2 Kings 7:13

13 And one of his servants answered: Let us take the five horses that are remaining in the city (because there are no more in the whole multitude of Israel, for the rest are consumed), and let us send and see.

2 Kings 7:13 Meaning and Commentary

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,
&c.] 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.

2 Kings 7:13 In-Context

11 Then the guards of the gate went, and told it within in the king’s palace.

12 And he arose in the night, and said to his servants: I tell you what the Syrians have done to us: They know that we suffer great famine, and therefore they are gone out of the camp, and lie hid in the fields, saying: When they come out of the city, we shall take them alive, and then we may get into the city.

13 And one of his servants answered: Let us take the five horses that are remaining in the city (because there are no more in the whole multitude of Israel, for the rest are consumed), and let us send and see.

14 They brought therefore two horses, and the king sent into the camp of the Syrians, saying: Go, and see.

15 And they went after them, as far as the Jordan: and behold, all the way was full of garments, and vessels, which the Syrians had cast away, in their fright, and the messengers returned, and told the king.