1 Chronicles 5:21

21 They seized the livestock of the Hagrites—50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys. They also took 100,000 captives,

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 They waged war against the Hagrites, as well as Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab.
20 And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God, He answered their prayers.
21 They seized the livestock of the Hagrites—50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys. They also took 100,000 captives,
22 and many others fell slain, because the battle belonged to God. And they occupied the land until the exile.
23 Now the people of the half-tribe of Manasseh were numerous. They settled in the land from Bashan to Baal-hermon (that is, Senir, also known as Mount Hermon).
The Berean Bible and Majority Bible texts are officially placed into the public domain