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( ÷éëßáñ÷ïò , captain of a thousand; A. V. "high captain," Mar_6:21; "captain," Joh_18:12; Rev_19:18; elsewhere "chief captain"), a military title occurring frequently in the (Greek) New Test. in the following senses. SEE ARMY.
1. As a general state officer (Mar_6:21; Act_25:23; Rev_6:15; Rev_19:18; comp. Josephus, Ant. 7:2, 2).
2. Specifically, a tribune of the soldiers among the Romans, six of whom formed the field officers of every "legion" (q.v.), corresponding in rank nearly to our colonel (see Smith's Dict. of Class. Antig. s.v. Exercitus); in the N.T. spoken individually of Claudius Lysias, who, as military tribune, in the capacity of a modern major, commanded the garrison of Fort Antonia at Jerusalem (Act_21:31 sq.; comp. Herodian, 2:12, 18; Dion. Hal. Ant. 6:4). 3. Particularly applied to the praefect or (Levitical) superintendent of order in the Temple (Joh_18:12). SEE CAPTAIN.