Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!
Parallel translations
- WEB Now therefore, please give pledges to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.
- KJV Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
- NKJV Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them!
- NASB Now then, come make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them!
- NLT “I’ll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them!
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Mockingly, Rabshakeh offers two thousand horses, doubting Judah could even supply riders for them. He ridicules Judah's military weakness.
Overview
The taunt sneers at Judah's small forces, implying they could not field riders even if given the horses. This contemptuous wager is designed to humiliate and demoralize. Behind the mockery lies the assumption that strength is measured by cavalry, not by God. The narrative will show that the LORD's deliverance needs no horses at all.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- 1 Sam 17:42When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a boy, ruddy and handsome.
- 1 Sam 17:44“Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
- 1 Kgs 20:18“If they have marched out in peace,” he said, “take them alive. Even if they have marched out for war, take them alive.”
- 1 Kgs 20:10Then Ben-hadad sent another message to Ahab: “May the gods deal with me, and ever so severely, if enough dust remains of Samaria for each of my men to have a handful.”
- Neh 4:2–5before his associates and the army of Samaria, saying, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Can they restore the wall by themselves? Will they offer sacrifices? Will they complete it in a day? Can they bring these burnt stones back to life from the mounds of rubble?”
- Isa 36:8–9Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!
- Isa 10:13–14For he says: ‘By the strength of my hand I have done this, and by my wisdom, for I am clever. I have removed the boundaries of nations and plundered their treasures; like a mighty one I subdued their rulers.
- Ps 123:3–4Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy, for we have endured much contempt.
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Christ at the center
Amid the long decline toward exile, the promise to David's house refuses to die; the flickering lamp kept burning anticipates the coming King who will not fail or be cut off.
How 2 Kings 18:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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