With centuries thus arranged in masses, both movable and solid, a front of battle could be formed in simple decimal progression to a thou sand, ten thousand, and to an army at all times formidable by its depth, and by the facility it afforded for the light troops, chariots of war, and cavalry, to rally behind and to issue from thence to the front. Archers and slingers could ply their missiles from the rear which would be more cer tain to reach an enemy in close conflict than vac. to be found the case with the Greek phalanx, be cause from the great depth of that body missiles from behind were liable to fall among its own front ranks. These divisions were commanded, it seems, by ketsinim, officers in charge of one thousand, who, in the first ages, may have been the heads of houses, but in the time of the kings were appointed by the crown, and had a scat in the councils of war; but the commander of the host, sar hat-tzaba, such as Joab, Abner, Benaiah, etc., was either the judge, or under the judge or king, the supreme head of the army, and one of the highest officers in the state. He, as well as the king, had an armor-bearer, whose duty was not only to bear his shield, spear, or bow, and to carry orders, but, above all, to be at the chief's side in the hour of battle (Judg. ix:54; I Sam. xiv:6; xxxi :4, 5). Beside the royal guards, there was, as early at least as the time of David, a select troop of heroes, who appear to have had an insti tution very similar in principle to our modern orders of knighthood.
In military operations, such as marches in quest of, or in the presence of an enemy, and in order of battle, the forces were formed into three divisions, each commanded by a chief captain or commander of a corps, or third part, shelish, as was also the case with other armies of the East ; these consti tuted the center, and right and left wing, and dur ing a march formed the van, center and rear.
(7) Battle Cry. The war cry of the Hebrews was not intonated by the ensign bearers, as in the West, but by a Levite ; for priests had likewise charge of the trumpets, and the sounding of sig nals; and one of them, called 'the anointed for war,' who is said to have had the charge of ani mating the army to action by an oration, may have been appointed to utter the cry of battle (Deut. xx :2). It was a mere shout (I Sam. xvii :2o), or, as in later ages,Hallelztjahl while the so-called mottoes of the central banners of the four great sides of the square of Judah, Reuben, Ephraim, and Dan, were more likely the battle-songs which each of the fronts of the mighty army had sung on commencing the march or advancing to do battle.
(8) Conduct of the Battle. Before an en gagement the Hebrew soldiers were spared fatigue as much as possible, and food was distributed to them ; their arms were enjoined to be in the best order, and they formed a line, as before described, of solid squares of hundreds, each square being ten deep, and as many in breadth, with sufficient intervals between the files to allow of facility in the movements, the management of the arms, and the passage to the front or rear of slingers and archers. These last occupied posts according to circumstances, on the flanks, or in advance, but in the heat of battle were sheltered behind the squares of spearmen ; the slingers were always stationed in the rear, until they were ordered for ward to cover the front, impede a hostile ap proach, or commence an engagement somewhat in the manner of modern skirmishes. Meantime the
king, or his representative, appeared clad in holy ornaments, hadri kodesh (in our version rendered `the beauties of holiness,' Ps. ex :3 ; 2 Chron. xx: 20, and proceeded to make the final dispositions for battle, in the middle of his chosen braves, and attended by priests, who, by their exhortations, animated the ranks within hearing, while tl e trumpets waited to sound the signal. It was now, with the enemy at hand, we may suppose, that the ;lingers would be ordered to pass forward be tween the intervals of the line, and, opening their order, would let fly their stone or leaden missiles, until, by the gradual approach of the opposing fronts, they would be hemmed in and recalled to the rear, or ordered to take an appropriate posi tion. Then was the time when the trumpet-bearing priests received command to sound the charge, and when the shout of battle burst forth from the ranks. The signal being given, the heavy infantry would press forward under cover of their shields, with the rotnach protruded direct upon the front of the enemy; the rear ranks might then, when so armed, cast their darts, and the archers, behind diem all, shoot high, so as to pitch their arrows over the lines before them, into the dense masses of the enemy beyond. If the opposing force broke through the line, we may imagine a body of charioteers reserve, rushing from their post, and charging in among the disjointed ranks of the enemy, before they could reconstruct their order ; or wheeling round a flank, fall upon the rear ; or being encountered by a similar maneuver, and perhaps repulsed or rescued by Hebrew cavalry. The king, meanwhile, surrounded by his princes. posted close to the rear of his line of battle, and in the middle of showered missiles, would watch the enemy and strive to remedy every disorder. Thus it was that several of the sovereigns of Judah were slain (2 Chron. xviii :33 ; xxxv :23), and that such an enormous waste of human life took place; for the two hostile lines of masses, at least ten in depth, advancing under the confidence of breastplate and shield, when once engaged hand to hand, encountered difficulties of no ordi nary nature in endeavoring to retreat ; because the hindermost ranks not being exposed person ally to the first slaughter, would not, and the foremost could not, fall back: neither could the commanders disengage the line without a cer tainty of being routed. The fate of the day was therefore no longer within the control of the chief, and nothing but obstinate valor was left to decide the victory.
(9) Ambush. Sometimes a part of the army was posted in ambush, but this maneuver was most commonly practiced against the garrisons of cities (Josh. viii :12; Judg. xx :38). In the case of Abraham (Gen. xiv :r5), when he led a small body of his own people, suddenly collected, and, falling upon the guard of the captives, released them, and recovered the booty, it was a surprise, not an ambush ; nor is it necessary to suppose that he fell in with the main army of the enemy. At a later period there is no doubt that the He brews formed their armies, in imitation of the Romans, into more than one line of masses, and modeled their military institutions as near as possible upon the same system. (See Amos,