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Bible Encyclopedias
Guard
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
or
1. Royal Body-Guard
An oriental monarch's body-guard consisted of picked men attached to his person and ready to fulfill his pleasure in important and confidential concerns. At the courts of Egypt and Babylon the members of the guard were known as "slaughterers," "executioners" (Genesis 37:36 King James Version margin, the American Revised Version, margin and the Revised Version, margin, where Potiphar is called their captain); 2 Kings 25:8 , where Nebuzaradan is called their captain (King James Version margin "chief marshal"). Whether it had ever been the function of the body-guard to kill meat for the royal table there is little directly to show; that they acted as executioners can be well understood. In Israel they were known as "the footmen" (1 Samuel 22:17 the King James Version, the American Revised Version, margin and the Revised Version, margin "runners") who acted as royal messengers or couriers from the time of Saul onward ( 2 Kings 10:25; 2 Kings 11:6 ); and this designation connects them with the couriers of the kings of Persia (Esther 3:13 , Esther 3:15; Esther 8:14 , where our versions render "posts," though the Hebrew is
2. Composed of Foreigners
The men of the royal body-guard were usually foreigners like the janissaries of oriental monarchs down to modern times, who prefer to have around their persons warriors uninfluenced by family connection with the people of the land. Rameses 2 had such a body-guard whose commanders ranked with the great officers of the crown (Maspero, Struggle of the Nations , 766). David's body-guard of 600, known also as the
3. Connection with the Temple
That this guard had duties in connection with the temple as well as the king's house seems clear. That they were employed as slaughterers of the sacrifices before the Levites were entrusted with the office is unlikely, inasmuch as this guard is not said to have been composed of "slaughterers" but of "runners." But they accompanied King Rehoboam when he visited the temple (1 Kings 14:28 ), and to their captains were committed the shields of brass which took the place of the shields of gold which Solomon had hung up in the temple; Jehoiada employed their captains to put Athaliah to death and to exterminate the worshippers of Baal who had fled to the temple precincts (2 Kings 11:4 ); the temple gate leading to the palace was called "the gate of the guard" (2 Kings 11:19 ). At this time, and for this occasion, at least, the royal body-guard were the temple guards; and when Ezekiel drew up his plans for the temple which he conceived to replace the temple destroyed by Nebuchadrezzar, the "lodges" or "little chambers" were rooms for the accommodation of the temple guard (Ezekiel 40:7 , Ezekiel 40:10 , Ezekiel 40:21 , Ezekiel 40:33 , etc.).
Literature
Robertson Smith,
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Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Guard'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/isb/g/guard.html. 1915.
