MAGISTRATE (Gr. στρατηγός, G5130), a common term in classical Gr. lit. for a high military officer usually tr. “general” or “major.” However in Hel. times it was used as the Koiné Gr. equivalent for a bewildering number of technical terms denoting Rom. provincial officials. In this manner it is used exclusively in the NT by Luke in both the gospel (22:4, 52) and Acts (4:1; 5:24, 26; 16:20, 22, 35, 36, 38). In the context in Acts 16 it is used as the title of the Rom. official of the colony of Philippi and prob. stands for the Lat. duumviri or “magistrates” of the colony. Ordinarily, however, it was used of the much higher Rom. official, the praetor. In the provincial colonial seats of the Rom. empire there often were several of these officials whose power included paramilitary and police affairs as well as administrative and political functions. There were usually three to five such officials who levied taxes, commanded the Rom. garrison, tried criminal cases and kept civil order. Frequently the names of the “magistrates” appear on the local coinage of the Asiatic provinces.

The precise differentiation between the Gr. στρατηγός, G5130, and ἀρχῶν, as they appear together in Acts 16:19 is that most likely the second word (RSV) “magistrates” is a subclass of the first (RSV) “rulers” and thus the “magistrate” is used herein to refer to the Rom. judges of the court which would accord with the use in other extra-Biblical sources. The use of the term in the phrase ὁ στρατηγός τοῦ ἱεροῦ, “chief of the temple,” refers to the Temple hierarchy set up by the Hel. Jewish commonwealth. This official is simply called stratēgos in Jos. Antiq. XX. 131. The Jews knew of this official, the second in command of the Temple behind the high priest as the סְגַן, H10505, an official title borrowed from Assyria by the Jews after the captivity and mentioned in Ezra and Nehemiah. It should be tr. literally as “prefect” or “overseer” of the Temple. Because of the prohibitions against the defilement of the Temple by Gentiles and other unworthy persons the guards of the prefect were armed and drilled.

Bibliography D. Magie, Roman Rule in Asia Minor (1950); M. Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the Hellenistic World Vol. I (1953); A. H. M. Jones; The Later Roman Empire, A Social, Economic and Administrative Survey, 2 vols. (1964).