Either the pastoral need for many hands or the imperial need for many soldiers. These aren't mutually exclusive ways to read the text, and, it seems to me, that Tanakh does not draw a significant distinction between the two. Torah, especially, shows us a world in which both functions are central. Farmers may be called for military service when they are needed.

So yeah what I'm saying is that your recent epiphany does not seem to necessarily supercede your original thesis.