2 Kings 18:24

Egypt

²² But 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’?

²³ 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!

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?

²⁵ So now, was it apart from the LORD that I have come up against this place to destroy it? The LORD Himself said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it.’”

²⁶ Then Eliakim son of Hilkiah, along with Shebnah and Joah, said to the Rabshakeh, “Please speak to your servants in Aramaic, since we understand it. Do not speak with us in Hebrew in the hearing of the people on the wall.”

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

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?
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?
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?
ASV: How then canst 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?
DARBY: How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants? And thou reliest upon Egypt for chariots and for horsemen!
BLB: And how will you turn back the face of a captain of one of the least of the servants of my master, and put your trust in Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

ÅB: Hvordan skulle du da kunne drive tilbake en eneste stattholder, en av min herres ringeste tjenere? Derfor setter du din lit til Egypt og håper å få vogner og hestfolk derfra.
OTB: Hvordan kan du da vende tilbake selv en eneste offiser av de minste av min herres tjenere, og stole på Egypt for vogner og ryttere?
B1930: Hvorledes skulde du da kunne drive tilbake en eneste stattholder, en av min herres ringeste tjenere? Derfor setter du din lit til Egypten og håper å få vogner og hestfolk derfra.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Isaiah 10:8
“Are not all my commanders kings?” he says.
Read in context
Daniel 2:37–38
You, O king, are the king of kings, to whom the God of heaven has given sovereignty, power, strength, and glory.
Read in context
Isaiah 36:9
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?
Read in context
Deuteronomy 17:16
But 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.’
Read in context
Jeremiah 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.
Read in context
Daniel 4:22
you, 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.
Read in context
Ezekiel 17:15
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?’
Read in context
Ezekiel 17:17
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.
Read in context