Joshua 11:4

4 They went out with all their armies-a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore-along with a vast number of horses and chariots.

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 and the kings of the north in the hill country, the plain south of Chinnereth, the Judean foothills, and the Slopes of Dor to the west,

3 the Canaanites in the east and west, the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, and Jebusites in the hill country, and the Hivites at the foot of Hermon in the land of Mizpah.

4 They went out with all their armies-a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore-along with a vast number of horses and chariots.

5 All these kings joined forces; they came together and camped at the waters of Merom to attack Israel.

6 The Lord said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, for at this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over dead to Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn up their chariots."