Captive
Captive
(properly , shebi; Gr. ) is distinguished from a prisoner (q.v.) or one in bondage (q.v.). SEE CAPTIVITY. Various indignities andcruelties were inflicted on those who had the misfortune to be taken captive in war. Those who surrendered were led out with halters as if for execution (1Ki 20:32). SEE BEHISTUN. On some occasions particular districts were marked out with a line for destruction (2Sa 8:2). The victors set their feet upon the necks (q.v.) of the captured kings and nobles (Jos 10:24), or mutilated their persons by cutting off their thumbs, toes, or ears (Jdg 1:7; 2Sa 4:12; Eze 23:25); and sometimes they put out their eyes (q.v.) by passing a red-hot iron over them, or literally scooped or dug them out of their sockets (2Ki 25:7; Isa 61:1).
These cruelties are still practiced under some of the despotic governments of the Eastern countries. SEE PUNISHMENT. It was the barbarous custom of the conquerors of those times to suspend their unhappy captives by the hand (Lam 5:12), and also to make them bow down that they might go over them (Isa 51:23); sometimes they were thrown among thorns, were sawn asunder, beaten to pieces with threshing instruments, or had imposed upon them the severest and most laborious occupations (Jdg 8:7; 2Sa 12:31; 1Ch 20:3). The soldiers who were taken were deprived of all their property and sold naked into servitude. When the city was taken by assault, all the men were slain; the women and children were carried away captive, and sold at a very low price ( Isaiah 20; Isa 3:4; Isa 47:3; 2Ch 28:9-15; Psa 44:12; Mic 1:11; Joe 3:3). SEE SIEGE. Sometimes the conqueror stripped the wretched prisoners naked, shaved their heads, and made them travel in that condition, exposed to the heat of a vertical sun by day, and the chilling cold of the night.
Nor were women exempted from this treatment (Isa 3:17). To them this was the height of indignity, as well as of cruelty, especially to those described by the prophets, who had indulged themselves in all manner of delicacies of living, and all the superfluities of ornamental dress, and even whose faces had hardly ever been exposed to the sight of men. Women and children were also exposed to treatment at which humanity shudders (Nah 3:5-6; Zec 14:2; Est 3:13; 2Ki 8:12; Psa 137:9; Isa 13:16; Isa 13:18; 2Ki 15:16; Hos 13:16; Amo 1:13). Sometimes the people were carried into captivity, and transplanted to distant countries: this was the case with the Jews (Jer 20:5; Jer 39:9-10; Jer 40:7; 2Ki 24:12-16). In some cases the conquered nations were merely made tributary (2Sa 8:6; 2Ki 14:14). To be tributary, however, was considered a great ignominy, and was a source of reproach to the idol deities of the countries who were thus subjected (2Ki 19:8; 2Ki 19:13). It was likewise a custom among the heathens to carry in triumph the images of the gods of such nations as they had vanquished (Isa 46:1-2; Jer 48:7; Dan 11:8; Amo 1:15).
Still farther to show their absolute superiority, the victorious sovereigns used to change the names of the monarchs whom they subdued (2Ki 24:17; 2Ch 35:21-22; 2Ch 36:4; Dan 1:7). The conquerors, however, were not always destitute of humanity. In many instances they permitted the conquered kings to retain their authority, only requiring from them the promise of good faith and the payment of tribute. But if in such a case the kings rebelled, they were treated with the greatest severity (Gen 14:4-11; 2Ki 23:34; 2Ki 24:1-14; Isa 24:2; Jer 20:5-6). SEE TRIUMPH.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Captive
one taken in war. Captives were often treated with great cruelty and indignity (1 Kings 20:32; Josh. 10:24; Judg. 1:7; 2 Sam. 4:12; Judg. 8:7; 2 Sam. 12:31; 1 Chr. 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 (Isa. 20; 47:3; 2 Chr. 28:9-15; Ps. 44:12; Joel 3:3), and exposed to the most cruel treatment (Nah. 3:10; Zech. 14:2; Esther 3:13; 2 Kings 8:12; Isa. 13:16, 18). Captives were sometimes carried away into foreign countries, as was the case with the Jews (Jer. 20:5; 39:9, 10; 40:7).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
Captive
kaptiv (, shebh, , galah; , aichmalotos and its derivatives): The frequent references in the Old Testament to captives as men forcibly deported (from the Hebrew root , shabhah) or inhabiting a land foreign to them (from Hebrew , galah) reflect the universal practice of the ancient world. The treatment of captives was sometimes barbarous (2Sa 8:2) but not always so (2Ki 6:21, 2Ki 6:22). See further under ASSIR and WAR.
Figurative: Except in Job 42:10 the figurative use of the idea is confined to the New Testament, where reference is made to the triumphal reign of the Lord Jesus (Luk 4:18; Eph 4:8), or, on the other hand, to the power of the devil (2Ti 2:26), or of false teachers (2Ti 3:6); compare also Rom 7:23; 2Co 10:5. See CAPTIVITY.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Captive
Prisoner of war
Gen 14:12; 1Sa 30:1-2
Cruelty to:
– Putting to death
Num 31:9-20; Deu 20:13; Deu 21:10; Jos 8:29; Jos 10:15-40; Jos 11:11; Jdg 7:25; Jdg 8:21; Jdg 21:11; 1Sa 15:32-33; 2Sa 8:2; 2Ki 8:12; Jer 39:6
– Twenty thousand, by Amaziah
2Ch 25:11-12
– Ripping women with child
2Ki 8:12; 2Ki 15:16; Amo 1:13
– Tortured under saws and harrows
2Sa 12:31; 1Ch 20:3
– Blinded
Jdg 16:21; Jer 39:7
– Maimed
Jdg 1:6-7
– Ravished
Lam 5:11-13; Zec 14:2
– Enslaved
Deu 20:14; 2Ki 5:2; Psa 44:12; Joe 3:6
– Robbed
Eze 23:25-26
– Confined in pits
Isa 51:14
– Other indignities to
Isa 20:4
Kindness to
2Ki 25:27-30; Psa 106:46
Advanced to positions in state
Gen 41:39-45; Est 2:8; Dan 1
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Captive
Captive. A prisoner of war. Such were usually treated with great cruelty, by the heathen nations. They were kept for slaves, and often sold; but this was a modification of the ancient cruelty, and a substitute for putting them to death. Although the treatment of captives, by the Jews, seems sometimes to be cruel, it was very much milder than that of the heathen, and was mitigated, as far as possible, in the circumstances, by their civil code.
Fuente: Smith’s Bible Dictionary
Captive
Isa 51:14 (b) This is typical of any Christian who is a slave to any form of evil or uncleanness. (See also Isa 52:2).
Luk 4:18 (b) Here is a type of those who are bound by Satan in false doctrines, false beliefs and evil practices. (See also Isa 61:1).
Eph 4:8 (a) These captives are the Old Testament believers who took advantage of the sacrifices, were protected by the blood of those offerings, but were held in paradise as captives until the Blood of the Lord JESUS would blot out their sins. Immediately after Calvary, CHRIST went down to paradise and took all of these Old Testament believers up to Heaven to be with GOD. The blood of bulls and of goats covered their sins, but it took the Blood of JESUS CHRIST to blot out their sins.
2Ti 3:6 (b) This name is given to those who are held in bondage by Satan as they listened to false teachers who lead them into false faiths.