Joshua 11:4

4 and they go out, they and all their camps with them, a people numerous, as the sand which [is] on the sea-shore for multitude, and horse and charioteer very many;

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 unto the kings who [are] on the north in the hill-country, and in the plain south of Chinneroth, and in the low country, and in the elevations of Dor, on the west,

3 [to] the Canaanite on the east, and on the west, and the Amorite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Jebusite in the hill-country, and the Hivite under Hermon, in the land of Mizpeh --

4 and they go out, they and all their camps with them, a people numerous, as the sand which [is] on the sea-shore for multitude, and horse and charioteer very many;

5 and all these kings are met together, and they come and encamp together at the waters of Merom, to fight with Israel.

6 And Jehovah saith unto Joshua, `Be not afraid of their presence, for to-morrow about this time I am giving all of them wounded before Israel; their horses thou dost hough, and their chariots burn with fire.'