GUARD (טַבָּח, H3184, מִשְׁמַ֫עַת, H5463, מִשְׁמָר֒, H5464, רָ֤ץ; σπεκουλατώρ, κουστωδία, στρατοπεδάρχης). One or more men assigned to protect a person or thing. In ancient times oriental monarchs had attached to their persons a body of picked men to protect them and carry out their wishes on important confidential matters. In Egypt and Babylon the members of the guard were known as “slaughterers,” “butchers” (טַבָּח, H3184, but precisely why is not known. Potiphar, to whom the Midianites sold Joseph, was the captain of Pharaoh’s guard (Gen 37:36; 41:10, 12), and Nebuzaradan held the same position in Nebuchadnezzar’s bodyguard (2 Kings 25:8; Jer 52:12). The men who formed the royal bodyguard were usually foreigners. David had a corps of 600 foreign mercenaries, made up of Cherethites and Pelethites, of whom Benaiah was the captain (2 Sam 20:23). They accompanied David on his flight from Absalom (2 Sam 15:18), and formed Solomon’s escort on the day he was crowned (1 Kings 1:38, 44). Members of the Israelite royal guard were known as רָצִ֨ים (runners), that is, outrunners. They appear in the reign of Saul (1 Sam 22:17). Later, when Absalom and Adonijah attempted to seize the throne, they provided themselves with fifty runners as a part of the royal ceremonial (2 Sam 15:1; 1 Kings 1:5). In the time of Rehoboam, the guardroom stood at the entrance to the palace, and it housed the bronze shields that the guards carried when they accompanied the king to the Temple (1 Kings 14:27, 28; 2 Chron 12:10, 11). Jehu’s guard went with him to Samaria to assist in the destruction of the worship of Baal (2 Kings 10:25).

Herod Antipas ordered a member of his guard (σπεκουλατώρ) to bring to him the head of John the Baptist on a platter (Mark 6:27). Pilate told the Jews to make the tomb of Jesus secure with a guard of soldiers (κουστωδία, G3184)—undoubtedly, Temple police. In Acts 28:16 the clause, “the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard” (στρατοπεδάρχης, G5134), found in the KJV, is not a part of the RSV text because of poor textual attestation.

Bibliography R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel (1961).