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2 Chronicles 14:8

in 2 Chronicles 14

Asa had an army of 300,000 men from Judah bearing large shields and spears, and 280,000 men from Benjamin bearing small shields and drawing the bow. All these were mighty men of valor.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV

ASV

And Asa had an army that bare bucklers and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valor.

KJV

And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand; and out of Benjamin, that bare shields and drew bows, two hundred and fourscore thousand: all these were mighty men of valour.

This verse in 2 Chronicles 14

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

Targets and spears - Probably targets with the dagger in the center, and javelins for distant fight. Bare shields and drew bows - They were not only archers, but had shield and sword for close fight.

This site's exposition

that bare targets and spears

The muster totals five hundred and eighty thousand between Judah's spearmen and Benjamin's archers, a figure the Chronicler sets down without comment, the same plain accounting the book gives for David's census lists and later reigns. Clarke reads the two tribes' equipment, targets and spears against shields and drawn bows, as the ordinary split between close fighting and fighting at distance in a Judean army of the period. The size sets up a contrast the next verses will not let stand, since a host this large still meets one many times over.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

15 They smote also the tents of cattle, and carried away sheep and camels in abundance, and returned to Jerusalem. Disturbance given to the peace of Asa's kingdom by a formidable army of Ethiopians that invaded them,

quarantine:scripture (2026-07-29) — verbatim-run:19w-of-37

And Asa had an army of men that bare targets and spears, out of Judah three hundred thousand,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

The men of Judah served as heavy-armed troops, while the Benjamites were light-armed. Their numbers accord well with those of 2Ch 13:3. As the boundaries of Judah had been enlarged 2Ch 13:19, and as for ten years at least there had been no war 2Ch 14:1, the effective force had naturally increased. It was 400, 000; it is now 580, 000.

The words behind it

22 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וַיְהִ֣יand it belonged

    vayhiH19613559 times

  • לְאָסָ֗אto Asa

    leasa'H60957 times

  • חַיִל֮an army

    chayilH2428246 times

  • נֹשֵׂ֣אbearing

    nose'H5375656 times

  • צִנָּ֣הbody shield[s]

    tzinahH679322 times

  • וָרֹמַח֒and spear[s]

    varomachH742015 times

  • מִֽיהוּדָה֙from Judah

    mihudahH3063819 times

  • שְׁלֹ֣שׁthree

    sheloshH7969432 times

  • מֵא֣וֹתhundred<s>

    meotH3967581 times

  • אֶ֔לֶף סthousand

    ʾelefH505505 times

  • וּמִבִּנְיָמִ֗ןand of Benjamin

    umibinyaminH1144166 times

  • נֹשְׂאֵ֤י[those who] carry

    noseeiH5375656 times

  • מָגֵן֙<of> a shield

    magenH404363 times

  • וְדֹ֣רְכֵיand [those who] bend

    vedorekheiH1869

  • קֶ֔שֶׁת<of> a bow

    keshetH719876 times

  • מָאתַ֥יִםtwo hundred

    matayimH3967581 times

  • וּשְׁמוֹנִ֖יםand eighty

    ushemonimH808438 times

  • אָ֑לֶףthousand

    ʾalefH505505 times

  • כָּל־all

    kol-H36055413 times

  • אֵ֖לֶּהthese

    ʾelehH428746 times

  • גִּבּ֥וֹרֵי[were] mighty [men] of

    giboreiH1368158 times

  • חָֽיִל׃strength

    chayilH2428246 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 25:5

    Then Amaziah gathered the people of Judah and assigned them according to their families to commanders of thousands and of hundreds. And he numbered those twenty years of age or older throughout Judah and…

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 17:14–18

      These are their numbers according to the houses of their fathers: From Judah, the commanders of thousands: Adnah the commander, and with him 300,000 mighty men of valor;

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • 2 Chronicles 11:1

      When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Numbers 1:3

      You and Aaron are to number those who are twenty years of age or older by their divisions—everyone who can serve in Israel’s army.

    • 1 Chronicles 27:1

      This is the list of the Israelites—the heads of families, the commanders of thousands and of hundreds, and their officers who served the king in every matter concerning the divisions on rotating military duty…

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 11:1

    When Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the house of Judah and Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam.

    it leads to

    • 1 Kings 12:21–24

      And when Rehoboam arrived in Jerusalem, he mobilized the whole house of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin—180,000 chosen warriors—to fight against the house of Israel and restore the kingdom to Rehoboam son of…

  • Through

    2 Chronicles 13:3

    Abijah went into battle with an army of 400,000 chosen men, while Jeroboam drew up in formation against him with 800,000 chosen and mighty men of valor.

    it leads to

    • 1 Chronicles 21:5

      And Joab reported to David the total number of the troops. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 men who drew the sword, including 470,000 in Judah.

    • 1 Samuel 17:1–3

      Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.

    • 2 Chronicles 26:12–13

      The total number of family leaders of the mighty men of valor was 2,600.

About 2 Chronicles

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.