CARIAN BODYGUARD
(Caʹri·an).
A body of troops that aided Jehoiada in the overthrow of Athaliah and the installation of Jehoash as king of Judah.—2 Ki. 11:4, 13-16, 19.
Many scholars consider the “Carian bodyguard” to be another name for the “Cherethites” (Heb., kere·thimʹ), mentioned as serving in the military forces of David and Solomon. In the view of some scholars the Cherethites also functioned as a special bodyguard for these kings. (2 Sam. 8:18; 1 Ki. 1:38; 1 Chron. 18:17) This connection of the Carian bodyguard with the Cherethites is additionally based on the fact that the Masoretic text says “Cherethites” at 2 Samuel 20:23 while its marginal reading has “Carian.”
There is an ancient district of Caria in the SW part of Asia Minor. Certain authorities conjecture that the Philistines migrated to Canaan from that district via the island of Crete. (Amos 9:7) Because Ezekiel 25:16 and Zephaniah 2:5 associate the Cherethites with the Philistines, and because the Septuagint rendering of these texts has “Cretans” instead of Cherethites, some believe that this district of Caria was the original homeland of those in the Carian bodyguard.
While this association of the Carian bodyguard with the Cherethites and with the district of Caria possibly has some basis, a number of lexicographers prefer to treat the Hebrew word as simply meaning “foreigners.”