And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian, with an
host of thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots
According to Josephus F2, this army consisted of 900,000 foot, and 100,000 horsemen, and certain it is there were horsemen among them, ( 2 Chronicles 16:8 ) some say these were not the Ethiopians in Africa, beyond Egypt, being, as is said, too far off for such an army to travel, and it would be hard to say what should induce them to it; and besides it is urged, the king of Egypt would never have suffered them to pass through his dominions, as they must to come to Judea; but that they were the Cushite Arabs, that inhabited Midian, part of Arabia Petraea, and Arabia Felix, near Judaea, (See Gill on Numbers 12:1), but since this great host consisted of Lubim or Libyans, inhabitants of Africa, as well as of Ethiopians, ( 2 Chronicles 16:8 ) , these Ethiopians seem to be rather those in Africa, who were masters of Egypt and Libya, as well as Ethiopia, quickly after the death of Shishak, or Sesostris, see ( 2 Chronicles 12:2 2 Chronicles 12:3 ) , which accounts for the size of this army, and their passage through Egypt: that there were two sorts of Ethiopians, the western and eastern ones, the one that dwelt in Africa, the other in Asia, appears clearly from Homer {c}, Herodotus F4, and Heliodorus F5, the former of which seem here meant; nor need this army be thought incredible, especially since they were joined by the Lubim or Libyans, and assisted by the Philistines, as appears by what follows; besides, the two armies of Israel and Judah we read of in the preceding chapter, when put together, exceed this; see also ( 2 Chronicles 17:14-18 ) , so the armies of Tamerlane and Bajazet, that of the former being 1,600,000, and that of the latter 1,400,000 F6:
and came unto Mareshah;
a city in the tribe of Judah, on the borders of it, ( 2 Chronicles 11:8 ) .