The children of Judah that bare shield and spear were six thousand and eight hundred, ready armed to the war.
1 Chronicles 12 is a parallel account that complements 2 Samuel in describing the political changes leading to David becoming king over all Israel. Within it, the verse belongs to the fuller description of the contingents from each tribe that gathered to David at Hebron to recognize him as king, portraying them as mighty, skilled, and loyal men. It identifies 6,800 men of Judah bearing shield and spear as armed and ready for war.
The fighting men sent by the tribes numbered about 350,000, and their assembly included a three-day festival. Another reckoning gives the assembled tribes together as 339,600 warriors. The verse stands in the preserved record of Judah's descendants and their place among Israel's tribes, whose careful preservation matters because Christ came through Judah.
1 Chronicles 12 is a parallel account that complements 2 Samuel in describing the political changes leading to David becoming king over all Israel. Within it, the verse belongs to the fuller description of the contingents from each tribe that gathered to David at Hebron to recognize him as king, portraying them as mighty, skilled, and loyal men. It identifies 6,800 men of Judah bearing shield and spear as armed and ready for war.
The fighting men sent by the tribes numbered about 350,000, and their assembly included a three-day festival. Another reckoning gives the assembled tribes together as 339,600 warriors. The verse stands in the preserved record of Judah's descendants and their place among Israel's tribes, whose careful preservation matters because Christ came through Judah.