Exodus 14:7. He took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over every one of them.
The word rendered captains is, literally, third men. Usually each war-chariot carried two men: the charioteer, who was an important character, and the warrior. Sometimes, however, there was a third man, who had direction of the two others. The strength of Pharaoh’s chariot force is seen, then, in this, that he had, besides the usual pair of men to each chariot, a third man or “captain.” Thus one might act as charioteer, one as warrior, and one as shield-bearer.