is it true that in 1000 BCE ISrael army had 1million and 300.000 solders?
2 Samuel 24
24:9 And Joab gave up the sum of the number of the people unto the king: and there were in Israel eight hundred thousand valiant men that drew the sword; and the men of Judah were five hundred thousand men.
1 Chr.21:5 ( this even better, 1.5 million)
21:5 And Joab gave the sum of the number of the people unto David. And all they of Israel were a thousand thousand and an hundred thousand men that drew sword: and Judah was four hundred threescore and ten thousand men that drew sword.
(The United States had about 1.37 million active duty soldiers in 2001.)
Wow and that is only 2 tribes....
2006-08-16 07:23:30 · 10 answers · asked by PicassoInActions 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
No, its not true. Ancient manuscripts are notorious for exaggerating numbers, and none can be taken at face value, whether the text is religious or not.
2006-08-16 07:30:27 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
Well, in those times, there weren't a lot of banker jobs or computer technicians. If you were of age, you were recruited into the military during times of war. The women would stay home and take care of the crops or family business along with the servants (or slaves). Also, because of the necessity for hand-to-hand combat, it required many more men than it does today to effectively fight a war. Therefore, there were a lot more people in the military then. I'm sure some of the numbers were rounded (probably upwards).
2006-08-16 07:31:55 · answer #2 · answered by BigRichGuy 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I doubt it, though of course it can't be proven one way or another. If you're referencing the Bible as the source, are you also questioning the ages of all the patriarchs, who lived well past 150 with every successive generation? Biologically possible, sure, but not very d*mn likely. Are you a literalist? Do you take the Bible as fact? Or are you like me, and simply take the story to mean that there were many, many soldiers -- too many to be overcome?
2006-08-16 07:32:22 · answer #3 · answered by Kay 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, that was 12 tribes, not two, and secondly, the US army is entirely voluntary. Unlike the Israelite army, it does not comprise anywhere near the sum total of able-bodied adults in the US (even if we count just the men).
2006-08-16 07:35:09 · answer #4 · answered by songkaila 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The "army" mentioned is the militia, which was pretty much everyone, who left their farms for a month or 2 in the winter to fight, when their was no farming to do. The "Men of Judah" is the professional army, who didn't also farm.
2006-08-16 07:33:18 · answer #5 · answered by ysk 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just like how "million", "billion", and "trillion" have different meanings in America from what they mean in the UK, numbers may have come out differently in the scriptures when written out different times because of how they were written.
It doesn't matter much anyway; the important thing in the book is the prinicples taught.
2006-08-16 07:32:51 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure. It could mean that Judah made up that many of the army. At this point Israel had not divided.
2006-08-16 07:30:09 · answer #7 · answered by Seeking answers in Him 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
PicassoInAct...,
WOW!
That's amazing! King James Version, right?
Incredible! You mean there were people before now?
Whoa!
2006-08-16 07:32:22 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
ancient texts always greatly exaggerate the size of armies or of the numbers of enemies killed
2006-08-16 07:29:57 · answer #9 · answered by bregweidd 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'll look that up...interesting, thanks for the food for thought
2006-08-16 07:42:06 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