Guard. The Scripture terms used in this connec- tion mostly have reference to the special duties which the body-guard of a monarch had to perform. See King.
1. Tabbach' , H2V, originallj^ signified a '•^cook^'' and as butchering fell to the lot of the cook in Eastern countries, it gained the secondary sense of "execu- tioner," and is applied to the bod^'-guard of the kings of Egypt (Gen. xxxvii, 36) and Baliylon (2 Kings xx v, 8 ; Jer. xxxix, 9 ; xl, 1 ; Dan. ii, 14). So Potiphar, tlie master of Joseph, was captain of Pharaoh's body-guard, i. e. chief executioner (Gen. xxxix, 1 ; Ixi, 10, 12). In Egj'pt he had a public prison in his house (Gen. Ix, 3- 4). It is evident from Herodotus (ii, 165 sq.) that the kings of Eg3-pt had a guard who, in addition to the regular income of the soldier, also received a sep- arate salar}'. In the paintings of marches and battles on the mon- uments, these roj'al guards are commonl}^ seen to be emploj'ed in protecting the person of the king, and are distinguished bj' peculiar dresses and weapons (Wilkinson, i, 337, 406). During the reign of the Ptolemies, who in general ad- hered to the usages of the ancient Egyptians, the oflice of the com- mander of the body-guard was a very important one.- Thev possess- ed the confidence of the king, and were often emploj'ed in the most important business transactions.
Ancient Egyptian Sentry.
Finallj% the super- intendence of the executions belonged to the most dis- tinguished caste. In Babj'lon, Nebuzaradan, who held this office, commanded also a part of the roA^al arm}' (Jer. xxxix, 13 ; Iii, 15). See Executioner.
2. Rats, T^, properly means a courier, and is the ordinarj' term employed for the attendants of the Jew- ish kings, whose office it was to run before the char- iot (2 Sam. XV, 1 ; 1 Kings i, 5), like the c^irsores of the Roman emperors (Seneca, Epist. 87, 126). That the Jewish "runners" superadded the ordinarj' duties of a military guard appears from several passages (1 Sam. xxii, 17; 2 Kings x, 25; xi, 6; 2 Chron. xii, 10). It was their office also to carrj' dispatches (2 Chron. xxx, 0). They had a guard-room set apart for their use in the king's palace, in which their arms were kept ready for use (1 Kings xiv, 28; 2 Chron. xii, 11). See Footman. They were perhaps the same who, under David, were called Pelethites (1 Kings i, 5 ; xiv, 27 ; 2 Sam. xv, 1). See Pelethite.
3. The terms vrishme'reth, T\~pZ'C'Q, and mishmar' , 1^"j^, express properh' the act of watching, or else a watch-station, but are occasionallj' transferred to the persons who kept watch (Neh. iv, 9, 22; vii, 3; xii, 9; Job vii, 12). The A.V. is proljabh' correct in sub- stituting mishmnrto' ('lR"1'2'w'"3) for the present read- ing in 2 Sam. xxiii, 23, Benaiah being appointed "cap- tain of tlie guard," as Josephus (.4?i^ vii, 14, 4) re-
I latos, and not privy councillor : the same error has ! crept into the text in 1 Sam. xxii, 14, where the words
GUARDIAN ANGEL
1025 GUELPHS AND GHIBELLINES
"which goeth at thy bidding" may originally have been " captain of the body-guard." See Captain.
In New-Test, times we lind the (nriicovXaTUjp, for the Latin spiculutor (rendered "executioner," margin guard, ]\Iarlc vi, '11), properl}' a pike-man, halberdier, a kind of soldiers forming tlie bod^'-guard of kings and princes, who also, according to Oriental custom, acted as executioners. Tlie term icovarwCia, for the Latin cusiodia, i. e. custody, a "watch" or (juard, is spoken of the Roman soldiers at the sepulchre of Jesus (Matt, xxvii, G5, 6G ; xxviii, 11). The ordinary Roman guard consisted of four soldiers (rtT^dciov, '"quaternion"), of which there were four, corresponding to tlie four watches of the night, who relieved each other every three hours (Acts xii, 4; comp. John xix, 23; Polyb. vi, 33, 7). "When in charge of a prisoner, two watch- ed outside of the cell while the other two were inside (Acts xii, 6). The officer mentioned in Acts xxviii, 16 ((TrparoTTfOopp/f, "captain of the guard") was per- haps the commander of the Prretorian troops, to whose care prisoners from the provinces were usually con- signed (Pliny, Ep. x, Go). See "Watch.
Cruardian Angel, a term which represents a the- ory prevalent from antiquity, that human beings are accompanied through life b}' a special supernatural being (sometimes termed tlieir "attendant genius"), who watches over them for guidance and protection. Such has been thought to be the meaning of Socrates when he claimed a particular cw/jttojv as his spiritual counsellor. See D-emon. Among Christian writers the theory has been thought to derive confirmation from the statement of our Saviour respecting children, that "in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven" (Matt, xviii, 10); and from the declaration that angels "are all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation" (Ileb. i, 14). A more cau- tious criticism, however, has usually held that these passages only indicate a special care of divine Provi- dence over the young and believers ; and the peculiar form of tlie doctrine referred to appears to savor rather of a pagan than an evangelical origin. Monographs are named in "Walch, Bibliotheca Theolofjica, i, 178, and Volbeding, Index Programmatum, p. 116. See An- gel.