'Troops' in the Bible

So he got his chariot ready and took his troops with him;

Then divide the captives between the troops who went out to war and the entire community.

He said to the people, “Move forward, march around the city, and have the armed troops go ahead of the ark of the Lord.”

While the trumpets were blowing, the armed troops went in front of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard went behind the ark.

and the seven priests carrying seven trumpets marched in front of the ark of the Lord. While the trumpets were blowing, the armed troops went in front of them, and the rear guard went behind the ark of the Lord.

So Joshua sent them out, and they went to the ambush site and waited between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai. But he spent that night with the troops.

Joshua started early the next morning and mobilized them. Then he and the elders of Israel led the troops up to Ai.

Then all the troops of Ai were summoned to pursue them, and they pursued Joshua and were drawn away from the city.

The men of Ai turned and looked back, and smoke from the city was rising to the sky! They could not escape in any direction, and the troops who had fled to the wilderness now became the pursuers.

She summoned Barak son of Abinoam from Kedesh in Naphtali and said to him, “Hasn’t the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you: ‘Go, deploy the troops on Mount Tabor, and take with you 10,000 men from the Naphtalites and Zebulunites?

Listen to what they say, and then you will be strengthened to go to the camp.” So he went with Purah his servant to the outpost of the troops who were in the camp.

When the troops returned to the camp, the elders of Israel asked, “Why did the Lord let us be defeated today by the Philistines? Let’s bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh. Then it will go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

The next day Saul organized the troops into three divisions. During the morning watch, they invaded the Ammonite camp and slaughtered them until the heat of the day. There were survivors, but they were so scattered that no two of them were left together.

He chose 3,000 men from Israel for himself: 2,000 were with Saul at Michmash and in Bethel’s hill country, and 1,000 were with Jonathan in Gibeah of Benjamin. He sent the rest of the troops away, each to his own tent.

And all Israel heard the news, “Saul has attacked the Philistine garrison, and Israel is now repulsive to the Philistines.” Then the troops were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.

The Philistines also gathered to fight against Israel: 3,000 chariots, 6,000 horsemen, and troops as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Michmash, east of Beth-aven.

The men of Israel saw that they were in trouble because the troops were in a difficult situation. They hid in caves, thickets, among rocks, and in holes and cisterns.

Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead.Saul, however, was still at Gilgal, and all his troops were gripped with fear.

He waited seven days for the appointed time that Samuel had set, but Samuel didn’t come to Gilgal, and the troops were deserting him.

and Samuel asked, “What have you done?”Saul answered, “When I saw that the troops were deserting me and you didn’t come within the appointed days and the Philistines were gathering at Michmash,

Then Samuel went from Gilgal to Gibeah in Benjamin. Saul registered the troops who were with him, about 600 men.

Saul, his son Jonathan, and the troops who were with them were staying in Geba of Benjamin, and the Philistines were camped at Michmash.

So on the day of battle not a sword or spear could be found in the hand of any of the troops who were with Saul and Jonathan; only Saul and his son Jonathan had weapons.

Saul was staying under the pomegranate tree in Migron on the outskirts of Gibeah. The troops with him numbered about 600.

Ahijah, who was wearing an ephod, was also there. He was the son of Ahitub, the brother of Ichabod son of Phinehas, son of Eli the Lord’s priest at Shiloh. But the troops did not know that Jonathan had left.

Terror spread through the Philistine camp and the open fields to all the troops. Even the garrison and the raiding parties were terrified. The earth shook, and terror spread from God.

When Saul’s watchmen in Gibeah of Benjamin looked, they saw the panicking troops scattering in every direction.

So Saul said to the troops with him, “Call the roll and determine who has left us.” They called the roll and saw that Jonathan and his armor-bearer were gone.

Saul and all the troops with him assembled and marched to the battle, and there, the Philistines were fighting against each other in great confusion!

and the men of Israel were worn out that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath: “The man who eats food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies is cursed.” So none of the troops tasted any food.

When the troops entered the forest, they saw the flow of honey, but none of them ate any of it because they feared the oath.

However, Jonathan had not heard his father make the troops swear the oath. He reached out with the end of the staff he was carrying and dipped it into the honeycomb. When he ate the honey, he had renewed energy.

Then, one of the troops said, “Your father made the troops solemnly swear, ‘The man who eats food today is cursed,’ and the troops are exhausted.”

