Isaiah 36:8

Complete Jewish Bible

All right, then, make a wager with my lord the king of Ashur: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough riders for them.

Parallel Translations

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

Hebrew Names Version
Now therefore, please give pledges to my master the king of Ashshur, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.

King James Version
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.

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.

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!

New Century Version
"‘Now make an agreement with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough men to ride them.

Amplified Bible
"So now, exchange pledges with 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.

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.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Nowe therefore giue hostages to my lorde the King of Asshur, and I wil giue thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders vpon 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.

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!

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

Darby Translation
And now engage, I pray thee, 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.

Easy-to-Read Version
"‘If you still want to fight, my master, the king of Assyria, will make this agreement with you. I promise that I will give you 2000 horses if you can find enough men to ride them into battle.

George Lamsa Translation
Now therefore make an alliance with my lord, king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you have riders to set upon 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 riders.

Lexham English Bible
And now please make a wager with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, that is, if you are able put riders for yourself on them!

Literal Translation
Now, then, please exchange pledges with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to set riders on them for you.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Abyde the, thou hast made a condicion with my lorde the kinge of the Assirias, that he shulde geue the two thousande horses: Art thou able to set me there vp?

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.

Bible in Basic English
And now, take a chance with my master, the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them.

JPS Old Testament (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.

King James Version (1611)
Now therefore giue pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will giue thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders vpon them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Nowe therfore deliuer hostages that thou rebell no more agaynst my Lorde the kyng of the Assyrians, and I wyll geue thee two thousande horses yf thou be able to set men vpon them.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
yet now make an agreement with my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give you two thousand horses, if ye shall be able to set riders upon 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.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And now bitake thee to my lord, the kyng of Assiriens, and Y schal yyue to thee twei thousynde of horsis, and thou maist not yyue of thee stieris of tho horsis.

Update Bible Version
Now therefore, I pray you, 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 give pledges, I pray thee, to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou canst on thy part set riders upon them.

New English Translation
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 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 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!

New Life Bible
So now come and make an agreement with my leader, the king of Assyria. And I will give you 2,000 horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them.

New Revised Standard
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.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Now, therefore, pledge thyself I pray thee with my lord, the king of Assyria, - That I supply thee with two thousand horses, If thou on thy part be able to set riders upon them;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And now deliver thyself up to my lord the king of the Assyrians, and I will give thee two thousand horses, and thou wilt not be able on thy part to find riders for them.

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 upon them.

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

THE MESSAGE
"‘Be reasonable. Face the facts: My master the king of Assyria will give you two thousand horses if you can put riders on them. You can't do it, can you? So how do you think, depending on flimsy Egypt's chariots and riders, you can stand up against even the lowest-ranking captain in my master's army?

New American Standard Bible (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.

Contextual Overview

¹ It was in the fourteenth year of King Hizkiyahu that Sancheriv king of Ashur advanced against all the fortified cities of Y'hudah and captured them. ² From Lakhish the king of Ashur sent Rav-Shakeh to Hizkiyahu in Yerushalayim with a large army. He positioned himself by the aqueduct from the Upper Pool, which is by the road to the Launderers' Field. ³ Elyakim the son of Hilkiyahu, who was in charge of the household, Shevnah the general secretary and Yo'ach the son of Asaf the foreign minister went out to meet him. ⁴ Rav-Shakeh addressed them: "Tell Hizkiyahu: ‘Here is what the great king, the king of Ashur, says: "What makes you so confident? ⁵ I say: do mere words constitute strategy and strength for battle? In whom, then, are you trusting when you rebel against me like this? ⁶ Look! Relying on Egypt is like using a broken stick as a staff — when you lean on it, it punctures your hand. That's what Pharaoh king of Egypt is like for anyone who puts his trust in him. ⁷ But if you tell me, ‘We trust in Adonai our God,' then isn't he the one whose high places and altars Hizkiyahu has removed, telling Y'hudah and Yerushalayim, ‘You must worship before this altar'? ⁸ All right, then, make a wager with my lord the king of Ashur: I will give you two thousand horses if you can find enough riders for them. ⁹ How then can you repulse even one of my master's lowest-ranked army officers? Yet you are relying on Egypt for chariots and riders! ¹⁰ Do you think I have come up to this land to destroy it without Adonai 's approval? Adonai said to me, ‘Go up against this land and destroy it!' " ' "

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

pledges: or, hostages, 2 Kings 14:14

and I: Isaiah 10:13, Isaiah 10:14, 1 Samuel 17:40-43, 1 Kings 20:10, 1 Kings 20:18, 2 Kings 18:23, Nehemiah 4:2-5, Psalms 20:7, Psalms 20:8, Psalms 123:3, Psalms 123:4

Reciprocal: Genesis 49:18 - General Deuteronomy 17:16 - multiply horses Judges 9:29 - Increase thine army 1 Samuel 17:36 - seeing 2 Kings 13:7 - fifty horsemen Psalms 80:6 - our enemies Isaiah 10:8 - General Jeremiah 9:23 - neither Hosea 14:3 - we will not

Cross-References

Genesis 14:6
and the Hori at Se‘ir, their mountain, all the way to Eil-Pa'ran by the desert.

