Bible Dictionaries
Captive

Easton's Bible Dictionary

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 (Nahum 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 ).