How much better if the troops had eaten freely today from the plunder they took from their enemies! Then the slaughter of the Philistines would have been much greater.”

Some reported to Saul: “Look, the troops are sinning against the Lord by eating meat with the blood still in it.”Saul said, “You have been unfaithful. Roll a large stone over here at once.”

He then said, “Go among the troops and say to them, ‘Each man must bring me his ox or his sheep. Do the slaughtering here and then you can eat. Don’t sin against the Lord by eating meat with the blood in it.’” So every one of the troops brought his ox that night and slaughtered it there.

Saul said, “Let’s go down after the Philistines tonight and plunder them until morning. Don’t let even one remain!”“Do whatever you want,” the troops replied.But the priest said, “We must consult God here.”

Saul said, “All you leaders of the troops, come here. Let us investigate how this sin has occurred today.

As surely as the Lord lives who saves Israel, even if it is because of my son Jonathan, he must die!” Not one of the troops answered him.

So he said to all Israel, “You will be on one side, and I and my son Jonathan will be on the other side.”And the troops replied, “Do whatever you want.”

So Saul said to the Lord, “God of Israel, give us the right decision.” Jonathan and Saul were selected, and the troops were cleared of the charge.

Then Saul summoned the troops and counted them at Telaim: 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men from Judah.

Saul and the troops spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, cattle, and choice animals, as well as the young rams and the best of everything else. They were not willing to destroy them, but they did destroy all the worthless and unwanted things.

Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites and spared the best sheep and cattle in order to offer a sacrifice to the Lord your God, but the rest we destroyed.”

The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder—the best of what was set apart for destruction—to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”

Therefore, Saul reassigned David and made him commander over 1,000 men. David led the troops

But all Israel and Judah loved David because he was leading their troops.

Then Saul summoned all the troops to go to war at Keilah and besiege David and his men.

Immediately, David went to the place where Saul had camped. He saw the place where Saul and Abner son of Ner, the general of his army, were lying down. Saul was lying inside the inner circle of the camp with the troops camped around him.

That night, David and Abishai came to the troops, and Saul was lying there asleep in the inner circle of the camp with his spear stuck in the ground by his head. Abner and the troops were lying around him.

Then David shouted to the troops and to Abner son of Ner: “Aren’t you going to answer, Abner?”“Who are you who calls to the king?” Abner asked.

David and the troops with him wept loudly until they had no strength left to weep.

David was in a difficult position because the troops talked about stoning him, for they were all very bitter over the loss of their sons and daughters. But David found strength in the Lord his God.

When David came to the 200 men who had been too exhausted to go with him and had been left at the Wadi Besor, they came out to meet him and to meet the troops with him. When David approached the men, he greeted them,

“What was the outcome? Tell me,” David asked him.“The troops fled from the battle,” he answered. “Many of the troops have fallen and are dead. Also, Saul and his son Jonathan are dead.”

Then Abner called out to Joab: “Must the sword devour forever? Don’t you realize this will only end in bitterness? How long before you tell the troops to stop pursuing their brothers?”

“As God lives,” Joab replied, “if you had not spoken up, the troops wouldn’t have stopped pursuing their brothers until morning.”

Then Joab blew the ram’s horn, and all the troops stopped; they no longer pursued Israel or continued to fight.

When Joab had turned back from pursuing Abner, he gathered all the troops. In addition to Asahel, 19 of David’s soldiers were missing,

On that day all the troops and all Israel were convinced that the king had no part in the killing of Abner son of Ner.

He and all his troops set out to bring the ark of God from Baale-judah. The ark is called by the Name, the name of Yahweh of Hosts who dwells between the cherubim.

When Joab saw that there was a battle line in front of him and another behind him, he chose some men out of all the elite troops of Israel and lined up in battle formation to engage the Arameans.

Joab and his troops advanced to fight against the Arameans, and they fled before him.

When Uriah came to him, David asked how Joab and the troops were doing and how the war was going.

Now therefore, assemble the rest of the troops, lay siege to the city, and capture it. Otherwise I will be the one to capture the city, and it will be named after me.”

So David assembled all the troops and went to Rabbah; he fought against it and captured it.

He removed the people who were in the city and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and iron axes, and to labor at brickmaking. He did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

He’s probably already hiding in one of the caves or some other place. If some of our troops fall first, someone is sure to hear and say, ‘There’s been a slaughter among the people who follow Absalom.’

David reviewed his troops and appointed commanders of hundreds and of thousands over them.

