Kings throughout the ANE during
the period of Israel’s monarchy sought to expand the reach of their power by
acquiring horses because hundreds if not thousands of horses were necessary to
conduct a chariot battle that lasted more than an hour. Warhorses were so
desirable that “the warhorse became the ultimate symbol of power in literature,
art, and reality.”
Captured horses were valuable due
to their previous training and battle experiencing, allowing kings to forgo the
costs of the typical six-months training period for new chariot horses. The
desirability of accumulating horses for ANE kings becomes evident when we
examine ancient booty lists. These lists enumerate the people, animals, and
objects armies captured in battle and provide insight into what was considered
a valuable prize of war. For example, Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III boasts of
capturing 3,400 prisoners and 2,041 horses after a battle at Megiddo. Assyrian
king Sargon II says, “I besieged and conquered Samaria. I took as booty 27,290
people who lived there. I gathered 50 chariots from them.”
Israel was not immune to the
temptation of securing large numbers of horses (and chariots). First Kings 4:26
indicates that Solomon built 4,000 chariot stalls and kept 12,000 horses, some
of them imported at a cost of 150 shekels apiece (1 Kings 10:28), while Isaiah
2:7 indicates that the land was filled with horses. In support of these
numbers, the Kurkh Monolith attributes 2,000 chariots (4,000 to 6,000 horses)
to King Ahab.
It is precisely in this context
that we need to read the “law of the king” in Deuteronomy 17:140-20. While
Israel’s earthly kings serve as commander in chief of the army, they are not to
rely on their military prowess or the strength of their chariot forces for
their ultimate defense: “The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of
horses for himself or make the people return to Egypt to get more of the, for
the LORD has told you, ‘You are not to go back that way again’” (Deut 17:16).
This prohibition contrasts with the practice of ANE kings, who did all they
could to stockpile these ancient weapons of mass destruction. It also counters
the tendency of Israelite kings to find security in the typical instruments of
warfare and instead insists that the king’s primary focus is learning Torah (Deut
17:18-20). Yahweh Sabaoth, the Lord of heaven’s armies, is Israel’s true
defender (Ps 46:7; 48:8; Is 37:16-20). (William J. Webb and Gordon K. Oeste, Bloody
Brutal and Barbaric? Wrestling with Troubling War Texts [Downers Grove,
Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 2019], 304-5)
