Gaal the son of Abed, he was wroth,
and said unto him, "Come and be our captain, and let us fight with the children of Ammon."
Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. And the people made him head and ruler over them. And Jephthah rehearsed all his words in Mizpeh.
And there gathered unto him all men that were in cumbrance and in debt and troubled in their hearts, and he became a captain over them. And there were with him upon a four hundred men.
And the king of Israel said, "Take Micaiah and carry him back again into Amon the governor of the city, and unto Joab the king's son,
Then he said to Bidkar, a lord of his, "Take and cast him in the plot of ground of Naboth the Jezreelite. For I remember as I and thou rode together after Ahab his father, how the LORD spake these words against him:
And as soon as he had made an end of offering of burnt sacrifice, he said to them of the guard and to the lords, "Go in and slay them, let none come out." And they smote them with the edge of the sword. And the guard and the lords cast them out, and went unto the city of the house of Baal,
Azariah the son of Hilkiah the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok the son of Meraioth the son of Ahitub the chiefest in 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, was prince in the house of God:
Hear the word of the LORD, ye tyrants of Sodom, and hearken unto the law of our God, thou people of Gomorrah.
Yea, one shall take a friend of his own kindred by the bosom, and say, "Thou hast clothing, thou shalt be our head, for thou mayest keep us from this fall and peril."
For all thy Captains gat them to their horses from the ordinance, yea they are all together ridden away, and fled far off.
So Nebuzaradan the chief captain, Nabushazban the chief chamberlain, Nergalsharezer the treasurer and all the king of Babylon's lords, sent for Jeremiah,
This is the manner how the LORD intreated Jeremiah, when Nebuzaradan the chief Captain had let him go free from Ramah, whither he had led him bound among all the prisoners, that were carried from Jerusalem and Judah unto Babylon.
Unto these the chief chamberlain gave other names, and called Daniel, Balteshazzar; Hananiah, Shadrach; Mishael, Meshach; and Azariah, Abednego.
Then Daniel enquired Arioch the king's steward, of the judgment and sentence that was gone forth already to kill such as were wise at Babylon.
After this shall he set his face unto the Isles, and take many of them. A prince shall stop him, to do him a shame, beside the confusion that else shall come unto him.
Hear, O ye heads of the house of Jacob, and ye leaders of the house of Israel: Should not ye know, what were lawful and right?
O hear this, ye rulers of the house of Jacob, and ye judges of the house of Israel: ye that abhor the thing that is lawful, and wrest aside the thing that is straight;
As they spake unto the people, the priests and the ruler of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,
When the chief priest of all and the ruler of the temple and the high priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.
And when he came to Rome, the under-captain delivered the prisoners to the chief captain of the host: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with one Soldier that kept him.
For it became him - for whom are all things, and by whom are all things - after that he had brought many sons unto glory, that he should make the Lord of their salvation perfect through suffering.
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."
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Then Jehoiada the priest took a coffer and bored a hole in the lid of it, and put it beside the altar on the right side as a man cometh in to the house of the LORD. And into that did the priests that kept the doors, put all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD.
Then Jehoiada the priest took a coffer and bored a hole in the lid of it, and put it beside the altar on the right side as a man cometh in to the house of the LORD. And into that did the priests that kept the doors, put all the money that was brought into the house of the LORD.
And the chief Marshal took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the highest priest save one, and three keepers of the door.
And the chief Marshal took Seraiah the chief priest, and Zephaniah the highest priest save one, and three keepers of the door.
and he went his way, and communed with the high priests and officers, how he might betray him to them.
and he went his way, and communed with the high priests and officers, how he might betray him to them.
and killed the Lord of life whom God hath raised from death, of the which we are witnesses:
and killed the Lord of life whom God hath raised from death, of the which we are witnesses:
As they spake unto the people, the priests and the ruler of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,
As they spake unto the people, the priests and the ruler of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,
When the chief priest of all and the ruler of the temple and the high priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.
When the chief priest of all and the ruler of the temple and the high priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.
For it became him - for whom are all things, and by whom are all things - after that he had brought many sons unto glory, that he should make the Lord of their salvation perfect through suffering.
For it became him - for whom are all things, and by whom are all things - after that he had brought many sons unto glory, that he should make the Lord of their salvation perfect through suffering.
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, which for the joy that was set before him, abode the cross, and despised the shame, and is set down on the righthand of the throne of God.
looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, which for the joy that was set before him, abode the cross, and despised the shame, and is set down on the righthand of the throne of God.
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,
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and he went his way, and communed with the high priests and officers, how he might betray him to them.
Then Jesus said unto the high priests and rulers of the temple and the elders which were come to him, "Be ye come out, as unto a thief: with swords and staves?
Then the company, and the Captain, and the ministers of the Jews, took Jesus and bound him,
As they spake unto the people, the priests and the ruler of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,
And the high captain answered, "With a great sum obtained I this freedom." And Paul said, "I was freeborn."
