Military officer
χιλίαρχοςStrong’s G5506chiliarchos
Appears in 22 verses of the New Testament
In short
Chiliarchos is the Greek word usually translated “commander”, “commanders” and “chief captains”. It appears in 22 verses of the New Testament.
“And when a convenient day was come, that Herod on his birthday made a supper to his lords, high captains, and chief estates of Galilee;”
Meaning
Usually translated “commander”, “commanders” and “chief captains”. Open the dictionary entry below for the full range of meaning, with the verses it cites.
How it's translated
- commander 18
- commanders 2
- chief captains 1
- of commanders 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Acts 18
- Revelation 2
- Mark 1
- John 1
4 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- John 18:12Then the band and the captain and officers of the Jews took Jesus, and bound him,
- Acts 21:31And as they went about to kill him, tidings came unto the chief captain of the band, that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.
- Acts 21:32Who immediately took soldiers and centurions, and ran down unto them: and when they saw the chief captain and the soldiers, they left beating of Paul.
- Acts 21:33Then the chief captain came near, and took him, and commanded him to be bound with two chains; and demanded who he was, and what he had done.
- Acts 21:37And as Paul was to be led into the castle, he said unto the chief captain, May I speak unto thee? Who said, Canst thou speak Greek?
- Acts 22:24The chief captain commanded him to be brought into the castle, and bade that he should be examined by scourging; that he might know wherefore they cried so against him.
Greek dictionary
χιλίαρχος chiliarchos · military officer
χιλίαρχος (in Hdt., al., -ης), -ου, ὁ (χίλιοι, ἄρχω) [in LXX chiefly for אַלּוּף שַׂר ;] a chiliarch, the commander of a thousand, esp. a Roman military tribune, the commander of a cohort: Jhn.18:12, Act.21:31-33, 37 22:24-29 23:10, 15 23:17-19, 22 24:7, 22 25:23; more generally, of officers of similar rank, Mrk.6:21, Rev.6:15 19:18 (see, DB, i, 352b; DCG, i, 271a, 307a).† (AS)
From STEPBible’s Greek lexicon (based on Abbott-Smith).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “commander” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
COMMANDER, noun
- A chief; one who has supreme authority; a leader; the chief officer of an army, or of any division of it.
- One on whom is bestowed a benefice or commandry.
- A heavy beetle or wooden mallet, used in paving, etc.
- An instrument of surgery.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Greek, not from any one translation.