What does 1 Samuel 15:4 mean?

The Lord has commanded King Saul to utterly destroy every living thing among the Amalekite people (1 Samuel 15:3). To accomplish this, Saul begins to amass an overwhelming force. He musters his troops at a place called Telaim.

Many translations report that Saul's army included two hundred thousand foot soldiers, along with ten thousand men from the tribe of Judah. The word translated "thousands," however, is the Hebrew 'eleph, which can also refer to clans or groups. An army of two hundred thousand would have been one of the largest in the ancient world. For that reason, some commentators insist that the word translated as "thousand" in this verse should be understood as "companies." In that case, Saul would have had two hundred companies of fighters, along with ten companies from Judah.

Judah seems to have maintained a somewhat separate identity from the other eleven tribes of Israel. The troops of Judah are also listed separately in 1 Samuel 11:8. However, it is also clear that Judah's soldiers were considered as part of Saul's army. David and his brothers were from Judah and also stationed with Saul (1 Samuel 17).