The captain of fifty, and the honourable man, and the counsellor, and the cunning artificer, and the eloquent orator.
Ver. 3. The captain of fifty.] One of the least and lowest commanders in war; such also shall fail, and therefore all must needs fall to wreck and ruin. This Epaminondas when he was dying foresaw at Thebes, and therefore counselled his countrymen to make peace upon any terms. a
And the honourable.] Heb., The man eminent in countenance; Sept., Yαυμαστον, a man of respect and authority. In the eyes of Augustus Caesar sat such a rare majesty, as a man could hardly endure to behold them without closing of his own.
And the cunning artificer.] Such as was Hiram, whom for honour's sake Solomon called father; Archimedes, and such others who are of great use to a State, for making of engines and instruments.
And the eloquent orator.] Heb., Skilled in charms. Quintilian describes an orator thus: Vir bonus dicendi peritus, A good man well spoken. Ille regit dictis animos et pectora mulcet, He carrieth the people which way he pleaseth. The Athenians called such δημαγωγους, and set a high price upon them, as they did on Pericles, Demosthenes, Phocion, &c. b
a Plutarch.
b Intelligentem, meditatam et gravem orationem. - Oecolamp.