Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CENTURION

The rank designated for the commander of a Roman centuria, a subdivision of a cohort. At full strength the centuria would constitute 80 soldiers (not the hundred that the name implies).

The centurion (Gk. hekatontárchēs) was the highest-ranking noncommissioned officer in both the Roman army and the auxiliary cohorts. In a legion the senior centurion of the first cohort was designated primus pilus; a position he would hold for a single year, after which he was promoted out of the centurion class. In auxiliary cohorts centurions were ranked in six levels, with the senior centurion second in command after the chiliarch or commander. The centurion was the backbone of the Roman military organization, the professional soldiers of the empire (cf. Polybius Hist. 6.24). Centurions are mentioned several times in the Gospels and Acts, always in a positive manner, and two are mentioned by name: Cornelius (Acts 10:1-8) and Julius (27:1-6). Although not counted among the aristocracy in Roman society, centurions were Roman citizens and often became affluent and important in local affairs (cf. Luke 7:2-5; Acts 10:2). Jesus extolled a centurion’s faith (Matt. 8:5-13).

Bibliography. T. R. S. Broughton, “The Roman Army,” in The Beginnings of Christianity, ed. F. J. Foakes-Jackson and K. Lake (London, 1933), 5:427-45; B. Dobson, “The Significance of the Centurion and the ‘Primpilaris’ in the Roman Army and Administration,” ANRW II.1, 392-434.

Dennis M. Swanson

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CENTURION

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)