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2 Kings 7:13

11 The gatekeepers shouted the news, and it was reported to the king’s household.

12 So the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Arameans have done to us. They know we are starving, so they have left the camp to hide in the field, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and enter the city.’”

But one of his servants replied, “Please, have scouts take five of the horses that remain in the city. Their plight will be no worse than all the Israelites who are left here. You can see that all the Israelites here are doomed. So let us send them and find out.”

14 Then the scouts took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Aramean army, saying, “Go and see.”

15 And they tracked them as far as the Jordan, and indeed, the whole way was littered with the clothing and equipment the Arameans had thrown off in haste. So the scouts returned and told the king.

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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.

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BSB
But one of his servants replied, “Please, have scouts take five of the horses that remain in the city. Their plight will be no worse than all the Israelites who are left here. You can see that all the Israelites here are doomed. So let us send them and find out.”
KJV
And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see.
WEB
One of his servants answered, “Please let some people take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it. Behold, they are like all the multitude of Israel who are consumed. Let’s send and see.”
ASV
And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed); and let us send and see.
DARBY
And one of his servants answered and said, Let some one take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that have perished), and let us send and see.
BLB
And one of his servants answered and said, “Then let them take, please, five of the remaining horses, which are left in the city. Behold, they [are] as all the multitude of Israel who are left in it—indeed, like all the multitude of Israel left from those who are consumed. And let us send them and see.”
ÅB
Men en av hans menn svarte: La noen av dine folk ta fem av de hester som enda er tilbake her i byen! Det kan jo ikke gå dem verre enn hele mengden av israelitter som enda er tilbake her, eller verre enn hele mengden av israelitter som er omkommet. Og la oss så sende dem avsted, så får vi se!
OTB
Men en av hans tjenere svarte og sa, "Vær så snill, la noen menn ta fem av hestene som er igjen i byen— se, de vil være som hele Israels mengde som er igjen i den— og la oss sende dem og se."
B1930
Men en av hans menn svarte: La nogen av dine folk ta fem av de hester som ennu er tilbake her i byen! Det kan jo ikke gå dem verre enn hele mengden av israelitter som ennu er tilbake her, eller verre enn hele mengden av israelitter som er omkommet. Og la oss så sende dem avsted, så får vi se!

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • 2 Kings 5:13

    Naaman’s servants, however, approached him and said, “My father, if the prophet had told you to do some great thing, would you not have done it? How much more, then, when he tells you, ‘Wash and be cleansed’?”

    Read in context

  • Lamentations 4:9

    Those slain by the sword are better off than those who die of hunger, who waste away, pierced with pain because the fields lack produce.

    Read in context

  • 2 Kings 7:4

    If we say, ‘Let us go into the city,’ we will die there from the famine in the city; but if we sit here, we will also die. So come now, let us go over to the camp of the Arameans. If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”

    Read in context

  • Jeremiah 14:18

    If I go out to the country, I see those slain by the sword; if I enter the city, I see those ravaged by famine! For both prophet and priest travel to a land they do not know.’”

    Read in context

  • 2 Kings 6:33

    While Elisha was still speaking with them, the messenger came down to him. And the king said, “This calamity is from the LORD. Why should I wait for the LORD any longer?”

    Read in context