Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CAPTAIN

Usually a person of military rank (Heb. śār). The title is further qualified by the officer’s specific responsibilities (e.g., Gen. 37:36; 2 Kgs. 1:9; 1 Sam. 22:7; Exod. 18:21). Heb. śar ṣĕḇāʾ, lit., “captain of the host” (2 Kgs. 5:1), is usually translated “commander in chief.”

In the NT Gk. stratēgós is restricted to the Lukan material and is used often in its simplest sense as “captain” (Luke 22:4; NRSV “officer”), but also as “captain of the temple” (Luke 22:52; Acts 4:1; 5:24), i.e., a sanctuary guard. The plural is used of civic officials (NRSV “magistrates”) in Acts (16:20, 22, 35, 36, 38).

The term śār is also found in the Mejad µashavyahu inscription, in an Arad letter, on two early seals, and in graffiti from Kuntilet {Ajrud. Here, too, it is used in a military context. The seals and graffiti refer to a “captain of the city,” probably the commander of a garrison town (cf. 2 Chr. 11:11, 18-23).

T. R. Hobbs

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CAPTAIN

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)