2 Chronicles 17:15

Study note

Setting — The narrator lists Judah’s military forces under King Jehoshaphat, continuing the census of commanders and their troops from the preceding verse.

The words — וְעַל־יָדוֹ (ve-'al-yado) literally means "and on his hand," functioning as a Hebrew idiom for placement next to someone, while מָאתַיִם וּשְׁמֹנִים אֶלֶף (ma-tayim u-shemoneh elef) explicitly enumerates two hundred and eighty thousand.

The thread — The census format and military numbering appear in 2 Chronicles 17:14 and 2 Chronicles 17:16, where similar structures list Adnah with 300,000 men and Amasiah with 200,000 men.

Why it lands — The text records the exact size and order of Jehoshaphat’s army without commentary, requiring the reader to note the precise organization of Judah’s forces.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.