2 Kings 7:13

2Ki 7:13 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.

Ver. 13. Five of the horses.] These five were either all or the most that remained alive, and haply uneaten.

Behold, they are all,] q.d., We need not scruple the doing of it; for, alas! all, both horses and men, are in a perishing condition.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2Ki 7:13. Let some, I pray thee, take five of the horses, &c. — The sense seems to be, We may well venture these five horses, though we have no more, because both they and we are ready to perish with hunger: let us, therefore, use them while we may, for our common good, or to make the discovery. Behold, they are as the multitude of Israel — The words may be rendered, Behold, they are of a truth (the Hebrew prefix, Caph, being not here a note of similitude, but an affirmation of the truth and certainty of the things, as it is taken Num 11:1; Deu 9:10) all the multitude of the horses of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even all the multitude of the horses of the Israelites, which (which multitude) are consumed, reduced to this small number, all consumed except these five. And this was indeed worthy of a double behold, to show what mischief the famine had done both upon men and beasts, and to what a low ebb the king of Israel was come, that all his troops of horses, to which he had trusted, were shrunk to so small a number.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

7:13-17 The trail of abandoned articles confirmed the Arameans’ rush to escape, and the Israelites plundered the Aramean camp. True to Elisha’s prophecy, food supplies were now readily available, and Joram’s doubting officer was knocked down and trampled to death.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

There are no more left, but they, or the rest are consumed with the famine, as the rest of the people.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 13. And one of his servants answered] This is a very difficult verse, and the great variety of explanations given of it cast but little light on the subject. I am inclined to believe, with Dr. Kennicott, that there is an interpolation here which puzzles, if not destroys, the sense. "Several instances," says he, "have been given of words improperly repeated by Jewish transcribers, who have been careless enough to make such mistakes, and yet cautious not to alter or erase, for fear of discovery. This verse furnishes another instance in a careless repetition of seven Hebrew words, thus: -

הנשארים אשר נשארו בה הנם ככל ההמון ישראל אשר נשארו בה הנם ככל המון ישראל אשר תמי

The exact English of this verse is this: And the servant said, Let them take now five of the remaining horses, which remain in it; behold they are as all the multitude of Israel, which [remain in it; behold they are as all the multitude of Israel which] are consumed; and let us send and see.

"Whoever considers that the second set of these seven words is neither in the Septuagint nor Syriac versions, and that those translators who suppose these words to be genuine alter them to make them look like sense, will probably allow them to have been at first an improper repetition; consequently to be now an interpolation strangely continued in the Hebrew text." They are wanting in more than forty of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. In some others they are left without points; in others they have been written in, and afterwards blotted out; and in others four, in others five, of the seven words are omitted. De Rossi concludes thus: Nec verba haec legunt LXX., Vulg., Syrus simplex, Syrus Heptaplaris Parisiensis, Targum. They stand on little authority, and the text should be read, omitting the words enclosed by brackets, as above.

They are consumed] The words אשר תמו asher tamu should be translated, which are perfect; i.e., fit for service. The rest of the horses were either dead of the famine, killed for the subsistence of the besieged, or so weak as not to be able to perform such a journey.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(13) Let some take.—Literally, And (i.e., then) let them take. (Comp. 2Ki_2:9; 2Ki_4:41.)

Five.—Used as an indefinite small number, like our “half a dozen.” (Comp. Lev_26:8; Isa_30:17.) The actual number taken was two pairs (2Ki_7:14).

The horses that remain, which are left in the city.—Literally, the remaining horses that remain in it. The repetition dwells pathetically on the fewness of those that survive. Instead of “in it,” the LXX. and Arabic read “here,” which may be right, as the two Hebrew terms closely resemble each other.

Behold, they are as all . . . consumed.—The king’s adviser supposes two contingencies: the horses (and their drivers) may return safe, in which case they share the fortune of “all the multitude of Israel that are left” (i.e., have survived the famine, but are likely to die of it); or they may be taken and slain by the enemy, in which case they will be “even as all the multitude that are consumed” (i.e., by the famine and fighting). The sense is thus the same as in 2Ki_7:4. The servant is not much more sanguine than the king: he says, “They have to perish in any case; whether here by famine, or there by the sword, makes little difference.” “However it may turn out, nothing worse can happen to the men we send out than has already happened to many others, or than will yet happen to the rest.” But perhaps Reuss is right in seeing here simply a reference to the wretched condition of the horses. “Qu’attendre de chevaux qui sont exténues de faim?” A natural doubt whether the starving animals are adequate to the service required of them. “Consumed,” then, means spent, exhausted.

The multitude of Israel.—The article with the first word in the Hebrew is the error of a transcriber, who, as often occurs, wrote the same letter twice.

The Israelites.—Israel. Syriac: “Let them bring five of the horsemen who are left: if they are taken, they are accounted of as all the people of Israel who have perished; and let us send and see.”

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13. five of the horses] ‘Five’ is probably used indefinitely to mean some small number. That ‘five’ may be thus used seems likely from Gen_43:34; Num_11:19.

behold, they are as all the multitude] The sense of the speaker seems to be: the men sent out as spies, if they be taken and slain, will be no worse off than those that remain behind, for these are consumed with famine and will soon be dead. And if they find the news true they are enough to make sure of the matter, and to bring word into the city.

