2 Kings 18:23
New International Version
“’Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!

New Living Translation
“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!

English Standard Version
Come now, 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 set riders on them.

Berean Standard Bible
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!

King James Bible
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.

New King James Version
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!

New American Standard Bible
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!

NASB 1995
“Now therefore, come, make a bargain with 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.

NASB 1977
“Now therefore, come, make a bargain with 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.

Legacy Standard Bible
So now, come, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to give riders for them.

Amplified Bible
Now then, make a bargain with my lord the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if on your part you can put riders on them.

Christian Standard Bible
“So now, make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you’re able to supply riders for them!

Holman Christian Standard Bible
So now make a bargain with my master the king of Assyria. I’ll give you 2,000 horses if you’re able to supply riders for them!

American Standard Version
Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges 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.

Contemporary English Version
The king of Assyria wants to make a bet with you people. He will give you 2,000 horses, if you have enough troops to ride them.

English Revised Version
Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges 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.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Now, make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I'll give you 2,000 horses if you can put riders on them.

Good News Translation
I will make a bargain with you in the name of the emperor. I will give you two thousand horses if you can find that many men to ride them!

International Standard Version
"Come now, and make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria, and I'll give you 2,000 horses, if you can furnish them with riders.

Majority Standard Bible
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!

NET Bible
Now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, provided you can find enough riders for them.

New Heart English Bible
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.

Webster's Bible Translation
Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou shalt be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

World English Bible
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.
Literal Translations
Literal Standard Version
And now, please give a pledge for yourself to my lord the king of Asshur, and I give two thousand horses to you, if you are able to give riders for yourself on them.

Young's Literal Translation
'And, now, give a pledge for thee, I pray thee, to my lord the king of Asshur, and I give to thee two thousand horses, if thou art able to give for thee riders on them.

Smith's Literal Translation
And now become surety to my lord the king of Assur, and I will give to thee two thousand horses if thou shalt be able to give to thyself riders upon them.
Catholic Translations
Douay-Rheims Bible
Now therefore come over to my master the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, and see whether you be able to have riders for them.

Catholic Public Domain Version
Now therefore, cross over to my lord, the king of the Assyrians, and I will give to you two thousand horses, and we will see if you even have enough riders for them.

New American Bible
“Now, make a wager with my lord, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses if you are able to put riders on them.

New Revised Standard Version
Come now, 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 set riders on them.
Translations from Aramaic
Lamsa Bible
Now therefore, make an alliance with my lord the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you have riders to set upon them.

Peshitta Holy Bible Translated
And now the Assyrians are mixed with my Lord the King, and I shall give you two thousand horses, if you have horsemen whom you will set upon them!
OT Translations
JPS Tanakh 1917
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.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
And now, I pray you, make and agreement with my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou shalt be able on thy part to set riders upon them.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Sennacherib Threatens Jerusalem
22But if you say to me, ‘We trust in the LORD our God,’ is He not the One whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and Jerusalem: ‘You must worship before this altar in Jerusalem’? 23Now, 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! 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?…

Cross References
Isaiah 36:8
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!

2 Chronicles 32:11-15
Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give you over to death by famine and thirst when he says, ‘The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria?’ / Did not Hezekiah himself remove His high places and His altars and say to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship before one altar, and on it you shall burn sacrifices’? / Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Have the gods of these nations ever been able to deliver their land from my hand? ...

Isaiah 37:10-13
“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. / Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared? / Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar? ...

2 Kings 19:10-13
“Give this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you by saying that Jerusalem will not be delivered into the hand of the king of Assyria. / Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the other countries, devoting them to destruction. Will you then be spared? / Did the gods of the nations destroyed by my fathers rescue those nations—the gods of Gozan, Haran, and Rezeph, and of the people of Eden in Telassar? ...

2 Kings 17:4
But the king of Assyria discovered that Hoshea had conspired to send envoys to King So of Egypt, and that he had not paid tribute to the king of Assyria as in previous years. Therefore the king of Assyria arrested Hoshea and put him in prison.

Isaiah 30:1-5
“Woe to the rebellious children,” declares the LORD, “to those who carry out a plan that is not Mine, who form an alliance, but against My will, heaping up sin upon sin. / They 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. / But Pharaoh’s protection will become your shame, and the refuge of Egypt’s shade your disgrace. ...

Isaiah 31:1-3
Woe 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. / Yet He too is wise and brings disaster; He does not call back His words. He will rise up against the house of the wicked and against the allies of evildoers. / But 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.

Jeremiah 37:5-10
Pharaoh’s army had left Egypt, and when the Chaldeans who were besieging Jerusalem heard the report, they withdrew from Jerusalem. / Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet: / “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. ...

Ezekiel 17:15-18
But 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?’ / ‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke. / Pharaoh 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. ...

Hosea 7:11-13
So Ephraim has become like a silly, senseless dove—calling out to Egypt, then turning to Assyria. / As they go, I will spread My net over them; I will bring them down like birds of the air. I will chastise them when I hear them flocking together. / Woe to them, for they have strayed from Me! Destruction to them, for they have rebelled against Me! Though I would redeem them, they speak lies against Me.

Matthew 6:24
No one can serve two masters: Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.

Luke 14:31-32
Or what king on his way to war with another king will not first sit down and consider whether he can engage with ten thousand men the one coming against him with twenty thousand? / And if he is unable, he will send a delegation while the other king is still far off, to ask for terms of peace.

Romans 8:31
What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

1 Corinthians 1:25
For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.

2 Corinthians 10:3-5
For though we live in the flesh, we do not wage war according to the flesh. / The weapons of our warfare are not the weapons of the flesh. Instead, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. / We demolish arguments and every presumption set up against the knowledge of God; and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.


