In BATTLE ORDER — 'the sons of Israel went up CHAMUSHIM out of the land of Egypt' (Exodus 13:18), and the word is genuinely uncertain. It is usually taken as armed, equipped, or drawn up in ranks (so at Joshua 1:14; 4:12; Judges 7:11); but it resembles the word for FIVE, which has produced the old alternative 'in five divisions' or 'by fifties.' ⚠️ Whatever the detail, it cuts against the picture of a panicked rabble — and it sits pointedly next to the previous verse, where the same people are judged not ready to see war. → first discussed at Exod 13:18