Captain

Captain is the rendering, in the Auth. Vers., of numerous Hebrews and several Greek words, of which the following only require special elucidation. For the כָּרַי, kari´, rendered "captains," 2Ki 11:4,19, see CHERETHITES.

(1.) As a purely military title, captain answers to שִׂר, sar, in the Hebrew army, and χιλίαρχος (tribunus) in the Roman. See ARMY. The "captain of the guard" (στρατοπεδάρχης) spoken of in Ac 28:16 was the Praetorian praefect. SEE CHRONOLOGY, p. 312, b.

(2.) קָצַין, ikatsin', which is occasionally rendered captain, applies sometimes to a military (Jos 10:24; Jg 11:6,11; Isa 22:3; Da 11:18), sometimes to a civil command (e.g. Isa 1:10; Isa 3:6): its radical sense is division, and hence decision without reference to the means employed: the term illustrates the double office of the שֹׁפֵט, shophet', or dictator ("judge"). See JUDGE.