An officer of high rank in the East; commander of the bodyguard who executed the king's sentence. So Potiphar (Genesis 37:36 margin, Genesis 40:3); his official residence was at the public jail. So Nebuzaradan (Jeremiah 39:9), and Arioch (Daniel 2:14; Mark 6:27). "The king (Herod) sent an executioner," literally, one of his bodyguard; speculator, a military watch or scout, from the vigilance the office required.