GREEK · G4688
σπεκουλάτωρ
spekoulatōr — executioner
σπεκουλάτωρ, -ορος (Rec. -ωρος), ὁ (Lat. speculator), 1. prop., a spy or scout. 2. An executioner: Mrk.6:27 (see Swete, in l).† (AS)
1 tagged verse occurrence · see every occurrence →BIBLE DICTIONARY + WORD STUDY
Executioner
Original Hebrew / Aramaic / Greek connected to this term
How to read this: there is rarely one magic “true meaning” hidden behind an English word. A lexicon records a word’s semantic range. The intended meaning is narrowed by grammar, sentence, author, historical usage and context.
HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H2876
טַבָּח
tab.bach — guard
1) executioner, cook, bodyguard, guardsman 1a) cook (who also killed the animal for food) 1b) guardsmen, bodyguard Aramaic equivalent: tab.bach (טַבָּח "guardsman" H2877)
32 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H3774
כְּרֵתִי
ke.re.ti — Cherethite
Someone descended from Chereth(?), first mentioned at 1Sa.30.14 § Cherethites = "executioners" 1) a group of foreign mercenary soldiers serving as a bodyguard for king David; also executioners 2) either Cretans or proto-Philistines (in general)
9 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H3746
כָּרִי
ka.ri — Carite
A group, first mentioned at 2Sa.8.18; also called Carite at 2Ki.11.4,19; Group of ke.re.ti (כְּרֵתִי "Cherethite" H3774H) a group of foreign mercenary soldiers serving as a bodyguard for king David; also executioners
2 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H6318
פּוֹטִיפַר
po.ti.phar — Potiphar
A man of the Egyptians living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.37.36 § Potiphar = "belonging to the sun" an officer of Pharaoh, chief of the executioners, and the master to whom Joseph was sold as a slave
2 tagged verse occurrences · see every occurrence →HEBREW / ARAMAIC · H2877
טַבָּח
tab.bach — guardsman
bodyguard, executioner, guardsmen Aramaic of tab.bach (טַבָּח "guard" H2876)
1 tagged verse occurrence · see every occurrence →Historical dictionary entry
(Mark 6:27). Instead of the Greek word, Mark here uses a Latin word, speculator, which literally means “a scout,” “a spy,” and at length came to denote one of the armed bodyguard of the emperor. Herod Antipas, in imitation of the emperor, had in attendance on him a company of speculatores. They were sometimes employed as executioners, but this was a mere accident of their office. (See MARK, GOSPEL OF.)
Scripture references
Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897). Historical dictionary wording reflects the scholarship and language of its era.