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.

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,.... Not having died through the famine as the rest:

behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, I say, they are even as the multitude of Israel that are consumed; signifying, there was a like consumption among the horses as among the people, and they that remained were starving as they were; so that should those horses, and the men, fall into the hands of the Syrians, and perish, it would be no great matter; the loss would not be much, since they must perish if they continue in the city: according to the Vulgate Latin version, these five horses were all that were left:

and let us send and see; whether the report of the lepers is true or not.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Behold ... - The Septuagint and a large number of the Hebrew MSS. omit the clause, “behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it.” But the text followed by our translators, which is that of the best maunscripts, is intelligible and needs no alteration. It is merely a prolix way of stating that the horsemen will incur no greater danger by going to reconnoitre than the rest of their countrymen by remaining in the city, since the whole multitude is perishing.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Consumed, for food. (Menochius) --- Septuagint, "Let them take five of the horses left. Those which are left here, behold they are to all the remaining multitude of Israel, and let us send them." They have read in a different manner from the present Hebrew, which has, "Let them take five of the horses there remaining; behold they are like all the multitude of Israel who are lost; let us send them." Arabic, "Let us send thither five horsemen who remain; if they escape, we shall look upon them as those Israelites who continue alive; if they perish, they well be numbered with the other Israelites who are dead." Both horses and horsemen were dreadfully lean, and they could not expect a better fate than those already consumed by famine. (Calmet) --- The truth of the report ought at least to be fully ascertained. By following the timid advice of the king no prospect of redress appeared. At last the king consented to send two horsemen. (Haydock) (Septuagint, ver. 14.) (Junius, &c.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

So the sense is, We may well venture these horses, though we have no more, because both they and we are ready to perish through hunger; and therefore let us use them whilst we may for our common good, or to make the discovery. But the repetition of the phrase seems to imply something more emphatical and significant than the saving of four or five horses, for which it is not probable they would be so much concerned in their circumstances. The words therefore may be reordered otherwise, Behold, they are of a truth (the Hebrew prefix caph being not here a note of similitude, as the other translations make it, and as it is commonly used; but an affirmation of the truth and certainty of the things, as it is taken Num 11:1; Deu 9:10; Hos 4:4; 5:10; Joh 1:14)

all the multitude of the horses of Israel that are left in it (to wit, in the city); behold, I say, they are even all the multitude of the horses of the Israelites which (i.e. which multitude) are consumed, i.e. reduced to this small number, all consumed except these five. And thus the vulgar Latin, and some others, understand it. And this was indeed a memorable passage, and worthy of a double

behold, to show what mischief the famine had done both upon men and beasts, and to what a low ebb the king of Israel was come, that all his troops of horses, to which he had trusted, were shrunk to so small a number.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

13. They are as all the multitude — Or, they will be as all the multitude — That is, all of us in this city are about to perish with famine, and they who go forth to spy the camp of the enemy can fare no worse than we. In the worst that may befall them they will not be likely to suffer more than the rest of us who remain. This reasoning was like that of the lepers in 2Ki_7:4.

Behold, I say — This repetition is wanting in the Septuagint and Syriac versions, and in several Hebrew MSS, and some have thought it spurious, and to be omitted. But it seems to have been purposely inserted to intensify the thought of the deplorable and perishing condition of the inhabitants of Samaria.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And one of his servants answered and said, Let some take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain. One of Jehoram"s "servants," i.e. of the officers attached to his person, suggested that a small body of horse (four or five) should be sent out to reconnoiter. The besieged had still some horses left, though apparently not many. Note the phrase, "five of the horses that remain." The majority had died of want, or been killed to furnish food to the garrison. (Behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it i.e. in Samariabehold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed); i.e. they will run no more risk than the other troops who remain in the city, for these, too, "are consumed," i.e. are on the point of perishing. Supposing that they fall into the enemy"s hands, it will go no harder with them than with the "multitude" which is on the point of starvation. And let us send and see. We can do nothing until we know whether the siege is really raised, or whether the pretended withdrawal is a mere ruse. We must send and have this matter made clear.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Behold, &c. - The words may be rendered, Behold, they are of a truth (the Hebrew prefix, Caph, being not here a note of similitude, but an affirmation of the truth and certainty of the things, as it is taken Num. xi, 1 Deut. ix, 10,) all the multitude of the horses of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even all the multitude of the horses of the Israelites, which (which multitude) are consumed, reduced to this small number, all consumed except these five. And this was indeed worthy of a double behold, to shew what mischief the famine had done both upon men and beasts, and to what a low ebb the king of Israel was come, that all his troops of horses, to which he had trusted, were shrunk to so small a number.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

That are left in it [the city]. Within the city, that did not die of hunger.

Behold, they are like all the multitude of Yisroel that are left in [the city]. If they will say that they are in danger of being killed by the Aromeans, behold, [if they remain] in this city they are in danger like the rest of all the multitude of Yisroel that are left there, and if they die, they are like all the multitude of Yisroel that have perished from hunger.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.