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Bible Encyclopedias
Carites
The 1901 Jewish Encyclopedia
or People mentioned in 2 Kings 11:4,19. The Kari (R. V., "Carites"; margin, "executioners", A. V., "captains") are mentioned between the captains over hundreds and the "runners" (e., satellites) as body-guards of the king. In 2 Samuel 20:23, where the well-known troop of the Cherethites (A. V., "Keri") and Pelethites is mentioned, the text reads "Kari" (R. V. margin, "Carites") for "Cherethites." The most plausible explanation is that, in all three passages, there is only an abridged orthography for the usual "Kerethi(m)"âCherethite(s) (compare Vulgate, the Hexapla, etc.; Targ. [except 2 Kings 11:4, "heroes"]). Others (e.g., Driver, on 2 Samuel 20) consider that the reading "Carite(s)" (2 Samuel 11:4) is intended, and they assume that, instead of the Philistine mercenaries here, a similar troop of Carians, the famous pirates and mercenaries of earlier Greek antiquity, is mentioned, as by Herodotus 2:152,171; Thucydides, 4:8; Hesychius, under "Karitai" and "Archilochus." This might also point to affinity with the Philistines who came from the same quarter of the Ãgean Sea. The Septuagint understands "Chorî" not as collective singular, but as the name of an officer.
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Singer, Isidore, Ph.D, Projector and Managing Editor. Entry for 'Carites'. 1901 The Jewish Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tje/c/carites.html. 1901.
