A large military and population figure expressing an overwhelming quantity

The number 200,000 appears repeatedly in the Old Testament as a large military figure. In 1 Samuel 15:4, Saul musters 200,000 foot soldiers at Tela'im for war against the Amalekites. In 2 Chronicles 17:16–17, two army commanders are mentioned, each leading 200,000 men – Amaziah son of Zikri with 200,000 brave warriors, and Eljada from Benjamin with 200,000 men armed with bow and shield. In 2 Chronicles 28:8, the number is used in a different context: the Israelites take away 200,000 captives from Judah – women, sons, and daughters. What all these instances have in common is that 200,000 serves as an expression of a massive, overwhelming multitude of people, whether as military force or as war booty. The number has not developed an independent symbolic tradition in Jewish or Christian theology on par with numbers like 7, 12, or 40, but its repeated use in military contexts underscores its function as a picture of great power and magnitude.