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.
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.
- BSB 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.
- 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.
- 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 7:12The Midianites and the Amalekites and all the children of the east lay along in the valley like locusts for multitude; and their camels were without number, as the sand which is on the seashore for multitude.
- 1 Sam 13:5The Philistines assembled themselves together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots, and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. They came up and encamped in Michmash, eastward of Beth Aven.
- Gen 32:12You said, ‘I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which can’t be counted because there are so many.’”
- Gen 22:17that I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your offspring greatly like the stars of the heavens, and like the sand which is on the seashore. Your offspring will possess the gate of his enemies.
- 1 Kgs 4:20Judah and Israel were numerous as the sand which is by the sea in multitude, eating and drinking and making merry.
- 2 Sam 17:11But I counsel that all Israel be gathered together to you, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that you go to battle in your own person.
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.