and sometimes a civil command, a judge, magistrate, Arab. kady, (Isaiah
1:10; 3:6; Micah 3:1, 9).
(3.) It is also the rendering of a Hebrew word (shalish) meaning “a third
man,” or “one of three.” The LXX. render in plural by tristatai; i.e.,
“soldiers fighting from chariots,” so called because each war-chariot
contained three men, one of whom acted as charioteer while the other two
fought (Exodus 14:7; 15:4; 1 Kings 9:22; comp. 2 Kings 9:25). This word
is used also to denote the king’s body-guard (2 Kings 10:25; 1 Chronicles
12:18; 2 Chronicles 11:11) or aides-de-camp.
(4.) The “captain of the temple” mentioned in Acts 4:1 and 5:24 was not a
military officer, but superintendent of the guard of priests and Levites who
kept watch in the temple by night. (Comp. “the ruler of the house of
God,” 1 Chronicles 9:11; 2 Chronicles 31:13; Nehemiah 11:11.)
(5.) The Captain of our salvation is a name given to our Lord (Hebrews
2:10), because he is the author and source of our salvation, the head of his
people, whom he is conducting to glory. The “captain of the Lord’s host”
(Joshua 5:14, 15) is the name given to that mysterious person who
manifested himself to Abraham (Genesis 12:7), and to Moses in the bush
(Exodus 3:2, 6, etc.) the Angel of the covenant. (See ANGEL.)
- CAPTIVE one taken in war. Captives were often treated with great
cruelty and indignity (1 Kings 20:32; Joshua 10:24; Judges 1:7; 2 Samuel
4:12; Judges 8:7; 2 Samuel 12:31; 1 Chronicles 20:3). When a city was
taken by assault, all the men were slain, and the women and children
carried away captive and sold as slaves (Isaiah 20; 47:3; 2 Chronicles
28:9-15; Psalm 44:12; Joel 3:3), and exposed to the most cruel treatment
(Nah. 3:10; Zechariah 14:2; Esther 3:13; 2 Kings 8:12; Isaiah 13:16, 18).
Captives were sometimes carried away into foreign countries, as was the
case with the Jews (Jeremiah 20:5; 39:9, 10; 40:7). - CAPTIVITY (1.) Of Israel. The kingdom of the ten tribes was
successively invaded by several Assyrian kings. Pul (q.v.) imposed a
tribute on Menahem of a thousand talents of silver (2 Kings 15:19, 20; 1
Chronicles 5:26) (B.C. 762), and Tiglath-pileser, in the days of Pekah
(B.C. 738), carried away the trans-Jordanic tribes and the inhabitants of
Galilee into Assyria (2 Kings 15:29; Isaiah 9:1). Subsequently Shalmaneser
invaded Israel and laid siege to Samaria, the capital of the kingdom. During
the siege he died, and was succeeded by Sargon, who took the city, and