Now therefore, please make 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 set riders on them.
Parallel Translations
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Now therefore, please make 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 set riders on them.
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Now therefore give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
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Now therefore, I pray thee, make a wager with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
Cross-references (9)
Passages linked to Isaiah 36:8 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- 1 Samuel 17:40-43 He took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag which he had. His sling was in his hand; and he came near to the Philistine. The Philistine walked and came near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him. When the Philistine looked around, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and had a good looking face. The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods.
- 1 Kings 20:10 Ben Hadad sent to him, and said, “The gods do so to me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria will be enough for handfuls for all the people who follow me.”
- 1 Kings 20:18 He said, “If they have come out for peace, take them alive; or if they have come out for war, take them alive.”
- 2 Kings 14:14 He took all the gold and silver, and all the vessels that were found in Yahweh’s house and in the treasures of the king’s house, the hostages also, and returned to Samaria.
- 2 Kings 18:23 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.
- Nehemiah 4:2-5 He spoke before his brothers and the army of Samaria, and said, “What are these feeble Jews doing? Will they fortify themselves? Will they sacrifice? Will they finish in a day? Will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish, since they are burned?” Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, “What they are building, if a fox climbed up it, he would break down their stone wall.” “Hear, our God; for we are despised. Turn back their reproach on their own head. Give them up for a plunder in a land of captivity. Don’t cover their iniquity. Don’t let their sin be blotted out from before you; for they have insulted the builders.”
- Psalms 20:7-8 Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we trust in the name of Yahweh our God. They are bowed down and fallen, but we rise up, and stand upright.
- Psalms 123:3-4 Have mercy on us, Yahweh, have mercy on us, for we have endured much contempt. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scoffing of those who are at ease, with the contempt of the proud.
- Isaiah 10:13-14 For he has said, “By the strength of my hand I have done it, and by my wisdom; for I have understanding. I have removed the boundaries of the peoples, and have robbed their treasures. Like a valiant man I have brought down their rulers. My hand has found the riches of the peoples like a nest, and like one gathers eggs that are abandoned, I have gathered all the earth. There was no one who moved their wing, or that opened their mouth, or chirped.”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (9 sources)
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John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Now therefore give pledges to my master the king…
Now therefore give pledges to my master the king of Assyria,.... Or; "hostages" (h); that thou wilt not rebel against him, but be faithful to him, and he will withdraw his army; or give security for the horses after promised: "or mingle thyself with him"; agree the matter with him, give pledges for future fidelity; or join in battle with him, come out and fight him, if able:
and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders on them; thus scoffing at him, as if he had not so many soldiers to bring out against him; or so many men in his kingdom as had skill enough to ride a horse; in his bravado he signifies, that if he would come out and fight him, he would lend him so many horses, if he could put men upon them, to assist him; this he said as boasting of his master's strength and power, and in scorn and derision at Hezekiah's weakness.
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(h) "da obsides", Vatablus; "paciscere cum domino meo, Gataker; "misceto, quaeso, bellum cum domino meo", Junius & Tremellius.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Now, therefore, give pledges - Margin, ‘Hostages.’ The Hebrew…
Now, therefore, give pledges - Margin, ‘Hostages.’ The Hebrew verb (ערב ‛ârab) means properly to mix or mingle; then, to exchange commodities by barter or traffic; then, to become surety for anyone, to exchange with him, to stand in his place; then, to pledge, to pledge one’s life, or to give security of any kind. Here it is used in a spirit of taunting or derision, and is equivalent to what would be said among us, ‘I will bet you, or I will lay a wager, that if we should give you only two thousand horses, you could not find men enough to ride them, or men that had knowledge of horsemanship enough to guide them.’ There was much severity in this taunt. The Jews hoped to defend themselves. Yet here was an immense army coming up to lay siege against them. What hope had they of defense? So weak and feeble were they, that Rabshakeh said they could not furnish even two thousand horsemen to resist all the host of the Assyrians. There was also, doubtless, much truth in this taunt. It was not permitted by the law of Moses for the Jews to keep cavalry, nor for their kings to multiply horses. The reason of this may be seen in the notes at Isa 2:7. Though some of the kings, and especially Solomon, had disregarded this law of Moses, yet Hezekiah had endeavored to restore the observance of the law, and it is probable that he find no cavalry, and that the art of horsemanship was little known in Jerusalem. As the Assyrians prided themselves on their cavalry, they consequently looked with contempt on a people who were destitute of this means of defense.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain give pledges--a taunting challenge. Only give the guarantee that…
give pledges--a taunting challenge. Only give the guarantee that you can supply as many as two thousand riders, and I will give thee two thousand horses. But seeing that you have not even this small number (see on Isa 2:7), how can you stand against the hosts of Assyrian cavalry? The Jews tried to supply their weakness in this "arm" from Egypt (Isa 31:1).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 8. “Now try your hand,” continues Rabshakeh.
8. “Now try your hand,” continues Rabshakeh.
Give pledges — Hostages, securities, to the great king, for two thousand horses, if indeed you can mount such a wonderful number. A contemptuous comparison, yet of keen edge, because cavalry was not an arm the Jews could boast of. The sense of the phrase “give pledges,” is, to make an engagement with, strong and well secured.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 8. give pledges … to] Better (as R.V. marg.):…
8. give pledges … to] Better (as R.V. marg.): make a wager with. The taunt must have been peculiarly galling to the war-party in Judah, who were painfully conscious of their weakness in cavalry; ch. Isa_30:16, Isa_31:1; Isa_31:3, and Isa_36:9 of this chapter.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (8) Now, therefore, give pledges.—Better, make a wager. This…
(8) Now, therefore, give pledges.—Better, make a wager. This would seem to be a taunt interpolated by the Rabshakeh in the midst of his official message. There was something absurd in the idea of Judah coming out as strong in its cavalry. Had they two thousand men who could manage their horses if they had them?
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Now therefore give pledges; i.e. "bind yourselves under s-me…
Now therefore give pledges; i.e. "bind yourselves under s-me penalty." Rabshakeh here interrupts his message" to introduce an offer of his own. Intent on ridiculing the absurdity of Hezekiah"s resistance of Assyria, he promises to make him a present of two thousand horses, if he (Hezekiah) can find two thousand trained riders to mount them. It is quite likely that he was safe in making this promise, and that, notwithstanding the abundant use of chariots and horses by the Jews of the time for purposes of luxury, (Isa_2:7) they were destitute of a cavalry force and unaccustomed to the management of war-horses.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 General Information:
General Information:
This continues the king of Assyria's message to Hezekiah by speaking the message to Hezekiah's men. (See: Isaiah 36:4-5)
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two thousand horses
"2,000 horses" (See: Numbers)
if you are able to find riders for them
The chief commander continues to ridicule Hezekiah and his army by implying that he did not have many soldiers. (See: Irony)
translationWords
lord
king
Assyria
horse
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 36:8 At this time, cavalry mounted on horses was…
36:8 At this time, cavalry mounted on horses was the newest military technology. The Assyrian chief of staff was mocking the Judeans because he knew that Judah had no trained men who knew how to ride.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.