Chariots Of War
Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary [1]
The Scripture speaks of two sorts of these chariots, one for princes and generals to ride in, the other used to break the enemies battalions, by letting them loose armed with iron, which made dreadful havoc among the troops. The most ancient chariots of which we have any notice are Pharaoh's, which were overwhelmed in the Red Sea, Exodus 14:7 . The Canaanites, whom Joshua engaged at the waters of Merom, had cavalry and a multitude of chariots, Joshua 11:4 . Sisera, the general of Jabin, king of Hazor, had nine hundred chariots of iron in his army, Judges 4:3 . The tribe of Judah could not get possession of all the lands of their lot, because the ancient inhabitants of the country were strong in chariots of iron. The Philistines, in the war carried on by them against Saul, had thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, 1 Samuel 13:5 . David, having taken one thousand chariots of war from Hadadezer, king of Syria, hamstrung the horses, and burned nine hundred chariots, reserving only one hundred to himself, 2 Samuel 8:4 . Solomon had a considerable number of chariots, but we know of no military expedition in which they were employed, 1 Kings 10:26 . As Judea was a very mountainous country, chariots could be of no great use there, except in the plains; and the Hebrews often evaded them by fighting on the mountains. The kings of the Hebrews, when they went to war, were themselves generally mounted in chariots from which they fought, and issued their orders; and there was always a second chariot empty, which followed each of them, that if the first was broken he might ascend the other, 2 Chronicles 35:24 . Chariots were sometimes consecrated to the sun; and the Scripture observes, that Josiah burned those which had been dedicated to the sun by his predecessors, 2 Kings 23:11 . This superstitious custom was borrowed from the Heathens, and principally from the Persians.
Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature [2]
Fig. 126—Egyptian War Chariot
The Egyptians used horses in the equipment of an armed force before Jacob and his sons had settled in Goshen; they had chariots of war, and mounted asses and mules, and therefore could not be ignorant of the art of riding; but for ages after that period Arab nations rode on the bare back, and guided the animals with a wand. Others, and probably the shepherd invaders, noosed a single rope in a slipknot round the lower jaw, forming an imperfect bridle, with only one rein; a practice still in vogue among the Bedouins. Thus cavalry were but little formidable compared with chariots, until a complete command over the horse was obtained by the discovery of a true bridle. This seems to have been first introduced by chariot-drivers, and there are figures of well-constructed harness, reins, and mouth pieces, in very early Egyptian monuments, representing both native and foreign chariots of war. These differed little from each other, both consisting of a light pole, suspended between and on the withers of a pair of horses, the after-end resting on a light axle tree, with two low wheels. Upon the axle stood a light frame, open behind and floored for the warrior and his charioteer, who both stood within: on the sides of the frame hung the war-bow, in its case: a large quiver with arrows, and darts had commonly a particular sheath. In Persia, the chariots, elevated upon wheels of considerable diameter, had four horses abreast; and, in early ages, there were occasionally hooks or scythes attached to the axles. In fighting from chariots great dexterity was shown by the warrior, not only in handling his weapons, but also in stepping out upon the pole to the horses' shoulders, in order the better to reach his enemies, and the charioteer was an important person, sometimes equal in rank to the warrior himself. Both the kingdoms of Judah and Israel had war-chariots, and, from the case of king Josiah at the battle of Megiddo, it is clear they had also traveling vehicles, for being wounded he quitted his fighting-chariot, and in a second, evidently more commodious, he was brought to Jerusalem (). Chariots of war continued to be used in Syria in the time of the Maccabees (), and in Britain when Caesar invaded the island.
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [3]
( Exodus 14:7; 2 Samuel 8:4). One class of carriages thus denominated were used as the common vehicles of princes and generals; but another formed the most terrible of military engines, and were employed in great numbers to break the enemy's battalions by rushing in among them ( 1 Samuel 13:5; 1 Chronicles 18:4). Like other ancient carriages, they had usually only two wheels; and iron hooks or scythes, strong and sharp, were affixed to the extremities of the axles on each side, which made dreadful havoc among the troops ( Joshua 11:4 Judges 4:3; Judges 4:13). Warriors sometimes fought standing on them, or leaping from them upon the enemy. The chariots in the army of Cyrus were capacious enough to permit twenty men to fight from them. If we examine the sculptures of Egypt, we find that the strength of the armies of the Pharaohs was in their chariots, an Egyptian army being composed exclusively of infantry and bigas, or two-horsed chariots, which carry the driver and the warrior. In no instance is an Egyptian ever represented on horseback. Such palpable evidence that the Egyptians did not employ cavalry is difficult to reconcile with the Scripture account of the pursuit of 'the Israelites, which expressly speaks of " the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, and his horsemen" ( Exodus 14:9). Hengstenberg, after a critical examination of the text, says, in his Egypt And The Books Of Moses (p. 126), that "Moses does not mention cavalry at all; that, according to him, the Egyptian army is composed only of chariots of war, and that he therefore agrees in a wonderful manner with the native Egyptian monuments." (See Army);(See Chariot).
