2 Kings 7:13

13 And one of his servants answered, Take we (some of) [the] five horses, that [be] left in the city; for those be left only in all the multitude of Israel, for [the] other horses be wasted (for those be the only ones left in all the multitude of Israel, for all the others have died, or have been eaten); and we sending may espy.

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 And so the porters went (And so the guards went), and told these things in the palace of the king within.

12 And the king rose up by night, and said to his servants, I say to you, what the men of Syria have done to us; they know, that we travail with hunger, therefore they have gone out of the castles, and be hid in the fields, and say, When they shall go out of the city, we shall take them quick, and then we shall be able to enter into the city. (And the king rose up in the night, and said to his servants, I shall tell you, what the men of Syria have done to us; they know, that we be hungry, and so they have gone out of their tents, and be hid in the fields, and they say, When they shall go out of the city, we shall take them alive, and then we shall be able to enter into their city.)

13 And one of his servants answered, Take we (some of) [the] five horses, that [be] left in the city; for those be left only in all the multitude of Israel, for [the] other horses be wasted (for those be the only ones left in all the multitude of Israel, for all the others have died, or have been eaten); and we sending may espy.

14 Therefore they brought forth two horses; and the king sent (men upon them) into the tents of the men of Syria, and said, Go ye, and see. (And so they brought forth two horses; and the king sent out men upon them to follow after the Syrian army, saying, Go ye, and see what you can see.)

15 The which went after them unto (the) Jordan; lo! forsooth all the way was full of clothes, and of vessels, which the men of Syria (had) casted forth, when they were troubled. And the messengers turned again, and showed it to the king (And the messengers returned, and reported to the king about all these things).