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1 Chronicles 12 · a question people ask

Was David's army really God's army? Were there angels in it?

In the text

The verse makes a comparison: men came "until there was a great army, like God’s army" (12:22). It says like, and it doesn't say angels were there. The only other verse where the WEB says "God’s army" is Genesis 32:2, where "the angels of God met" Jacob (Genesis 32:1), and "When he saw them, Jacob said, 'This is God’s army'" (Genesis 32:2). The Hebrew is the same two words in both places, machaneh Elohim, and the Hebrew Bible puts them together nowhere else (tap army). The chapter doesn't point back to Genesis 32 or say what the comparison means beyond the size of the army: "a great army" (12:22).

The verses

“For from day to day men came to David to help him, until there was a great army, like God’s army.”
1 Chronicles 12:22 · World English Bible
“Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. When he saw them, Jacob said, “This is God’s army.” He called the name of that place Mahanaim.”
Genesis 32:1-2 · World English Bible

From Favor's study of 1 Chronicles 12

1 Chronicles 12: We are yours, David

1 Chronicles 12 is a chapter about help: the Hebrew verb comes seven times, and at its centre the Spirit comes on Amasai to say, "Peace, peace be to you, and peace be to your helpers; for your God helps you" (12:18). The men who came to a fugitive became "a great army, like God’s army" (12:22), words the WEB uses only once more, for what Jacob saw (Genesis 32:2).

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Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions