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.
So now, make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I'll give you two thousand horses if you can even find enough riders to put on them.
The Assyrian commander is mocking Judah's military weakness by sarcastically offering horses they don't have soldiers to ride.
📚 Historical Context
This verse is set during the Assyrian invasion of Judah in 701 BC, under King Sennacherib, when Assyrian forces were besieging Jerusalem and pressuring King Hezekiah to surrender. The speaker, an Assyrian official known as the Rabshakeh, is taunting the Judeans by offering 2,000 horses as a challenge, implying they lack the riders and military strength to use them effectively. This event reflects the broader historical conflict between the powerful Assyrian Empire and the smaller kingdom of Judah, as documented in both biblical accounts and Assyrian records.
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