1 Chronicles 5:21

21 And they took (away) all things which (the) Hagarites had in possession, fifty thousand of camels, and two hundred and fifty thousand of sheep, two thousand of asses (two thousand donkeys), and an hundred thousand persons of men;

1 Chronicles 5:21 Meaning and Commentary

1 Chronicles 5:21

And they took away their cattle
Which they brought with them, and they found in their camp when they fled, or in their fields:

of their camels fifty thousand;
with which Arabia abounded, and were fit to travel with in those hot and desert countries, being strong to carry burdens, and able to bear much thirst. The Arabians, as Diodorus Siculus F1 reports, brought up camels, for almost all the uses of life; as for the sake of their milk and flesh to feed upon, as well as for carrying burdens in common; and which in time of war they loaded with provisions for the army, and fought upon, one of them carrying two archers with their backs to each other, the one to meet the enemy in front, the other to annoy those that pursued them; and so the Parthians made use of camels both to fight on, and to carry provisions for their soldiers F2:

and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand;
which these Hagarites kept both for food and clothing, and some of them might be now taken with them to supply their army; the Spartans carried sheep with them in their expeditions, as sacrifices to their gods F3; but it need not be supposed that these creatures, and those that follow, were in such large numbers with the Hagarites in the battle, but were afterwards found, partly in their camp, and partly in the places inhabited by them:

and of asses two thousand;
used to ride on, and carry loads, and also to plough with; and in all these lay the wealth of men in those times and countries, see ( Job 1:1 Job 1:3 )

and of men one hundred thousand;
so that they took captive above as many more as their army consisted of.


FOOTNOTES:

F1 Bibliothec. l. 2. p. 137. & l. 3. p. 178. Vid. Plin. l. 8. c. l8.
F2 Tacit. Annal. l. 15. c. 12. Herodian. l. 4. c. 28, 30.
F3 Pausan. Boeotica, sive, l. 9. p. 561.

1 Chronicles 5:21 In-Context

19 and fought against Hagarites. Forsooth Jetur, and Nephish, and Nodab,
20 gave help to them; and Hagarites, and all men that were with them, were betaken into the hands of Reuben, and Gad, and Manasseh; for they called inwardly the Lord, while they fought, and the Lord heard them, for they believed in to him. (gave them help; and the Hagarites, and all the men who were with them, were delivered into the hands of Reuben, and Gad, and eastern Manasseh; for they inwardly called on the Lord, while they fought, and the Lord heard them, for they believed in him.)
21 And they took (away) all things which (the) Hagarites had in possession, fifty thousand of camels, and two hundred and fifty thousand of sheep, two thousand of asses (two thousand donkeys), and an hundred thousand persons of men;
22 for many men were wounded and felled down; for it was the battle of the Lord. And they dwelled (there) for (the) Hagarites till to the conquest. (for many men were killed and fell down; for the battle was the Lord's making. And they lived there in place of the Hagarites until the captivity.)
23 Also the sons of the half lineage of Manasseh had in possession the land, from the ends of Bashan till to Baalhermon, and Senir, and the hill of Hermon; for it was a great number. (And the sons of the eastern half of the tribe of Manasseh, had in possession the land from Bashan to Baalhermon, and Senir, and Mount Hermon; for they were great in number.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.