Bible Dictionary
Executioner
An executioner was an official or armed officer who could carry out a sentence of death. In the New Testament, the term refers to a member of Herod’s bodyguard who was sent to behead John the Baptist.
Definition
An executioner was an official or armed officer who could carry out a sentence of death. The term in Mark refers to a member of Herod Antipas’s armed bodyguard who was sent to behead John the Baptist.
Biblical Usage
The executioner appears in the account of John’s death at Herod’s command.
Historical Background
The Latin term used by Mark originally meant scout or spy and came to denote an imperial bodyguard. Such guards were sometimes employed as executioners, while the office could also be one of high dignity.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(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.)
Smith's Bible Dictionary
The post of executioner was one of high dignity. Potiphar was “captain of the executioners.” (Genesis 37:36) see margin. That the “captain of the guard” himself occasionally performed the duty of an executioner appears from (1 Kings 2:25,34)