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?
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?
- BSB 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?
- 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 10:8For he saith, Are not my princes altogether kings?
- Isa 30:2–5That walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my mouth; to strengthen themselves in the strength of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt!
- Isa 30:16–17But ye said, No; for we will flee upon horses; therefore shall ye flee: and, We will ride upon the swift; therefore shall they that pursue you be swift.
- Isa 20:5And they shall be afraid and ashamed of Ethiopia their expectation, and of Egypt their glory.
- Jer 2:36Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria.
- Isa 31:3Now the Egyptians are men, and not God; and their horses flesh, and not spirit. When the LORD shall stretch out his hand, both he that helpeth shall fall, and he that is holpen shall fall down, and they all shall fail together.
- Prov 21:31The horse is prepared against the day of battle: but safety is of the LORD.
- Deut 17:16But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
- 2 Kgs 18:24How 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?
- Isa 36:6Lo, thou trustest in the staff of this broken reed, on Egypt; whereon if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all that trust in him.
- Isa 30:7For the Egyptians shall help in vain, and to no purpose: therefore have I cried concerning this, Their strength is to sit still.
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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.