1 Chronicles 7:4

1Ch 7:4 And with them, by their generations, after the house of their fathers, [were] bands of soldiers for war, six and thirty thousand [men]: for they had many wives and sons.

Ver. 4. Were bands of soldiers for war.] Though they affected peace, as 1Ch 7:2, yet they were apti et parati ad bellum, ready pressed for war.

For they had many wives and sons.] Polygamy passed for current in the Church, because Abraham used it; though directly against the institution, and that plain law, {Lev 18:18} neither was it cast out of the Church till the captivity of Babylon.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

4. by their generations] i.e. according to descent. Each head commanded men that were his kinsfolk.

the house of their fathers] R.V. their fathers’ houses.

of soldiers for war] R.V. of the host for war.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And their brethren among all the families of Issachar,.... As those of Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, Ch1 7:1.

were men of might; valiant and courageous:

reckoned in all, by their genealogies, fourscore and seven thousand; that is, including with these those of Tola and Uzzi before given.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Children, who had numerous offspring; (Haydock) so that, in the days of David, these descendants of Thola, amounted to so many. (Menochius)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Six and thirty thousand men, to wit, of the posterity of Uzzi, as the other twenty-two thousand six hundred, 1Ch 7:2, were the posterity of Tola.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 4, 5. The meaning of these verses, especially of the former of them, is not quite evident. This seems to say that as the Tolaites were in David"s time twenty-two thousand six hundred, so the Uzzites taken from among them (or the "sons of Izrahiah," as the case may be) numbered thirty-six thousand additional. But were not the Uzzites included in the Tolaites? and did not the figure thirty-six thousand embrace the accumulated numbers, whilst the balance of fifty-one thousand necessary to make up the eighty-seven thousand of ver. 5, was drawn from all the other branches of the Issachar tribe? This is not the view, however, generally taken, and if the numbers of vers. 2 and 4 are distinct, the balance needful for ver. 5 will, of course, be twenty-eight thousand four hundred. It cannot be denied that this view is favoured by the special description applied to these Uzzites, or Izrahiahites, as bands of soldiers for war; their disposition and their training constituting possibly the reason of their being singled out for further description from among the sons of Tola. The statement of the total number of the tribe of Issachar in David"s time is wonderfully corroborated by the two censuses of Moses Num_1:28, Num_1:29, fifty-four thousand four hundred; and Num_26:23-25, sixty-four thousand three hundred. The total of Issachar, four score and seven thousand, is a good proportion of the aggregate total of all the tribes, (2Sa_24:8, 2Sa_24:9) as eight hundred thousand. Grove, however, adds all the above numbers, and makes thereby Issachar"s total (see Smith"s "Bible Dictionary," 1:901 b) one hundred and forty-five thousand six hundred, which seems disfavoured by the numbers at the second census of Moses. At the time of this census Issachar came third of all the tribes, only Judah and Dan taking precedence. The bands of soldiers for war. This expression culminates in the word ( "bands," which is applied (Gen_49:19) to Gad, and almost invariably to the irregular but special bodies of fighting men of the nations round (Authorized Version,. 1Ch_12:23 is incorrect, the Hebrew word being different) The examples are too numerous to quote, but some of the more important instances are 2Ki_6:23 2Ki_13:20 2Ki_24:2; Hos_6:9 Hos_7:1.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And their brethren among all the families of Issachar,.... As those of Puah, Jashub, and Shimron, Ch1 7:1.

were men of might; valiant and courageous:

reckoned in all, by their genealogies, fourscore and seven thousand; that is, including with these those of Tola and Uzzi before given.

Keil & Delitzsch — Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament (1861–1891) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API. (Old Testament only.)

Along with them they had

Another possible meaning is "Among them were."

thirty-six thousand troops for battle

"36,000 soldiers who were ready for battle" (See: Numbers)

eighty-seven thousand fighting men

"87,000 fighting men" (See: Numbers)

translationWords

clan

brother

tribe

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.