With the kings arose the custom of maintaining a body-guard, which formed the nucleus of a standing army. Thus Saul had a band of 3000 select warriors (1 Sam. xiii, 2; xiv, 52; xxiv, 2), and David, before his accession to the throne, 600 (1 Sam. xxiii, 13; xxv, 13). This band he retained after he became kin- and added the Chebethites and Pelethites C-' Sam. xv, 18; xx, 7), together with another class, whose name, Shalishim' (C^bd, Sept. rpiardrai, Autli. Vers, "a third part"), has^een variously in- t srpreted to mean (1.) a corps of veteran guards = R0- 1,1:1,1 '''"""; (Winer, Lex. Heb. p. 991); (2.) chariot- warrior, as being //(,-.,. in ea.h chariot (Gesen. Thes. p. ll.".i.: (3.) officers of the guard, thirty in number (Ewald, Gesch. ii, 601). The fad that the Egyptian war-chariot, with which the Jews were first acquaint- ed, contained but two warriors, forms an objection to i Qd of these opinions (Wilkinson, Anc. /%/»/. i. B85), and the frequent use of the term in the singu- lar number (2 Kinga vii, 2; i\, 25; xv, 25) to the third. Whatever be tin- meaning of the name, it is evident that it indicated officers of high rank, the chief of whom (--r':;n, "lord," 2 Kings vii, 2 or
Q^w^Vrri ttJSh, "chief of the captains," 1 Chron. xii, 18) was immediately about the king's person, as adjutant or secretary-at-war. David farther organized a national militia, divided into twelve regiments, each of which was called out for one month in the year un- der their respective officers (1 Chron. xxvii, 1) ; at the head of the army when in active service he appointed a commander-in-chief (JOS~*lb, "captain of the host," 1 Sam. .xiv, 50).
Hitherto the arm)' had consisted entirely of infan- cy C^H^i 1 Sam. iv, 10 ; xv, 4), the use of horses having been restrained by divine command (Deut. xvii, 16). The Jews had, however, experienced the great advantage to be obtained by chariots, both in their encounters with the Canaanites (Josh, xvii, 16 ; Judg. i, 19), and at a later period with the Syrians (2 Sam. viii, 4 ; x, 18). The interior of Palestine was indeed general])' unsuited to the use of chariots ; the Canaanites had employed them only in the plains and valleys, such as Jezreel (Josh, xvii, 16), the plain of Philistia (Judg. i, 19 ; 1 Sam. xiii, 5), and the upper valley of the Jordan (Josh, xi, 9 ; Judg. iv, 2). But the border, both on the side of Egypt and Syria, was admirably adapted to their use ; and accordingly we find that as the foreign relations of the kingdoms ex- tended, much importance was attached to them. Da- vid had reserved a hundred chariots from the spoil of the Syrians (2 Sam. viii, 4) : these probably served as the foundation of the force which Solomon afterward enlarged through his alliance with Egypt (2 Kings x, 28, 29), and applied to the protection of his border, stations or barracks being erected for them in different localities (1 Kings ix, 19). The force amounted to 1400 chariots, 4000 horses, at the rate (in round num- bers) of three horses for each chariot, the third being kept as a reserve, and 12,000 horsemen (2 Kings x, 26; 2 Chron. i, 14). At this period the organization of tho army was complete ; and we have, in 1 Kings ix, 22, apparently a list of tho various gradations of rank in the service, as follow: (1.) ilEfTbsain ^b^N, "men of war" —privates; (2.) D"1"!-?) "servants," the low- est rank of officers = lieutenants; (3.) 6"H'C3, "princes" = captains; (4.) d^ttJiptU, "captains," already no- ticed, perhaps = staff- officers; (5.) ~=~il "^b and D'vJ^Qfl itj, "rulers of his chariots and his horse- men" = cavalry officers. See Captain.
It does not appear that the system established by David was maintained by the kings of Judah ; but in Israel the proximity of the hostile kingdom of Syria necessitated the maintenance of a standing army. The militia was occasionally called out in time of peace, as by Asa (2 Chron. xiv, 8), by Jehoshaphat (2 Chron. xvii, 14), by Amaziah (2 Chron. xxv, 5), and lastly by Uzziah (2 Chron. xxvi, 11) ; but these notices prove that such cases were exceptional. On the other hand, the incidental notices of the body-guard lead to the conclusion that it was regularly kept up (1 Kings xiv, 28; 2 Kings xi, 4, 11). Occasional reference is made to war-chariots (2 Kings viii, 21), and it would appear that this branch of the service was maintained until the wars with the Syrians weakened the resources of the kingdom (2 Kings xiii, 7); it was restored by Jotham (Isa. ii, 7), but in Hezekiah's reign no force of the kind could be maintained, and the Jews were obliged to seek the aid of Egypt for horses and char- iots (2 Kings xviii, 23, 24)7 This was an evident breach of the injunction in Deut. xvii, 16, and met with strong reprobation on the part of the prophet Isaiah (xxxi, 1). See Chariot.
With regard to the arrangement and manoeuvring of the army in the field, we know but little. A divi- sion into three bodies is frequently mentioned (Judg. vii, 16; ix, 43; 1 Sam. xi, 11; 2 Sam. xviii, 2); such a division served various purposes: in action there would be a centre and two wings ; in camp, relays for