CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE. Information in the OT about a captain of the temple is limited and is partly based on deduction. In Jeremiah 20:1 the priest, Pashhur, is referred to as the “chief officer in the house of the Lord,” or פָקִ֥יד נָגִ֖יד בְּבֵ֣ית יְהוָ֑ה. The text indicates that Pashhur had police powers to arrest prophets who got out of hand and to punish them. The same is true of Zephaniah the priest, who was concerned with “every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and collar” (Jer 29:26). In 2 Kings 25:18 this priest is called the “second priest,” כֹּהֵ֣ן מִשְׁנֶ֑ה; LXX, υἱόν τῆς δευτερώσεως. Elsewhere, three times a priest is designated the “officer of the house of God” (1 Chron 9:11; 2 Chron 31:13; Neh 11:11). The Heb is נְגִ֖יד בֵּ֥ית הָאֱלֹהִֽים, and the LXX, ἡγούμενος οἴκου τοῦ θεοῦ, but there is no description of his duties.

The phrase, captain of the temple, in Gr. NT is στρατηγός τοῦ ἱεροῦ. This officer, with the priest and the Sadducees, heard the apostles preach and arrested them. In Acts 5:24-26, this man, with the high priest and the chief priests, again listened to the apostles preach, after which he arrested them. Cf. Luke 22:4, 52 for a similar situation, except that the pl., “captains,” is used. See Acts 16:20, in which passage the word magistrates stands for the same Gr. word.

The Talmud provides the most information about the captain of the temple, but it is still scanty. In the Kodashim, Middoth, ch. I, pp. 1-5, this man, “the officer of the temple mount,” is said to be in charge of twenty-four watches, or guard posts, located at important spots about the Temple courtyard. In Tamid, ch. I, pp. 1-12, it is said that this officer, second to the high priest, was in charge of three groups of priests who guarded the Chamber of Abtimas, the Chamber of the Spark, and the Chamber of Fire. In addition he commanded twenty-one groups of Levites who were placed elsewhere, particularly at the five gates.