Bible Dictionary
Centurion
A centurion was a Roman military officer commanding approximately one hundred soldiers. New Testament centurions are repeatedly portrayed as responsible or receptive to Christian truth.
Definition
A centurion was a Roman military officer commanding about one hundred men, though the actual number could vary. Centurions drilled and inspected soldiers and commanded them in camp and battle.
Biblical Usage
Centurions appear in the Gospels and Acts, including Cornelius and Julius. They are consistently presented favorably; one who witnessed Jesus’ crucifixion declared, “Truly this man was the Son of God.”
Historical Background
The Greek and Latin terms both denote a commander of a century. A legion had sixty centurions, and some centurions served on detached assignments in the provinces.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
A Roman officer in command of a hundred men (Mark 15:39, 44, 45). Cornelius, the first Gentile convert, was a centurion (Acts 10:1, 22). Other centurions are mentioned in Matt. 8:5, 8, 13; Luke 7:2, 6; Acts 21:32; 22:25, 26; 23:17, 23; 24:23; 27:1, 6, 11, 31, 43; 28:16. A centurion watched the crucifixion of our Lord (Matt. 27:54; Luke 23:47), and when he saw the wonders attending it, exclaimed, “Truly this man was the Son of God.” “The centurions mentioned in the New Testament are uniformly spoken of in terms of praise, whether in the Gospels or in the Acts. It is interesting to compare this with the statement of Polybius (vi. 24), that the centurions were chosen by merit, and so were men remarkable not so much for their daring courage as for their deliberation, constancy, and strength of mind.”, Dr. Maclear’s N. T. Hist.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
[Army]
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>sen-tu'-ri-un: As the name implies, hekatontarches or hekatontarchos, kenturion, Latin centurio, was the commander of a hundred men, more or less, in a Roman legion. Matthew and Luke use the Greek word while Mark prefers the Latin form, as he does in the case of other words, seeing that he wrote primarily for Roman readers. The number of centurions in a legion was 60, that being at all epochs the number of centuries, although the number varied in the cohort or speira. The ordinary duties of the centurion were to drill his men, inspect their arms, food and clothing, and to command them in the camp and in the field. Centurions were sometimes employed on detached service the conditions of which in the provinces are somewhat obscure. Men like Cornelius and Julius (Ac 10:1; 27:1) may have been separated from the legion to which they properly belonged for the discharge of special duties. They and other centurions mentioned in the Gospels and the Ac (Mt 8:5; Mr 15:39,44,45; Lu 23:47) are represented by the sacred writers in a favorable light.</p><p>See AUGUSTAN BAND.</p><p>T. Nicol.</p>