1 Chronicles 5:21

21 And they took all that they possessed, of camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men a hundred thousand souls.

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 fought against the Agarites: but the Itureans, and Naphis, and Nodab,
20 Gave them help. And the Agarites were delivered into their hands, and all that were with them, because they called upon God in the battle: and he heard them, because they had put their faith in him.
21 And they took all that they possessed, of camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred and fifty thousand, and of asses two thousand, and of men a hundred thousand souls.
22 And many fell down slain: for it was the battle of the Lord. And they dwelt in their stead till the captivity.
23 And the children of the half tribe of Manasses possessed the land, from the borders of Basan unto Baal, Hermon, and Sanir, and mount Hermon, for their number was great.
The Douay-Rheims Bible is in the public domain.