in the cities of Judah; and men of war, mighty men of valour, in Jerusalem. 14And this was the numbering of them according to their fathers' houses: of Judah, the captains of thousands; Adnah the captain, and with him mighty men of valour three hundred thousand: 15and next to him Jehohanan the captain, and with him two hundred and fourscore thousand: 16and next to him Amasiah the son of Zichri, who willingly offered himself unto the LORD; and with him two hundred thousand mighty men of valour: 17and of Benjamin; Eliada a mighty man of valour, and with him two hundred thousand armed with bow and shield: 18and next to him Jehozabad, and with him an hundred and fourscore thousand ready prepared for war. 19These were they that waited on the king, beside those whom the king put in the fenced cities throughout all Judah.
14—19 (no parallel in 1 Kin.). The Number of
Jehoshaphat's Army.
In these verses Jehoshaphat is credited with an army of 1,160,000 men; and the passage may be noted as the most extreme instance of the midrashic exaggeration of numbers which is a well-marked feature of the Chronicler's writing. If the possible proportions between the total numbers of a population and the men capable of military service at a given time be considered, it is easy to realise how monstrous an exaggeration are the figures here stated. They serve two purposes: (1) compared with the somewhat smaller numbers assigned to Abijah (xiii. 3) and to Asa (xiv. 8), they indicate that Jehoshaphat's reign was even more prosperous; and (3) generally, they suggested to the men of the Chronicler's own generation that in the eyes of all right-thinking men Jerusalem of old in its prosperous hours was not one whit less important and glorious than any huge and much-vaunted city of their own days.
For further examples of midrashic exaggeration, besides the passages named above, cp. xi. 1; 1 Chr. xii. 23, 24; and (as regards sums of money) 1 Chr. xxii. 14; 2 Chr. ix. 13.
15. next to him] Lit. at his hand; the same phrase is used in Neh. iii. 2, 4, 5, etc.
Jehohanan] Sometimes spelt Johanan.
16. who willingly offered himself] Cp. Judg. v. 9.
17. armed with bow and shield] i.e. light-armed troops; cp. note on xiv. 8.
