Joshua 11:4

4 Those kings marched out with all of their troops. They had a large number of horses and chariots. It was a huge army. The fighting men were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore.

Joshua 11:4 Meaning and Commentary

Joshua 11:4

And they went out
The several kings and people sent to; these went out from the places they inhabited:

they and all their hosts with them;
the kings of those several places, with their armies:

much people, even as the sand that [is] upon the seashore in multitude;
a proverbial expression, to denote an exceeding great number:

with horses and chariots very many;
being supplied with horses from Egypt, and their chariots were chariots of iron; see ( Judges 4:3 ) ; Josephus ^F26 gives us the number of this great army, and says it consisted of three hundred thousand footmen, ten thousand horse, and thirty thousand chariots; some copies read only twenty thousand; and these chariots were armed with iron hooks or scythes, to cut down men as they drove along, and so were very terrible.

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FOOTNOTES:

F26 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 18.

Joshua 11:4 In-Context

2 He also sent it to a lot of other kings. Some ruled in the mountains in the north. Some ruled in the Arabah Valley south of Kinnereth. Others ruled in the western hills. Still others ruled in Naphoth Dor in the west.

3 Jabin sent the same message to the people of east Canaan and west Canaan. He sent it to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites. They lived in the central hill country. He also sent it to the Hivites who lived below Mount Hermon in the area of Mizpah.

4 Those kings marched out with all of their troops. They had a large number of horses and chariots. It was a huge army. The fighting men were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore.

5 All of those kings gathered their armies together to fight against Israel. They set up camp together at the Waters of Merom.

6 The LORD spoke to Joshua. He said, "Do not be afraid of them. By this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over to Israel. All of them will be killed. You must cut the legs of their horses. You must burn up their chariots."