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Bible Dictionaries
Centurion
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
or CENTURION . A centurion was a Roman military officer, corresponding in the number of infantry commanded by him (100) to the modern ‘captain,’ but in his status like our non-commissioned officers. The passage to the higher ranks was even more difficult in his case than it is amongst our non-commissioned officers. However, the chief centurion of a legion. known as the ‘centurion of the first (chief) pike,’ was sometimes promoted to the equestrian order. The Capernaum centurion ( Matthew 8:5-13 , Luke 7:2-10 ) was probably in Herod’s army, not in the Roman army strictly so called. Some of those mentioned in the NT were on special service in command of their units, and separated from the cohorts or legions of which they formed a part.
A. Souter.
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Hastings, James. Entry for 'Centurion'. Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/hdb/c/centurion.html. 1909.
