1-Chronicles - 5:18



18 The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skillful in war, were forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty, that were able to go forth to war.

Verse In-Depth

Explanation and meaning of 1-Chronicles 5:18.

Differing Translations

Compare verses for better understanding.
The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war.
The sons of Ruben, and of Gad, and of the half tribe of Manasses, fighting men, bearing shields, and swords, and bending the bow, and trained up to battles, four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore that went out to war.
The children of Reuben and the Gadites and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men who carried shield and sword, drawing the bow and skilful in war, were forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty, able to go forth to war.
Sons of Reuben, and the Gadite, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, of sons of valour, men bearing shield and sword, and treading bow, and taught in battle, are forty and four thousand and seven hundred and sixty, going out to the host.
The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skillful in war, were four and forty thousand seven hundred and three score, that went out to the war.
There were forty-four thousand, seven hundred and sixty of the sons of Reuben and of the Gadites and of the half-tribe of Manasseh, all strong men, expert in the use of the body-cover, the sword, and the bow, and in the art of war, all able to take up arms.
The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, as many as were valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war, were forty and four thousand seven hundred and threescore, that were able to go forth to war.
The sons of Reuben and Gad and the half-tribe of Manasseh, of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skillful in war, were forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty, that were able to go forth to war.
the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and the one half tribe of Manasseh, men of war, carrying shields and swords, and bending the bow, and trained for battle, forty-four thousand and seven hundred sixty, advancing to the fight.

*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.


Historical Commentaries

Scholarly Analysis and Interpretation.

The sons of Reuben, and the Gadites, and half the tribe of Manasseh,.... These all joined together, living together on the one side of Jordan:
of valiant men, men able to bear buckler and sword, and to shoot with bow, and skilful in war; strong able bodied men; and not only able to bear and carry arms, sword in one hand, and shield in another; but were men of valour and courage, and had military skill, and knew how to handle their arms to advantage:
were four and forty thousand seven hundred and threescore, that went out to the war: that used to go out when there was occasion, and did at this time.

Hagarites--or, "Hagarenes," originally synonymous with "Ishmaelites," but afterwards applied to a particular tribe of the Arabs (compare Psalm 83:6).
Jetur--His descendants were called Itureans, and the country Auranitis, from Hauran, its chief city. These, who were skilled in archery, were invaded in the time of Joshua by a confederate army of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and half Manasseh, who, probably incensed by the frequent raids of those marauding neighbors, took reprisals in men and cattle, dispossessed almost all of the original inhabitants, and colonized the district themselves. Divine Providence favoured, in a remarkable manner, the Hebrew army in this just war.

War of the trans-Jordanic tribes of Israel with Arabic tribes. - As the half-tribe of Manasseh also took part in this war, we should have expected the account of it after 1-Chronicles 5:24. Bertheau regards its position here as a result of striving after a symmetrical distribution of the historical information. "In the case of Reuben," he says, "the historical information is in 1-Chronicles 5:10; in the case of the half-tribe of Manasseh, in 1-Chronicles 5:25, 1-Chronicles 5:26; as to Gad, we have our record in 1-Chronicles 5:18-22, which, together with the account in 1-Chronicles 5:25, 1-Chronicles 5:26, refers to all the trans-Jordanic Israelites." But it is much more likely that the reason of it will be found in the character of the authorities which the author of the Chronicle made use of, in which, probably, the notes regarding this war were contained in the genealogical register of the Gadites.

חיל מן־בּני belongs to the predicate of the sentence, "They were the sons of Valour," i.e., they belonged to the valiant warriors, "men bearing shield and sword (weapons of offence and defence), and those treading (or bending) the bow," i.e., skilful bowmen. מלחמה למוּדי, people practised in war; cf. the portrayal of the warlike valour of Gad and Manasseh, 1-Chronicles 12:8, 1-Chronicles 12:21. "The number 44,760 must be founded upon an accurate reckoning" (Berth.); but in comparison with the number of men capable of bearing arms in those tribes in the time of Moses, it is somewhat inconsiderable: for at the first numbering under him Reuben alone had 46,500 and Gad 45,650, and at the second numbering Reuben had 43,730 and Gad 40,500 men; see on Numbers 1-4 (1:2, S. 192).

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