Joshua Chapter 11 verse 4 Holy Bible

ASV Joshua 11:4

And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea-shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.
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BBE Joshua 11:4

And they went out, they and all their armies with them, a great people, in number like the sand on the seaside, with horses and war-carriages in great number.
read chapter 11 in BBE

DARBY Joshua 11:4

And they went out, they and all their armies with them, a people numerous as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.
read chapter 11 in DARBY

KJV Joshua 11:4

And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is upon the sea shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.
read chapter 11 in KJV

WBT Joshua 11:4

And they went out, they and all their hosts with them, many people, even as the sand that is upon the sea-shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very numerous.
read chapter 11 in WBT

WEB Joshua 11:4

They went out, they and all their hosts with them, much people, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore in multitude, with horses and chariots very many.
read chapter 11 in WEB

YLT Joshua 11:4

and they go out, they and all their camps with them, a people numerous, as the sand which `is' on the sea-shore for multitude, and horse and charioteer very many;
read chapter 11 in YLT

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 4. And they went out. Dean Stanley (Lectures, 1:259) compares this "last struggle" of the Canaanites with the conflict between the Saxons and the British chiefs "driven to the Land's End." The comparison is more picturesque than accurate. In the first place, it was by no means a "last struggle" (see ver. 21; Joshua 18:3; Joshua 19:47; Judges 4. throughout). In the next, the Britons were never driven to the Land's End, but Dorsetshire, which retained its independence for 200 years, was treated by Ina as Gezer (Joshua 16:10), was treated by the Ephraimites, while Devonshire and Cornwall came very gradually and almost peacefully under the hands of the conquerors. And thirdly, even had it been otherwise, there is a vast difference between a handful of desperate men driven to bay on a tongue of land surrounded nearly on every side by the sea, and a powerful, though defeated, nation with a vast continent in its rear. Yet there are many features common to the history of the Israelites in Canaan, and of the Teutonic tribes in Britain (see Introduction). As the sand that is upon the sea shore. This poetic phrase is common in the Hebrew writings (see Genesis 22:17; Genesis 32:12; Judges 7:12; 1 Samuel 13:5; 1 Kings 4:20, etc.). Solomon's capacious intellect is compared to the sand on the sea shore, in 1 Kings 4:29. The word translated "shore" is "lip" in the original, a word which adds to the poetry of the passage. And horses and chariots very many. Literally, many exceedingly. The Israelites appear to have held cavalry and chariots in great awe (see Exodus 14:18, and the song of triumph in Exodus 15; cf. also Joshua 17:16, 18; Judges 1:19; Judges 4:3). In later times they appear to have become more used to them. See, for instance, 1 Samuel 13:5, where the historian gives their number, large as it was, instead of regarding it as past all computation. This battle must have taken place on level ground, or the chariots would have been useless. Accordingly the historian fixes its scene on the banks of "the waters of Merom," where such ground is to be found - another instance of his historical accuracy (see Vandevelde, Journey 2:413, who places the battle on the great plain southwest of the latter). The use of chariots in battle dates from an early period. Homer's heroes are described as driven to battle in them. But perhaps the scythe chariots are here meant, which are not found on early Egyptian monuments, but which Xenophon in his Cyropaedia says were introduced By Cyrus. We find them, however, in use in Britain, in the days of Julius Caesar, and they could hardly have obtained the idea from the Persians. Potter (Antiquities, bk. 3. ch. 1.) says that they were gradually abandoned when they were found more dangerous to those who used them than to the enemy. That this kind of chariot is here meant seems pretty certain from the alarm they caused. No such alarm would have been caused by chariots simply used to convey the chieftains to the fight (see Gesenius, s.v. Xenophon, Cyr. 6:4; and 2 Macc. 13:2). All their hosts. The LXX. reads מַלְכֵיהֶמ their kings, for מַחֲנֵיהֶם.

Ellicott's Commentary