2 Kings 7 · Verse 13

2 Kings 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.

2 Kings 7:13, King James Version

2 Kings 7:13 in other translations

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.”
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.
YLT	And one of his servants answereth and saith, ‘Then let them take, I pray thee, five of the horses that are left, that have been left in it--lo, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have been left in it; lo, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have been consumed--and we 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.
BBE	And one of his servants said in answer, Send men and let them take five of the horses which we still have in the town; if they keep their lives they will be the same as those of Israel who are still living here; if they come to their death they will be the same as all those of Israel who have gone to destruction: let us send and see.
Webster	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.

What does 2 Kings 7:13 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on 2 Kings 7:12-15

12-15. the king ... said unto his servants, I will now show you what the Syrians have done--Similar stratagems have been so often resorted to in the ancient and modern wars of the East that there is no wonder Jehoram's suspicions were awakened. But the scouts, whom he despatched, soon found unmistakable signs of the panic that had struck the enemy and led to a most precipitate flight. 2Ki 7:17-20. The Unbelieving…

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Adam Clarke's Commentary

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, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on 2 Kings 7:12-20

Here see the wants of Israel supplied in a way they little thought of, which should encourage us to depend upon the power and goodness of God in our greatest straits. God's promise may be safely relied on, for no word of his shall fall to the ground. The nobleman that questioned the truth of Elisha's word, saw the plenty, to silence and shame his unbelief, and therein saw his own folly; but he did not eat of the…

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2 Kings 7:13 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וַיַּעַן֩vai.ya.'Anand he answeredH6030

אֶחָ֨ד'e.ChadoneH259

מֵעֲבָדָ֜יוme.'a.va.Davfrom servants hisH5650

וַיֹּ֗אמֶרvai.Yo.merand he saidH559

וְיִקְחוּ\־ve.yik.chu-and they may takeH3947

נָ֞אna'pleaseH4994

חֲמִשָּׁ֣הcha.mi.ShahfiveH2568

מִן\־min-ofH4480

הַסּוּסִים֮ha.su.Simthe horsesH5483

הַֽנִּשְׁאָרִים֮ha.nish.'a.Rim<the> remainingH7604

אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhichH834

נִשְׁאֲרוּ\־nish.'a.ru-they are leftH7604

בָהּ֒vahin it

הִנָּ֗םhi.Namhere theyH2009

כְּכָל\־ke.khol-[will be] like allH3605

הֲמ֤וֹןhe.ha.mon[the] multitude ofH1995

יִשְׂרָאֵל֙Yis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478

אֲשֶׁ֣ר'a.SherwhichH834

נִשְׁאֲרוּ\־nish.'a.ru-they are leftH7604

בָ֔הּVahin it

הִנָּ֕םhi.Namhere theyH2005

כְּכָל\־ke.khol-[will be] like allH3605

הֲמ֥וֹןha.Mon[the] multitude ofH1995

יִשְׂרָאֵ֖לYis.ra.'ElIsraelH3478

אֲשֶׁר\־'a.Sher-whichH834

תָּ֑מּוּTa.muthey have come to an endH8552

וְנִשְׁלְחָ֖הve.nish.le.Chahand let us sendH7971

וְנִרְאֶֽה\׃ve.nir.'Ehand we may seeH7200

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for 2 Kings 7:13

2 Kings 5:13
And his servants came near, and spake unto him, and said, My father, if the prophet had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest thou not have done it? how much rather then, when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?
Lamentations 4:9
They that be slain with the sword are better than they that be slain with hunger: for these pine away, stricken through for want of the fruits of the field.
2 Kings 7:4
If we say, We will enter into the city, then the famine is in the city, and we shall die there: and if we sit still here, we die also. Now therefore come, and let us fall unto the host of the Syrians: if they save us alive, we shall live; and if they kill us, we shall but die.
Jeremiah 14:18
If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land that they know not.
2 Kings 6:33
And while he yet talked with them, behold, the messenger came down unto him: and he said, Behold, this evil is of the Lord; what should I wait for the Lord any longer?

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

one.
5:13
in the city. Heb. in it. they are even.
4; 6:33; Jer 14:18; La 4:9

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

2 Kings 7:12
And the king arose in the night, and said unto his servants, I will now shew you what the Syrians have done to us. They know that we be hungry; therefore are they gone out of the camp to hide themselves in the field, saying, When they come out of the city, we shall catch them alive, and get into the city.
2 Kings 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.
2 Kings 7:14
They took therefore two chariot horses; and the king sent after the host of the Syrians, saying, Go and see.

Read all of 2 Kings 7

2 Kings 7:13 in other languages

Spanish Reina-Valera 1909	Entonces respondió uno de sus siervos, y dijo: Tomen ahora cinco de los caballos que han quedado en la ciudad, (porque ellos también son como toda la multitud de Israel que ha quedado en ella; también ellos son como toda la multitud de Israel que ha perecido;) y enviemos, y veamos qué hay.
French Bible J.N. Darby 1885	Et un de ses serviteurs répondit et dit: Qu’on prenne donc cinq des chevaux restants, qui demeurent de reste dans la ville; voici, ils sont comme toute la multitude d’Israël qui est de reste en elle; voici, ils sont comme toute la multitude d’Israël qui a péri. Envoyons-les, et nous verrons.
German Elberfelder 1871	Da antwortete einer von seinen Knechten und sprach: So nehme man doch fünf von den übrigen Rossen, die darin übriggeblieben sind, und laßt uns hinsenden und sehen.
Latin Clementine Vulgate	Respondit autem unus servorum ejus: Tollamus quinque equos qui remanserunt in urbe (quia ipsi tantum sunt in universa multitudine Israël, alii enim consumpti sunt), et mittentes, explorare poterimus.