The Israelite Military in Bible times

In the Bible, the army of Israel is mentioned several times in the Old Testament. How did the army come to be and how was it formed? Was there always a standing army? How were wars fought during Bible times? In this latest episode of Bible Backdrop, I look at how the Israelite military was formed from the very first battle in Genesis to the formation of the professional army under Saul and David. 

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Transcript

The young Israelite stood in his ranks. To the left and right of him, in a line of battle, men of around the same age waited. They had all answered the call of King David to fight the Arameans who had recently challenged the nation of Israel. Out of habit, the man checked his equipment again: shield in the right place; the sword in it’s scabbard ready to be used when needed; his thin layer of armor covering his upper body.

The waiting. This was always the worst part of battle. The men around him were starting to get antsy; shifting their feet, turning, talking to one another. The commander comes by and gives them all a knowing look. Every man falls silent again.

Finally a trumpet sounds. The traditional shofar, or ram’s horn, is the signal to the army. The commander gives the order and the battle line begins to move forward...toward the waiting Arameans. Swords are drawn, shields are up, those with javelins have them ready to hurl at the enemy. 

All of a sudden, there’s the moaning sound of bows being drawn back, followed by the hiss of outgoing arrows. The archers in the rear now feel they are in range and have started sending their arrows towards the enemy. At the same time, the soldier notices some incoming arrows. Just in time, he raises his shield to block the missiles. Not everyone is so quick though. Beside him, two men go down; one with an arrow in his chest and the other through his leg. The line moves forward and closes the gaps left by the men that are now on the ground: one writhing in pain and the other, never to move again. 

The line picks up speed as they get closer to the enemy. The archers stop shooting and this lets the men know that the enemy is close. Then, all of a sudden, comes a huge CRASH as the Israelite battle line slams into the Arameans. The soldier tries to remember his training, but he is now operating on adrenaline and instinct. Block, thrust, parry, cut, thrust with the shield. The man he is fighting stumbles and the soldier wastes no time, sinking his sword below the mans ribs. A scream pierces the the air, but the soldier can barely hear it over the din of battle.

All of a sudden, the Aramean army is fleeing. Joab, the overall army commander, has sent soldiers on a flanking move that shatters the enemy. With a roar, the Israelite army rushes to pursue them. Stepping over the dead and wounded, the soldier knows that they have succeeded. This day belongs to the God of Israel.

Hello again everyone and welcome to another episode of Bible Backdrop. Grab your swords, shields and spears as in this episode we’re joining the army of ancient Israel. How was it organized and how did it evolve? What were some of the weapons they used?

To start, lets go back to the book of Genesis. The first battle we see is with Abraham (then called Abram) in Genesis 14. He had allied himself to several tribal leaders and when he heard that his nephew, Lot, had been kidnapped by a raiding army, he gathered 318 trained retainers to chase after the army and rescue him. While this may not seem like a large force, it was substantial for the time. As for weapons, this would be the early bronze age, so he probably had bronze swords and maybe shields, but likely no armor. They may also have had clubs and sickles to use as weapons.

As we roll through the remainder of Genesis, we don’t see much in the way of military actions. However, when we get to Exodus, things greatly change. During their time in the wilderness, God is forging a nation. He gives them the Law and sets up the system of worship. He sets leaders among the different tribes and clans. They also needed to learn to fight. Conquering the Promised Land was not going to be easy and the nation needed to learn how to act in battle. Military training was likely a part of the teaching while out in the wilderness. Keep in mind that they plundered Egypt before leaving, so they had a surplus of metals necessary to make weapons. The military was divided by tribe and each one had their own leaders during the battle. Two battles are described during the wandering: the battle of Rephidim against the Amalekites in Exodus 17 and the battle of Hormah in Numbers 14. The first, the nation was successful as they faithfully carried out God’s command. The second was not as it was done against the will of God and the small army was beaten.

The army that was forged in the wilderness was put to use in the conquering of the Promised Land. The book of Joshua records the battles of Jericho, Ai (AY-ee), Gibeon, Shechem, and Zaphon. The Israelite army learned the value of tactics, logistics, and ambush. After the campaign was over and the people settled down in the Promised Land, there was no need for a professional army. During the time of the Judges, each tribe had their own militia that was called out as needed. Here there was very little expansion and conquest. Most battles were fought as defensive wars. Tribes were supposed to come to each others aid, but this didn’t always happen. Then, in Judges 19-21, we see a large scale set war not against an external enemy, but against another tribe. Members of the tribe of Benjamin had committed a grievous sin and the other tribes banded together to obtain justice. First, they asked for the men who committed the act, but when the tribe refused the army lay siege to the city and by a trick, ambushed the army from the tribe of Benjamin. As a result, the tribe was almost wiped out. For what happens next, read Judges 21.