Treasury of Scripture

Now therefore, I pray you, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver you two thousand horses, if you be able on your part to set riders on them.

pledges.

1 Samuel 17:42,44
And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance…

1 Kings 20:10,18
And Benhadad sent unto him, and said, The gods do so unto me, and more also, if the dust of Samaria shall suffice for handfuls for all the people that follow me…

Nehemiah 4:2-5
And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, What do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned? …

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2 Kings 18
1. Hezekiah's good reign
4. He destroys idolatry, and prospers
9. The inhabitants of Samaria are carried captive for their sins
13. Sennacherib invading Judah, is pacified by a tribute
17. Rabshakeh, by blasphemous persuasions, solicits the people to revolt














Now, therefore
This phrase serves as a transition, indicating a conclusion or a challenge based on previous statements. In the context of 2 Kings 18, the Assyrian field commander, the Rabshakeh, is speaking to the representatives of King Hezekiah of Judah. The phrase suggests a moment of decision, urging the listener to consider the gravity of the situation. Historically, this reflects the Assyrian strategy of psychological warfare, aiming to demoralize the people of Judah by presenting their situation as hopeless without Assyrian support.

make a bargain
The Hebrew root for "bargain" here is "עָרַב" (arab), which can mean to pledge or exchange. This is not merely a suggestion for negotiation but a demand for submission. The Assyrians were known for their powerful and expansive empire, often requiring vassal states to submit through treaties that heavily favored Assyria. This phrase underscores the pressure on Judah to capitulate to Assyrian dominance.

with my master, the king of Assyria
The term "master" indicates a relationship of subservience. The king of Assyria, at this time, was Sennacherib, a ruler known for his military campaigns and conquests. Historically, Assyria was a dominant force in the Near East, and their kings were often seen as the ultimate authority in the region. This phrase highlights the political reality of the time, where smaller nations like Judah were under constant threat from larger empires.

and I will give you two thousand horses
This offer is laden with irony and mockery. The Assyrians were known for their cavalry, and the offer of horses is a taunt, suggesting that even if Judah were given the resources, they lacked the manpower and skill to utilize them effectively. Archaeologically, Assyrian reliefs depict their powerful cavalry, emphasizing their military superiority.

if you can put riders on them
This conditional statement further mocks Judah's military weakness. The implication is that Judah lacks not only the resources but also the trained personnel to defend themselves. In the broader scriptural context, this highlights the theme of reliance on God rather than military might. Hezekiah's faith and reforms in Judah were centered on returning to the worship of Yahweh, contrasting with the reliance on military alliances and strength.

(23) Give pledges to.--Rather, make a compact with . . . So the Syriac; literally, mingle with . . . have dealings with (Psalm 106:35). Gesenius explains: join battle with; literally, mingle yourselves with: LXX., ??????? ??. Mr. Cheyne prefers, lay a wager with . . . The rab-sak sneers at Hezekiah's want of cavalry, an arm in which the Assyrians were preeminently strong; and further hints that even if horses were supplied him in numbers sufficient to constitute an ordinary troop, he would not be able to muster an equivalent number of trained riders.

Verse 23. - 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. "Pledge thyself," i.e. "to find the men, and I will pledge myself to find the horses." It is a strong expression of contempt for the military power of the Jews. They have not only no trained cavalry, but, were any one to furnish them with two thousand horses, they could not find the men to ride them. The Jewish army does, in fact, appear to have consisted of infantry and chariots only.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
Now, therefore,
וְעַתָּה֙ (wə·‘at·tāh)
Conjunctive waw | Adverb
Strong's 6258: At this time

make a bargain
הִתְעָ֣רֶב (hiṯ·‘ā·reḇ)
Verb - Hitpael - Imperative - masculine singular
Strong's 6148: To braid, intermix, technically, to traffic, give to be security

with
אֶת־ (’eṯ-)
Preposition
Strong's 854: Nearness, near, with, by, at, among

my master,
אֲדֹנִ֖י (’ă·ḏō·nî)
Noun - masculine singular construct | first person common singular
Strong's 113: Sovereign, controller

the king
מֶ֣לֶךְ (me·leḵ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 4428: A king

of Assyria.
אַשּׁ֑וּר (’aš·šūr)
Noun - proper - feminine singular
Strong's 804: Ashshur

I will give
וְאֶתְּנָ֤ה (wə·’et·tə·nāh)
Conjunctive waw | Verb - Qal - Conjunctive imperfect Cohortative - first person common singular
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

you
לְךָ֙ (lə·ḵā)
Preposition | second person masculine singular
Strong's Hebrew

two thousand
אַלְפַּ֣יִם (’al·pa·yim)
Number - md
Strong's 505: A thousand

horses—
סוּסִ֔ים (sū·sîm)
Noun - masculine plural
Strong's 5483: A swallow, swift (type of bird)

if
אִם־ (’im-)
Conjunction
Strong's 518: Lo!, whether?, if, although, Oh that!, when, not

you can
תּוּכַ֕ל (tū·ḵal)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 3201: To be able, have power

put
לָ֥תֶת (lā·ṯeṯ)
Preposition-l | Verb - Qal - Infinitive construct
Strong's 5414: To give, put, set

riders
רֹכְבִ֥ים (rō·ḵə·ḇîm)
Verb - Qal - Participle - masculine plural
Strong's 7392: To ride, to place upon, to despatch

on them!
עֲלֵיהֶֽם׃ (‘ă·lê·hem)
Preposition | third person masculine plural
Strong's 5921: Above, over, upon, against


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OT History: 2 Kings 18:23 Now therefore Please give pledges to my (2Ki iiKi ii ki 2 kg 2kg)
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