And Abijah and his people struck them down with a great slaughter, so that five hundred thousand chosen men of Israel fell — The slaughter was catastrophic: 500,000 Israeli warriors fell (וַיַּכּוּם בִּנְגִיפָה גְדוֹלָה וַיִּפְּלוּ מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל חֲמֵשׁ־מֵאוֹת אָלֶף אִישׁ בָּחוּר). The number seems hyperbolically large; it emphasizes the magnitude of defeat.

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