(Caʹri·an).

A body of troops that aided Jehoiada in the overthrow of Athaliah and the installation of Jehoash as king of Judah.​—2Ki 11:4, 13-16, 19.

Many scholars consider the Carian bodyguard to be another name for the Cherethites, 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. (2Sa 8:18; 1Ki 1:38; 1Ch 18:17) This connection of the Carian bodyguard with the Cherethites is additionally based on the fact that the Masoretic text says “Carian bodyguard” at 2 Samuel 20:23, while the reading in its margin, as well as in many Hebrew manuscripts, is “Cherethites.”

There is an ancient district of Caria in the SW part of Asia Minor. Because Ezekiel 25:16 and Zephaniah 2:5 associate the Cherethites with the Philistines, and because the Greek Septuagint rendering of these texts has “Cretans” instead of Cherethites, some believe that perhaps those in the Carian bodyguard had originally come from the district of Caria by way of Crete.