He then sent out the troops, a third under Joab, a third under Joab’s brother Abishai son of Zeruiah, and a third under Ittai the Gittite. The king said to the troops, “I will also march out with you.”

“I will do whatever you think is best,” the king replied to them. So he stood beside the gate while all the troops marched out by hundreds and thousands.

Afterward, Joab blew the ram’s horn, and the troops broke off their pursuit of Israel because Joab restrained them.

That day’s victory was turned into mourning for all the troops because on that day the troops heard, “The king is grieving over his son.”

The king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went with him. All the troops of Judah and half of Israel’s escorted the king.

Joab’s troops came and besieged Sheba in Abel of Beth-maacah. They built an assault ramp against the outer wall of the city. While all the troops with Joab were battering the wall to make it collapse,

but Eleazar stood his ground and attacked the Philistines until his hand was tired and stuck to his sword. The Lord brought about a great victory that day. Then the troops came back to him, but only to plunder the dead.

After him was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. The Philistines had assembled in formation where there was a field full of lentils. The troops fled from the Philistines,

So the king said to Joab, the commander of his army, “Go through all the tribes of Israel from Dan to Beer-sheba and register the troops so I can know their number.”

Joab replied to the king, “May the Lord your God multiply the troops 100 times more than they are—while my lord the king looks on! But why does my lord the king want to do this?”

Yet the king’s order prevailed over Joab and the commanders of the army. So Joab and the commanders of the army left the king’s presence to register the troops of Israel.

Joab gave the king the total of the registration of the troops. There were 800,000 fighting men from Israel and 500,000 men from Judah.

David’s conscience troubled him after he had taken a census of the troops. He said to the Lord, “I have sinned greatly in what I’ve done. Now, Lord, because I’ve been very foolish, please take away Your servant’s guilt.”

In the twenty-seventh year of Judah’s King Asa, Zimri became king for seven days in Tirzah. Now the troops were encamped against Gibbethon of the Philistines.

When these troops heard that Zimri had not only conspired but had also struck down the king, then all Israel made Omri, the army commander, king over Israel that very day in the camp.

So Ahab counted the young men of the provincial leaders, and there were 232. After them he counted all the Israelite troops: 7,000.

So Jehoram crossed over to Zair with all his chariots. Then at night he set out to attack the Edomites who had surrounded him and the chariot commanders, but his troops fled to their tents.

Now the watchman was standing on the tower in Jezreel. He saw Jehu’s troops approaching and shouted, “I see troops!”Joram responded, “Choose a rider and send him to meet them and have him ask, ‘Do you come in peace?’”

Along with them, they had 36,000 troops for battle according to the genealogical records of their ancestral houses, for they had many wives and children.

He was with David at Pas-dammim when the Philistines had gathered there for battle. There was a portion of a field full of barley, where the troops had fled from the Philistines.

Then the Spirit took control of Amasai, chief of the Thirty, and he said:We are yours, David,we are with you, son of Jesse!Peace, peace to you,and peace to him who helps you,for your God helps you.So David received them and made them leaders of his troops.

The numbers of the armed troops who came to David at Hebron to turn Saul’s kingdom over to him, according to the Lord’s word, were as follows:

From the Judahites: 6,800 armed troops bearing shields and spears.

When Joab saw that there was a battle line in front of him and another behind him, he chose some men out of all the elite troops of Israel and lined up in battle formation to engage the Arameans.

He brought out the people who were in it and put them to work with saws, iron picks, and axes. David did the same to all the Ammonite cities. Then he and all his troops returned to Jerusalem.

So David said to Joab and the commanders of the troops, “Go and count Israel from Beer-sheba to Dan and bring a report to me so I can know their number.”

Joab gave the total troop registration to David. In all Israel there were 1,100,000 swordsmen and in Judah itself 470,000 swordsmen.

He stationed troops in every fortified city of Judah and set garrisons in the land of Judah and in the cities of Ephraim that his father Asa had captured.

Then the inhabitants of Jerusalem made Ahaziah, his youngest son, king in his place, because the troops that had come with the Arabs to the camp had killed all the older sons. So Ahaziah son of Jehoram became king of Judah.

A third are to be at the king’s palace, and a third are to be at the Foundation Gate, and all the troops will be in the courtyards of the Lord’s temple.

Then he stationed all the troops with their weapons in hand surrounding the king—from the right side of the temple to the left side, by the altar and by the temple.