שֹׁ֣לֵֽף

Alphabet Analysis

The word

1. word🔊 שֹׁ֣לֵֽף

   sho-LEF

   drawing
2. phraseyour reading level🔊 שֹׁ֣לֵֽף חֶ֔רֶב

   sho-LEF KHE-rev

   drawing sword
3. clause🔊 וַיְהִ֣י כָֽל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֡ל אֶ֣לֶף אֲלָפִים֩ וּמֵאָ֨ה אֶ֤לֶף אִישׁ֙ שֹׁ֣לֵֽף חֶ֔רֶב וִֽיהוּדָ֕ה אַרְבַּע֩ מֵא֨וֹת וְשִׁבְעִ֥ים אֶ֛לֶף אִ֖ישׁ שֹׁ֥לֵֽף חָֽרֶב׃

   va-ye-HI khol-yis-ra-EL E-lef a-la-FIM u-me-A E-lef ISH sho-LEF KHE-rev vi-ye-hu-DA ar-BA me-OT ve-shiv-IM E-lef ISH sho-LEF KHA-rev

   and it was all Israel a thousand thousands and a hundred thousand man or men drawing sword and Judah four hundreds and seventy thousand man or men drawing sword
4. sentence🔊 וַיִּתֵּ֥ן יוֹאָ֛ב אֶת־מִסְפַּ֥ר מִפְקַד־הָעָ֖ם אֶל־דָּוִ֑יד וַיְהִ֣י כָֽל־יִשְׂרָאֵ֡ל אֶ֣לֶף אֲלָפִים֩ וּמֵאָ֨ה אֶ֤לֶף אִישׁ֙ שֹׁ֣לֵֽף חֶ֔רֶב וִֽיהוּדָ֕ה אַרְבַּע֩ מֵא֨וֹת וְשִׁבְעִ֥ים אֶ֛לֶף אִ֖ישׁ שֹׁ֥לֵֽף חָֽרֶב׃

   va-yit-TEN yo-AV et-mis-PA-r mif-kad-ha-AM el-da-VID va-ye-HI khol-yis-ra-EL E-lef a-la-FIM u-me-A E-lef ISH sho-LEF KHE-rev vi-ye-hu-DA ar-BA me-OT ve-shiv-IM E-lef ISH sho-LEF KHA-rev

   and he gave Joab {direct object} number of muster of the people to David and it was all Israel a thousand thousands and a hundred thousand man or men drawing sword and Judah four hundreds and seventy thousand man or men drawing sword

Exegesis

The appositional description ʾish sholef cherev {אִישׁ֙ שֹׁ֣לֵֽף חֶ֔רֶב | ʾîš šōlēp̄ ḥereḇ} identifies the counted group as armed combatants, and the Judah clause mirrors the same pattern (name + number + qualifier), creating parallelism that highlights the two totals side by side. In English, the Hebrew narrative verbs are rendered with simple past tense, and the numeric idioms are converted into standard figures while retaining the repeated “drawing the sword” wording to preserve the verse’s rhythmic, report-like style.