And when he came to Rome, the under-captain delivered the prisoners to the chief captain of the host: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with one Soldier that kept him.
For it became him - for whom are all things, and by whom are all things - after that he had brought many sons unto glory, that he should make the Lord of their salvation perfect through suffering.
And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in dens, and in rocks of the hills,
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.
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On the east side, toward the rising of the sun, shall they of the standard of the host of Judah pitch with their arms; and Nahshon the son of Amminadab shall be captain over the sons of Judah: and his host, and the number of them, seventy four thousand and six hundred. read more. And next unto him shall the tribe of Issachar pitch; and Nethanel the son of Zuar captain over the children of Issachar: his host, and the number of them, fifty four thousand and four hundred. And then the tribe of Zebulun; with Eliab the son of Helon, captain over the children of Zebulun: and his host, in the number of them, fifty seven thousand and four hundred. So that all they that pertain unto the host of Judah, are a hundred thousand eighty six thousand and four hundred in their companies: and these shall go in the forefront, when they journey. "And on the south side, the standard of the host of Reuben shall lie with their companies; and the captain over the sons of Reuben, Elizur the son of Shedeur: and his host, and the number of them, forty six thousand, and five hundred. And fast by him shall the tribe of Simeon pitch; and the captain over the sons of Simeon, Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai: and his host, and the number of them, forty nine thousand and three hundred. And the tribe of Gad also; and the captain over the sons of Gad, Eliasaph the son of Deuel: and his host, and the number of them, forty five thousand six hundred and fifty. So that all the number that pertain unto the host of Reuben, are a hundred thousand, fifty one thousand, four hundred and fifty, with their companies: and they shall be the second in the journey. "And the tabernacle of witness, with the host of the Levites, shall go in the midst of the hosts: as they lie in their tents, even so shall they proceed in the journey, every man in his quarter about their standards. "On the west side, the standard and the host of Ephraim shall lie with their companies; and the captain over the sons of Ephraim, Elishama the son of Ammihud: and his host, and the number of them, forty thousand and five hundred. And fast by him, the tribe of Manasseh; and the captain over the sons of Manasseh, Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur: and his host, and the number of them, thirty two thousand and two hundred. And the tribe of Benjamin also; and the captain over the sons of Benjamin, Abidan the son of Gedeoni: and his host and the number of them thirty five thousand and four hundred. All the number that pertained unto the host of Ephraim, were a hundred thousand eight thousand and a hundred in their hosts: and they shall be the third in the journey. "And the standard and the host of Dan shall lie on the north side with their companies; and the captain over the children of Dan, Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai: and his host, and the number of them, sixty two thousand and seven hundred. And fast by him shall the tribe of Asher pitch; and the captain over the sons of Asher, Pagiel the son of Ochran: and his host, and the number of them, forty one thousand and five hundred. And the tribe of Naphtali also; and the captain over the children of Naphtali, Ahira the son of Enan:
And Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, was captain over all the captains of the Levites, and had the oversight of them that waited upon the holy things.
And he answered, "Nay, but I am the captain of the host of the LORD and am now come." And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and did reverence, and said unto him, "What sayeth my Lord unto his servant?" And the captain of the LORD's host said unto Joshua, "Put thy shoes off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy." And Joshua did so.
When Pashhur the priest, the son of Immer, chief in the house of the LORD, heard Jeremiah preach so steadfastly:
and he went his way, and communed with the high priests and officers, how he might betray him to them.
Then Jesus said unto the high priests and rulers of the temple and the elders which were come to him, "Be ye come out, as unto a thief: with swords and staves?
As they spake unto the people, the priests and the ruler of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,
When the chief priest of all and the ruler of the temple and the high priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.
Then went the ruler of the temple with ministers, and brought them without violence. For they feared the people lest they should have been stoned.
and brought them to the officers, saying, "These men trouble our city, which are Jews
And when he came to Rome, the under-captain delivered the prisoners to the chief captain of the host: but Paul was suffered to dwell by himself with one Soldier that kept him.
For it became him - for whom are all things, and by whom are all things - after that he had brought many sons unto glory, that he should make the Lord of their salvation perfect through suffering.
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/mstc'>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.
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And when they had brought out those kings unto Joshua: Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war, which came with him, "Come near and put your feet upon the necks of these kings." And they came near and put their feet upon the necks of them.
and said unto him, "Come and be our captain, and let us fight with the children of Ammon."
Then Jephthah went with the elders of Gilead. And the people made him head and ruler over them. And Jephthah rehearsed all his words in Mizpeh.
Hear the word of the LORD, ye tyrants of Sodom, and hearken unto the law of our God, thou people of Gomorrah.
For all thy Captains gat them to their horses from the ordinance, yea they are all together ridden away, and fled far off.
After this shall he set his face unto the Isles, and take many of them. A prince shall stop him, to do him a shame, beside the confusion that else shall come unto him.
As they spake unto the people, the priests and the ruler of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them,