Hough

To hough (or hamstring) was to sever the hamstring tendon of the hind legs of captured horses, rendering them permanently lame and useless for military purposes. The Hebrew ʿāqar (to hamstring, to hough) describes this practice. Joshua was commanded by God to hamstring the horses of the coalition kings he defeated at the Waters of Merom (Joshua 11:6, 9), preventing Israel from incorporating enemy chariot forces into their own army—an implicit statement that Israel's military strength was to rest on God rather than on horse-power.

David later hamstrung the chariot horses he captured from Hadadezer king of Zobah in the north, keeping only enough for a hundred chariots (2 Samuel 8:4; 1 Chronicles 18:4). The deliberate destruction of military assets—particularly animals of such high economic and military value—was an act of theological statement as much as practical policy. The prohibition in Deuteronomy 17:16 against multiplying horses for the king reflected the same concern: dependence on cavalry would shift trust from the LORD to military technology. Houghing captured horses was thus an act of covenantal faith as well as military pragmatism.