Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible (1898)
CAP'TAIN, an officer in the Jewish army whose rank or power was designated by the number of men under his command, as captain of fifty or captain of a thousand, and the commander or chief of the whole army was called the captain of the host. Deut 1:15 2 Sam 19:13, etc. The divisions of the army were regulated in some measure by the division of families, as the heads of families were usually officers. 2 Chr 25:5. Captains of hundreds, A Roman
Captain or Centurion. or larger companies, were probably what would be called in modern phrase staff-officers, and formed the council of war. 1 Chr 13:1. The ''captain of the guard," Acts 28:16, was the commander of the Praetorian troops at Rome. See Centurion. Captain of the Temple, Acts 4:1, was the chief of the priests and Levites who kept guard around and within that sacred edifice. In this non-military sense is Christ called ''Captain" in
Heb 2:10.