It’s not long after this event (which may have been an impetus) that the nation of Israel demands a king and it is here that we see a national, standing army is eventually formed. In 1 Samuel 8:11-12, the prophet and judge Samuel gives an overview of what a king will require militarily: “He said ‘This will be the procedure of the king who will reign over you: he will take your sons and place them for himself in his chariots and among his horsemen and they will run before his chariots. He will appoint for himself commanders of thousands and of fifties, and some to do his plowing and to reap his harvest and to make his weapons of war and equipment for his chariots.’” Basically, the king will draft a standing army that will go out in battle and when not in battle, will plant and harvest fields to prepare supplies for the army. If they have special skills, they will no longer make farm implements but focus on weapons of war. These changes will be felt in the economy and family structure as families are broken to help serve the king.

Saul wastes no time in building his army. After the relief of the city of Jabesh-Gilead in 1 Samuel 11, Saul faces the Philistines at Michmash as described in 1 Samuel 13 and 14. Here the book says he chose for himself 3,000 men and sent the rest of the men home. These were the seeds of the standing army that only grew from there. Of course, Saul was also probably dealing with tribal disagreements similar to what the Continental Army faced during the American Revolution from the different states. Bringing together all the disparate groups and forging them into a fighting force could not have been easy. It seems that the constant fighting with the Philistines probably had a hand in helping him pull the army together. 1 Samuel 14:52 says “Now the war against the Philistines was severe all the days of Saul; and when Saul saw any mighty man or any valiant man, he attached him to his staff.” It seems that Samuel’s description of the king’s military needs was coming true.

During Saul’s reign we see the rise of David and, as we find out, this does not go unnoticed by Saul. David goes from being a highly favored servant of the king to an outlaw trying to survive day to day. While running from Saul, David began to gather a good sized force of about 600 men that eventually became the backbone of his army. These men stayed close to David his whole life and were similar to the Praetorian Guard of the Roman Emperors or the Swiss Guards of the French kings. Ironically, they were not all Jewish. Some were Hittites and some may have even been Philistines.

The army grew under David and was used extensively in campaigns to grow the borders of the small nation. While there was a professional standing army, there was also a militia still available in case a larger army was needed. This continued through the remaining monarchy up to the time of exile.

After much research, little is known about how the army was structured. Some scholars believe that it consisted of mostly infantry armed with swords, spears and shields. The commanders probably had armor consisting of a helmet, greaves for the shins, and an armor breastplate. The infantry may have had a leather breastplate with metal woven into it for a very basic layer of protection. Based on several verses, it appears that there was a corps of chariots also used as a mobile strike force. Finally, there may have been companies handling long range weapons. Archers, of course, would use a bow and arrows but that wasn’t the only weapon. The Bible also talks in Judges about companies of warriors who are experts with slingshots. Seeing the success David had against Goliath, this was probably a very deadly and underestimated weapon.

Swords and spear heads were made from iron and required knowledgeable smiths to make them. In 1 Samuel 13, it was so important that the Philistines removed all the smiths who had that knowledge from the nation of Israel lest they are able to arm themselves. It had to be pretty degrading for the Israelites to have to go to the Philistines to get their sickles and axes sharpened in order to do the agricultural work necessary to survive. According to these same verses, it appears that the Philistines also charged them exorbitant prices.

We often think of spears as long distance weapons. However, in ancient times, spears were used in hand to hand combat. For a projectile weapon, some people used the javelin which was lighter and could go a further distance. Between the javelins, arrows and stones from sling shots, it must have been tough to face an oncoming army.

Before wrapping up this episode, there are a few notes I want to go over. In ancient times, war was not declared like it is today. To start a war, an army from a nation would camp in a land that they would claim as their own and dare the other nation to drive them out. Either they did or they didn’t. If not, the invaders kept the land until they could be driven out. 

Siege warfare was a relatively new concept at this time as cities were not terribly large. However, as populations expanded and cities grew, siege warfare became an important part of winning battles and taking new lands. Sieges were long and time consuming but unless a city got relief, it would eventually have to fall. Armies used trench warfare and siege weapons such as battering rams and siege ramps that would allow the infantry to attack once a hole in the defenses had been breached. The Israelite army had a city under siege when David had Uriah the Hittite killed.

As armies became more developed, they also became more specialized. The Assyrian army added heavy infantry that had stronger armor, bigger shields and long spears to help crush an enemy. They also further developed siege warfare to include engineers who would develop more sophisticated weapons and developed the zig-zag trenches that would eventually strangle a city and make it capitulate much faster.

With that, I think we’ll close out this episodes on armies of ancient Israel. Thank you again for listening and I hope you enjoyed this episode. If you are enjoying Bible Backdrop, please leave a 5-star rating and review. Also, if you haven’t already, please subscribe and tell a friend about the show. You can find Bible Backdrop on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher. If you would like to get in touch with me or have a question you want to ask about the show, you can e-mail me at BibleBackdrop@gmail.com. Thank you again and have a wonderful week!