Why did God tell Joshua to hamstring horses?
Joshua 11:6
The LORD said to Joshua, "Do not be afraid of them, because by this time tomorrow I will hand all of them over
to Israel, slain. You are to hamstring their horses and burn their chariots."
One reason for God's command could have been to keep the Israelites from using the horses and chariots in their future
battles and then attributing their success to having the horses and chariots, instead of attributing it to God. It seems likely
that the Israelites had few or no horses, based on these verses:
- Exodus 15:1, 21 -
The Israelites praise God for rescuing them from the Egyptians, saying, "the horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea."
The Egyptians are described as riders of horses, presumably in contrast to the Israelites.
- Deuteronomy 17:16-17
warns that Israelite kings must not acquire great wealth or many horses. From this it seems that having horses is a sign of wealth,
which the Israelites, who at the time of Joshua were escaped slaves who had just come out of their wanderings in the desert,
would likely not have had.
- In Deuteronomy 20:1, God
tells the Israelites, "When you go to war against your enemies and see horses and chariots and an army greater than yours,
do not be afraid of them." The implication is that the Israelites have neither horses nor chariots, and that having horses and chariots
would make them considerably more powerful (see also
Judges 1:19).
God clearly wanted the Israelites to know they did not defeat their enemies with their own strength
(Joshua 24:12), and he has deliberately
used a weak, small army to show his power on other occasions, most notably with Gideon
(Judges 7:2-3).
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