Joshua 11:4

4 They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.

Joshua 11:4 in Other Translations

4 And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.

4 And they came out with all their troops, a great horde, in number like the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.

4 All these kings came out to fight. Their combined armies formed a vast horde. And with all their horses and chariots, they covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore.

4 They came out in full force, all their troops massed together - a huge army, in number like sand on an ocean beach - to say nothing of all the horses and chariots.

4 And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea-shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.

4 They came out with all their armies. Their troops were as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. They also had horses and chariots.

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.

4 Those kings marched out with all of their troops. They had a large number of horses and chariots. It was a huge army. The fighting men were as many as the grains of sand on the seashore.

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.

---

FOOTNOTES:

F26 Antiqu. l. 5. c. 1. sect. 18.

Joshua 11:4 In-Context

2 and to the northern kings who were in the mountains, in the Arabah south of Kinnereth, in the western foothills and in Naphoth Dor on the west;

3 to the Canaanites in the east and west; to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites and Jebusites in the hill country; and to the Hivites below Hermon in the region of Mizpah.

4 They came out with all their troops and a large number of horses and chariots—a huge army, as numerous as the sand on the seashore.

5 All these kings joined forces and made camp together at the Waters of Merom to fight against Israel.

6 The LORD said to Joshua, “Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them, slain, over to Israel. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots.”

Cross References

• 1. S Genesis 12:2; Judges 7:12; 1 Samuel 13:5