So these kings came out with all their armies, a multitude as numerous as the sand on the seashore, along with a great number of horses and chariots.
Parallel translations
- WEB They went out, they and all their armies with them, many people, even as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots.
- KJV 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.
- NKJV So they went out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore in multitude, with very many horses and chariots.
- NASB Then they came out, they and all their armies with them, as many people as the sand that is on the seashore, with very many horses and chariots.
- NLT All these kings came out to fight. Their combined armies formed a vast horde. And with all their horses and chariots, they covered the landscape like the sand on the seashore.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The allied armies are vast as the sand of the seashore, with many horses and chariots. The military force is overwhelming by human measure.
Overview
The northern coalition fields an immense army equipped with chariots, the most fearsome weaponry of the age. The seashore-sand imagery stresses how impossible the odds appear from a human viewpoint. This setup heightens the wonder of the LORD's promised deliverance against superior force.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Judg 7:12Now the Midianites, Amalekites, and all the other people of the east had settled in the valley like a swarm of locusts, and their camels were as countless as the sand on the seashore.
- 1 Sam 13:5Now the Philistines assembled to fight against Israel with three thousand chariots, six thousand horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.
- Gen 32:12But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”
- Gen 22:17I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will possess the gates of their enemies.
- 1 Kgs 4:20The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore, and they were eating and drinking and rejoicing.
- 2 Sam 17:11Instead, I advise that all Israel from Dan to Beersheba—a multitude like the sand on the seashore—be gathered to you, and that you yourself lead them into battle.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Joshua — the same name as Jesus, 'the LORD saves' — leads God's people into their inheritance, a shadow of the greater Joshua who brings us into the true rest and the promised land that remains.
How Joshua 11:4 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.