Possible meanings are 1) these numbers represent the exact amount of soldiers that these commanders and captains led. AT: "the commanders of 1,000 soldiers and the captains of 100 soldiers" or 2) the words translated as "thousands" and "hundreds" do not represent exact numbers, but are the names of larger and smaller military divisions. AT: "the commanders of large military divisions and the captains of smaller military divisions" (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/translate-numbers]])
The law was explicit on who would be permitted to live. The army violated the law by allowing all the women and children to live. This was a rebuke to the army leaders. (See: [[rc://en/ta/man/translate/figs-rquestion]])