Isaiah 36:9

9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

Isaiah 36:9 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 36:9

How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the
least of my master's servants
Be able to resist him; or be a match for him; or cause him to flee; the least captain or general in the army having, as Kimchi says, two thousand men under him; and therefore, if Hezekiah could not produce two thousand men, to sit upon so many horses offered, he could not be a match for, or hope to conquer, or cause to flee, the least officer in the army, who had the fewest men under him, and much less conquer, or cause to flee, the whole Assyrian army. Some think Rabshakeh means himself, but that does not seem likely, that Sennacherib should send an inferior officer, or a person of a low character, and in a low station, or that such an one should be the principal speaker; nor does it suit with the imperious and haughty disposition of Rabshakeh to speak in such a manner of himself: and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots, and for horsemen?
for to what purpose was it to seek and send to Egypt for chariots and horses, since he had not a sufficient number of men to put upon them, but must be obliged to have men, as well as horses and chariots; and which, as before observed, it was a vain thing to trust to, and was quite needless, when he might have enough from his master, the Assyrian king, would he agree with him.

Isaiah 36:9 In-Context

7 But if thou say to me, "We trust in the LORD our God," is it not He whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and said to Judah and to Jerusalem, "Ye shall worship before this altar"?
8 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.
9 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
10 And have I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? The LORD said unto me: "Go up against this land, and destroy it."'"
11 Then said Eliakim and Shebna and Joah unto Rabshakeh, "Speak, I pray thee, unto thy servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it; and speak not to us in the Jews' language in the ears of the people who are on the wall."
Third Millennium Bible (TMB), New Authorized Version, Copyright 1998 by Deuel Enterprises, Inc., Gary, SD 57237. All rights reserved.