Discovery BoxExodus 14:7 
Context14:7 He took six hundred select 1 chariots, and all the rest of the chariots of Egypt, 2 and officers 3 on all of them.
Exodus 38:9
Context38:9 He made the courtyard. For the south side 4 the hangings of the courtyard were of fine twisted linen, one hundred fifty feet long,
Exodus 38:25
Context38:25 The silver of those who were numbered of the community was one hundred talents and 1,775 shekels, 5 according to the sanctuary shekel,
1 tn The passive participle of the verb “to choose” means that these were “choice” or superb chariots.
2 tn Heb “every chariot of Egypt.” After the mention of the best chariots, the meaning of this description is “all the other chariots.”
3 tn The word שָׁלִשִׁם (shalishim) means “officers” or some special kind of military personnel. At one time it was taken to mean a “three man chariot,” but the pictures of Egyptian chariots only show two in a chariot. It may mean officers near the king, “men of the third rank” (B. Jacob, Exodus, 394). So the chariots and the crew represented the elite. See the old view by A. E. Cowley that linked it to a Hittite word (“A Hittite Word in Hebrew,” JTS 21 [1920]: 326), and the more recent work by P. C. Craigie connecting it to Egyptian “commander” (“An Egyptian Expression in the Song of the Sea: Exodus XV.4,” VT 20 [1970]: 85).
4 tn Heb “south side southward.”
5 sn This would be a total of 301,775 shekels (about 140,828 oz), being a half shekel exacted per person from 605,550 male Israelites 20 years old or more (Num 1:46). The amount is estimated to be around 3.75 tons.
