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
He argues Judah cannot resist even a minor Assyrian officer, so trusting Egypt is hopeless.
Overview
The Rabshakeh claims Judah could not turn back the least of Assyria's captains, and ridicules reliance on Egyptian chariots and horsemen. The argument again pushes Judah toward despair by stressing human odds. The narrative will answer it by showing that the Lord, not Egypt or armies, decides the outcome.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Isa 10:8“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
- Isa 30:2–5They set out to go down to Egypt without asking My advice, to seek shelter under Pharaoh’s protection and take refuge in Egypt’s shade.
- Isa 30:16–17“No,” you say, “we will flee on horses.” Therefore you will flee! “We will ride swift horses,” but your pursuers will be faster.
- Isa 20:5Those who made Cush their hope and Egypt their boast will be dismayed and ashamed.
- Jer 2:36How unstable you are, constantly changing your ways! You will be disappointed by Egypt just as you were by Assyria.
- 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.
- Prov 21:31A horse is prepared for the day of battle, but victory is of the LORD.
- 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 18:24For 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 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 30:7Egypt’s help is futile and empty; therefore I have called her Rahab Who Sits Still.
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Isaiah sees him most clearly: the virgin's son Immanuel, the child on David's throne, the shoot from Jesse, the light to the nations, and above all the Suffering Servant pierced for our transgressions (ch. 53).
How Isaiah 36:9 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.