An army of one million

[rlvaughn]

2 Chronicles 14:9 - And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.

Same as the million Ethiopians in 2 Chron. 14:9. There likely weren't a million Ethiopians of all ages & both genders living then. But they doubtlessly had a large army.

This was brought up in another thread. I thought it might make an interesting discussion. Here are some comments on the million man army, from over at Bible Hub, and Josephus.

An host of a thousand thousand - This is the largest collected army of which we hear in Scripture; but it does not exceed the known numbers of other Oriental armies in ancient times. Darius Codomannus brought into the field at Arbela a force of 1,040, 000; Xerxes crossed into Greece with certainly above a million of combatants.

The number a thousand thousand is probably meant to signify that the host was too great to number; it is not to be taken literally.

This very large and symmetrical number would probably be best represented in English by an indefinite expression, like “myriads.” It is otherwise out of all proportion to the three hundred chariots, which last seems a correct datum. Syriac and Arabic say “20,000 chariots.”

a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots—"Twenty camels employed to carry couriers upon them might have procured that number of men to meet in a short time. As Zerah was the aggressor, he had time to choose when he would summon these men and attack the enemy. Every one of these Cushite shepherds, carrying with them their own provisions of flour and water, as is their invariable custom, might have fought with Asa without eating a loaf of Zerah's bread or drinking a pint of his water" [Bruce, Travels].

nor need this army be thought incredible, especially since they were joined by the Lubim or Libyans, and assisted by the Philistines, as appears by what follows; besides, the two armies of Israel and Judah we read of in the preceding chapter, when put together, exceed this; see also 2 Chronicles 17:14, so the armies of Tamerlane and Bajazet, that of the former being 1,600,000, and that of the latter 1,400,000

But when he [Asa, rlv] had already reigned ten years, Zerah, king of Ethiopia, made an expedition against him, with a great army, of nine hundred thousand footmen, and one hundred thousand horsemen, and three hundred chariots, and came as far as Mareshah, a city that belonged to the tribe of Judah.

The number a thousand thousand is probably meant to signify that the host was too great to number; it is not to be taken literally.

A thousand thousand. Whether this number be correct or not, it may be noted that it is the largest alleged number of an army given in the Old Testament.

Thoughts?

 

[robycop3]

2 Chronicles 14:9 - And there came out against them Zerah the Ethiopian with an host of a thousand thousand, and three hundred chariots; and came unto Mareshah.

This was brought up in another thread. I thought it might make an interesting discussion. Here are some comments on the million man army, from over at Bible Hub, and Josephus.









Thoughts?

The largest Civil War armies that were together as a unit were around a half-million, & they could travel only as fast as their supply trains, same as ancient armies, as they all had to be fed & have water & latrines. Same as ancient armies, they had large numbers of animals with them, that had to eat & drink as well. Also, the commanders couldn't get their orders to all the men too quickly. The Civil War armies were the last large armies to travel the same way the ancient armies did.

I'd say the censuses the old Israelis made of fighting-age men were fairly-accurate. And the 200-million-person Oriental army in Revelation is VERY-accurate, as it's from GOD. And awhile back, China by itself boasted of having a 200-million-person army available, which I don't doubt for a second.

But as for the million-man Ethiopian army, I believe what the Cambridge people said-it was a large army the Israelis couldn't count.

 

[rlvaughn]

I'd say the censuses the old Israelis made of fighting-age men were fairly-accurate.

Do you mean the military censuses recorded in the Old Testament? If so, what do you mean by fairly accurate?

And the 200-million-person Oriental army in Revelation is VERY-accurate, as it's from GOD.

By writing that, are you implying that the number in 2 Chronicles 14:9 is not from God?

 

[37818]

A number in holy scripture would be true and the number can actually be more.

Numbers 24:9, ". . . And those that died in the plague were twenty and four thousand. . . ."

1 Corinthians 10:8, ". . . some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. . . ."

 

[Dave G]

Thoughts?

It's a literal number,
as God, who cannot lie, has stated it.

 

[rlvaughn]

@robycop3, Hoping I might get your attention on this. I had forgotten about it.

When writing what I quote below in post #2, what did you mean? Combined with what you said about the Ethiopian army, were you implying that the number in 2 Chronicles 14:9 is not from God? Or something else?

And the 200-million-person Oriental army in Revelation is VERY-accurate, as it's from GOD.

Thanks.

 

[Dave G]

Do you mean the military censuses recorded in the Old Testament? If so, what do you mean by fairly accurate? By writing that, are you implying that the number in 2 Chronicles 14:9 is not from God?

It's a literal number,
as God, who cannot lie, has stated it.

https://www.scripture4all.org/OnlineInterlinear/OTpdf/2ch14.pdf
2 Chronicles 14 Interlinear Bible
2 Chronicles 14:9 - וַיֵּצֵ֨א אֲלֵיהֶ֜ם... - Interlinear Study Bible
2 Chronicles 14

 

[Yeshua1]

It's a literal number,
as God, who cannot lie, has stated it.

There are instances in the Hebrew texts though where the numbers cannot be determined with absolute certainty, so that army would be a large number is fine, even is exact count was wrong!

 

[Yeshua1]

@robycop3, Hoping I might get your attention on this. I had forgotten about it.

When writing what I quote below in post #2, what did you mean? Combined with what you said about the Ethiopian army, were you implying that the number in 2 Chronicles 14:9 is not from God? Or something else?

Thanks.

There are instances in the Hebrew texts though where the numbers cannot be determined with absolute certainty, so that army would be a large number is fine, even is exact count was wrong!