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CAPTAIN.—1. This word is the Authorized Version rendering of two Greek terms in the Gospels:—(1) ÷éëßáñ÷ïò , properly ‘leader of a thousand’ (Joh_18:12, Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ‘chief captain,’ (Revised Version margin) ‘military tribune’; see also Mar_6:21, Act_21:31-33; Act_21:37; Act_22:24; Act_22:26-29; Act_23:10; Act_23:15; Act_23:17-19; Act_23:22; Act_24:7; Act_24:22-23, Rev_6:15; Rev_19:18). (2) óôñáôçãüò , properly ‘leader of an army,’ ‘general’ (Luk_22:4; Luk_22:52; see also Act_4:1; Act_5:24; Act_5:26).
1. ÷éëßáñ÷ïò is used (a) in a vague general sense of a superior military officer, and (b) technically as the Greek equivalent of the Roman prœfeetus or tribunus militum. The Roman garrison in the citadel at Jerusalem, consisting of a cohort ( ôÜãìá = NT óðåῖñá , ‘band’ [ êáèῆóôï ãἁñ ἀåὶ ἐð ʼ áὑôῆò ôÜãìá Ῥùìáßùí , Josephus BJ v. v. 8]) of provincial troops, Syrian Greeks, and Samaritans, whose commandant would be a civis Romanus (Act_22:28), while they would be presented with the Imperial franchise on their discharge, was reinforced during the Passover by additional troops which were stationed in one of the Temple buildings (Mommsen, Prov. Rom. [Note: Roman.] Emp., English translation ii. 186). The ÷éëßáñ÷ïò is also called öñïýñáñ÷ïò by Josephus (Ant. xv. xi. 4, xviii. iv. 3); see Schürer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] i. ii. 55. The legion consisting normally of 6000 men, the six tribuni took command for two months in turn. Palestine, however, being a Roman province of the second rank, did not possess a full legionary garrison. Mommsen gives its strength, at a subsequent period, as consisting of a detachment (ala) of cavalry and five cohorts of infantry, or about 3000 men.
2. óôñáôçãὸò ôïῦ ἱåñïῦ , the commandant of the Temple Levites. Josephus mentions the ‘captain’ ( óôñáôçãüò ) of the Levitical guard in the time of Claudius (Ant. xx. vi. 2), and in that of Trajan (BJ vi. v. 3). Possibly the officers ( ὑðçñÝôáé ) who assisted in the arrest of Jesus (Joh_18:3; cf. Joh_7:32; cf. Joh_7:45) belonged to this body. This ‘captain’ of the Temple (2Ma_3:4 ὁ ðñïóôÜôçò ôïῦ ἰåñïῦ ) is mentioned in Jer_20:1 LXX Septuagint as ἡãïýìåíïò and in Neh_11:11 as ἀðÝíáíôé ôïῦ ïἴêïõ ôïῦ èåïῦ ‘the ruler of the house of God’ (Vulgate prineeps domus Dei Dei = àéù äø äáú Mishna, Middoth i. § 2). The duty of this ‘captain of the mount of the Temple’ was to keep order in the Temple, visit the stations of the guard during the night, and see that the sentries were duly posted and alert. He and his immediate subalterns are supposed to be intended by the ‘rulers’ ( ἄñ÷ïíôåò ) mentioned in Ezr_9:2 and Neh. passim ( óôñáôçãïß or ἄñ÷ïíôåò ). See Schürer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] ii. i. 258. The chief constable of this priestly corps of Temple police was naturally himself a Levite.
Literature—Josephus, Ant. x viii. 5, xv xi. 4, xviii. iv. 3, xx vi. 2, BJ v. v. 8, vi. v. 3; Schurer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] i. ii. 55, ii. i. 258; Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible , article ‘Captain.’
P. Henderson Aitken.
II. Besides these two military or semi-military uses of ‘captain’ in the Gospels, we have to notice the employment of the term as a title for Christ in Heb_2:10 (Authorized Version and (Revised Version margin) ) and Heb_12:2 ((Revised Version margin) ). In both cases the corresponding word in the Greek text is
ἀñ÷çãüò
, a word which otherwise is found in the NT only in Act_3:15; Act_5:31 (both times in Acts applied to Christ, and in each case rendered ‘Prince,’ with ‘Author’ as a marginal alternative in Act_3:15).In accordance with its derivation ( ἀñ÷Þ and ἡãÝïìáé ), ἁñ÷çãüò originally meant a leader, and so naturally came to be applied to a prince or chief. From this the transition was easy to the further meaning of a first cause or author, which is not infrequent in the philosophical writers. For the ‘Captain’ of Authorized Version in Heb_2:10, Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 substitutes ‘author,’ giving ‘captain’ in the margin; and in Heb_12:2 both VSS [Note: SS Versions.] have ‘author,’ though Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 again gives ‘captain’ as a marginal rendering.
But when Jesus is called ἀñ÷çãὸò ôῆò óùôçñßáò (Heb_2:10), the meaning is not merely that He is the Author of our salvation. The context suggests that the idea of a leader going before his saved ones (cf. Heb_6:20) ought to be adhered to (see Davidson, Hebrews, ad loc.). Similarly when He is called ôῆò ðßóôåùò ἀñ÷çãüò (Heb_12:2), the idea is that of one who has led the way along the path of faith. In both cases the term ‘Captain’ may be unsuitable, since it is apt to suggest military images which had no place in the writer’s mind; but ‘leader,’ at all events, should be retained, since the idea of leadership and not of authorship seems best to express his purpose (see Bruce, Expositor, 3rd ser. viii. [1888] p. 451). For a full treatment of the subject in its apologetic and homiletic aspects, Bruce’s chapter on ‘The Captain of Salvation’ (op. cit. pp. 447–461) should be read in whole.
Literature.—The Lexicons of Grimm-Thayer and Cremer, s.v.; W. R. Smith in Expos. 2nd ser. [1881] ii. 422; D. Brown, ib. 5th ser. [1895] ii. 434 ff. See also C. J. Vaughan, P. Rendall, and B. F. Westcott on Heb_2:10; J. A. Selbie in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible iv. 102a; and P. H. Chase, Credibility of the Acts, 129 f.
J. C. Lambert.