For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
Parallel translations
- WEB How then can you turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
- KJV How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
- NKJV How then will you repel one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
- NASB How then can you drive back even one official of the least of my master’s servants, and rely on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
- NLT With your tiny army, how can you think of challenging even the weakest contingent of my master’s troops, even with the help of Egypt’s chariots and charioteers?
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
Rabshakeh argues Judah cannot repel even one minor Assyrian officer, so trusting Egypt's chariots is futile. He magnifies Assyria's might to crush Judah's hope.
Overview
Continuing his taunt, the field commander insists Judah is too weak to resist the least of Assyria's captains. He again dismisses reliance on Egypt as worthless. The aim is to leave Judah feeling that resistance and trust alike are pointless. Yet the account will demonstrate that the smallest force with God outmatches the greatest empire without him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Isa 10:8“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
- Jer 42:14–18and if you say, ‘No, but we will go to the land of Egypt and live there, where we will not see war or hear the sound of the ram’s horn or hunger for bread,’
- Deut 17:16But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’
- 2 Kgs 18:21Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
- Isa 36:6Look now, you are trusting in Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff that will pierce the hand of anyone who leans on it. Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.
- Isa 31:1Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, who rely on horses, who trust in their abundance of chariots and in their multitude of horsemen. They do not look to the Holy One of Israel; they do not seek the LORD.
- Isa 36:9For how can you repel a single officer among the least of my master’s servants when you depend on Egypt for chariots and horsemen?
- Isa 31:3But the Egyptians are men, not God; their horses are flesh, not spirit. When the LORD stretches out His hand, the helper will stumble, and the one he helps will fall; both will perish together.
- Dan 2:37–38You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.
- Dan 4:22you, O king, are that tree! For you have become great and strong; your greatness has grown to reach the sky, and your dominion extends to the ends of the earth.
- Dan 4:37Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, for all His works are true and all His ways are just. And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.
- Ezek 17:15But this king rebelled against Babylon by sending his envoys to Egypt to ask for horses and a large army. Will he flourish? Will the one who does such things escape? Can he break a covenant and yet escape?’
- Ezek 17:17Pharaoh with his mighty army and vast horde will not help him in battle, when ramps are built and siege walls constructed to destroy many lives.
- Jer 37:7“This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says that you are to tell the king of Judah, who sent you to Me: Behold, Pharaoh’s army, which has marched out to help you, will go back to its own land of Egypt.
- Ps 20:7–8Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
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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 18:24 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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