Genesis 32:3
When Ya‘akov saw them, he said, "This is God's camp," and called that place Machanayim [two camps]. Haftarah Vayetze: Hoshea (Hosea) 12:13(12)–14:10(9) (A); 11:7–12:12(11) (S) B'rit Hadashah suggested reading for Parashah Vayetze: Yochanan (John) 1:43–51 Ya‘akov sent messengers ahead of him to ‘Esav his brother toward the land of Se‘ir, the country of Edom, with these instructions: "Here is what you are to say to my lord ‘Esav: ‘Your servant Ya‘akov says, "I have been living with Lavan and have stayed until now. I have cattle, donkeys and flocks, and male and female servants. I am sending to tell this news to my lord, in order to win your favor." '" The messengers returned to Ya‘akov saying, "We went to your brother ‘Esav, and he is coming to meet you; with him are four hundred men." Ya‘akov became greatly afraid and distressed. He divided the people, flocks, cattle and camels with him into two camps, saying, "If ‘Esav comes to the one camp and attacks it, at least the camp that is left will escape." Then Ya‘akov said, "God of my father Avraham and God of my father Yitz'chak, Adonai , who told me, ‘Return to your country and your kinsmen, and I will do you good': I'm not worthy of all the love and faithfulness you have shown your servant, since I crossed the Yarden with only my staff. But now I have become two camps. Please! Rescue me from my brother ‘Esav! I'm afraid of him, afraid he'll come and attack me, without regard for mothers or children. You said, ‘I will certainly do you good and make your descendants as numerous as the grains of sand by the sea, which are so many they can't be counted.'" (ii) He stayed there that night; then he chose from among his possessions the following as a present for ‘Esav his brother: two hundred female goats and twenty males, two hundred female sheep and twenty males, thirty milk-camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten colts. He turned them over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Cross over in front of me, and keep a space between each drove and the next one." He instructed the servant in front, "When ‘Esav my brother meets you and asks you, ‘Whose servant are you? Where are you going? And whose animals are these?' then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Ya‘akov, and they are a present he has sent to my lord ‘Esav; and Ya‘akov himself is just behind us.'" He also instructed the second servant, and the third, and all that followed the droves, "When you encounter ‘Esav, you are to speak to him in the same way, and you are to add, ‘And there, just behind us, is your servant Ya‘akov.'" For he said, "I will appease him first with the present that goes ahead of me; then, after that, I will see him myself — and maybe he will be friendly toward me." So the present crossed over ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp. He got up that night, took his two wives, his two slave-girls, and his eleven children, and forded the Yabok. He took them and sent them across the stream, then sent his possessions across; and Ya‘akov was left alone. Then some man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he did not defeat Ya‘akov, he struck Ya‘akov's hip socket, so that his hip was dislocated while wrestling with him. The man said, "Let me go, because it's daybreak." But Ya‘akov replied, "I won't let you go unless you bless me." The man asked, "What is your name?" and he answered, "Ya‘akov." Then the man said, "From now on, you will no longer be called Ya‘akov, but Isra'el; because you have shown your strength to both God and men and have prevailed." Ya‘akov asked him, "Please tell me your name." But he answered, "Why are you asking about my name?" and blessed him there. (iii) Ya‘akov called the place P'ni-El [face of God], "Because I have seen God face to face, yet my life is spared." As the sun rose upon him he went on past P'ni-El, limping at the hip. This is why, to this day, the people of Isra'el do not eat the thigh muscle that passes along the hip socket — because the man struck Ya‘akov's hip at its socket.

Genesis 36:1
This is the genealogy of ‘Esav (that is, Edom).

Genesis 36:2
‘Esav chose Kena‘ani women as his wives: ‘Adah the daughter of Eilon the Hitti; Oholivamah the daughter of ‘Anah the daughter of Tziv‘on the Hivi;

Genesis 36:7
For their possessions had become too great for them to live together, and the countryside through which they were traveling couldn't support so much livestock.

Genesis 36:19
These were the descendants of ‘Esav (that is, Edom), and these were their chieftains.

Genesis 36:20
(vii) These were the descendants of Se‘ir the Hori, the local inhabitants: Lotan, Shoval, Tziv‘on, ‘Anah,

Deuteronomy 2:5
and don't get into disputes with them; for I am not going to give you any of their land, no, not even enough for one foot to stand on; inasmuch as I have given Mount Se‘ir to ‘Esav as his possession.

Joshua 24:4
I gave to Yitz'chak Ya‘akov and ‘Esav. To ‘Esav I gave Mount Se‘ir as his possession, but Ya‘akov and his children went down into Egypt.

1 Chronicles 4:42
Some 500 of them who were descendants of Shim‘on went to Mount Se‘ir under the leadership of P'latyah, Ne‘aryah, Refayah and Uzi'el the sons of Yish‘i.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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.

h התערב "da obsides", Vatablus; "paciscere cum domino meo, Gataker; "misceto, quaeso, [bellum] cum domino meo", Junius & Tremellius.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 Isaiah 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.