Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 36:8
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.
8. give pledges to ] Better (as R.V. marg.): make a wager with. The taunt must have been peculiarly galling to the war-party in Judah, who were painfully conscious of their weakness in cavalry; ch. Isa 30:16, Isa 31:1; Isa 31:3, and Isa 36:9 of this chapter.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Now, therefore, give pledges – Margin, Hostages. The Hebrew verb ( arab) means properly to mix or mingle; then, to exchange commodities by barter or traffic; then, to become surety for anyone, to exchange with him, to stand in his place; then, to pledge, to pledge ones life, or to give security of any kind. Here it is used in a spirit of taunting or derision, and is equivalent to what would be said among us, I will bet you, or I will lay a wager, that if we should give you only two thousand horses, you could not find men enough to ride them, or men that had knowledge of horsemanship enough to guide them. There was much severity in this taunt. The Jews hoped to defend themselves. Yet here was an immense army coming up to lay siege against them. What hope had they of defense? So weak and feeble were they, that Rabshakeh said they could not furnish even two thousand horsemen to resist all the host of the Assyrians. There was also, doubtless, much truth in this taunt. It was not permitted by the law of Moses for the Jews to keep cavalry, nor for their kings to multiply horses. The reason of this may be seen in the notes at Isa 2:7. Though some of the kings, and especially Solomon, had disregarded this law of Moses, yet Hezekiah had endeavored to restore the observance of the law, and it is probable that he find no cavalry, and that the art of horsemanship was little known in Jerusalem. As the Assyrians prided themselves on their cavalry, they consequently looked with contempt on a people who were destitute of this means of defense.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
8. give pledgesa tauntingchallenge. Only give the guarantee that you can supply as manyas two thousand riders, and I will give thee two thousand horses. Butseeing that you have not even this small number (see on Isa2:7), how can you stand against the hosts of Assyrian cavalry?The Jews tried to supply their weakness in this “arm” fromEgypt (Isa 31:1).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Now therefore give pledges to my master the king of Assyria,…. Or; “hostages” h; that thou wilt not rebel against him, but be faithful to him, and he will withdraw his army; or give security for the horses after promised: “or mingle thyself with him”; agree the matter with him, give pledges for future fidelity; or join in battle with him, come out and fight him, if able:
and I will give thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders on them; thus scoffing at him, as if he had not so many soldiers to bring out against him; or so many men in his kingdom as had skill enough to ride a horse; in his bravado he signifies, that if he would come out and fight him, he would lend him so many horses, if he could put men upon them, to assist him; this he said as boasting of his master’s strength and power, and in scorn and derision at Hezekiah’s weakness.
h “da obsides”, Vatablus; “paciscere cum domino meo, Gataker; “misceto, quaeso, [bellum] cum domino meo”, Junius & Tremellius.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
8. Now come, give a hostage. (33) He concludes that there will be nothing better for Hezekiah than to lay aside the intention of carrying on war, to surrender himself, and to promise constant obedience to the king of Assyria. To persuade him the more, Rabshakeh again reproaches him with his poverty. “If I shall give thee two thousand horses, thou wilt not find among all thy people men to ride on them. What then is thy strength; or with what confidence dost thou dare to oppose my king?” He does not offer him horses for the sake of respect or of kindness, but in order to terrify and shake still more the heart of Hezekiah. The future tense ought therefore to be explained by the subjunctive mood, “ Although I give thee two thousand horses, yet thou wilt not find an equal number of riders.” I am aware of what is alleged by other commentators; but whoever examines the matter fully will quickly perceive that this is ironical language. (34)
(33) “Now therefore give pledges or hostages.” — Eng. Ver.
(34) “He seems to challenge him to come out and fight with his master, and if he would give security to make that use of them, he would furnish him with two thousand horses, provided he was able to find so many men to set upon them, which are words of the highest contempt and undervaluing of his power; or the meaning may he, he would lay a wager with him he could not find men to sit on so many horses, for few were good horsemen in Judea, where horses were scarce.” — White. “He taunts Hezekiah on account of the want of cavalry. These words do not refer to the small number of men, but to the very small number of Jews who were skilled in horsemanship; for after Jotham the kings of Judea did not maintain any cavalry, and hence we have already seen (Isa 30:0.) that a part of the Jews sought cavalry from the Egyptians.” — Rosenmuller.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(8) Now, therefore, give pledges.Better, make a wager. This would seem to be a taunt interpolated by the Rabshakeh in the midst of his official message. There was something absurd in the idea of Judah coming out as strong in its cavalry. Had they two thousand men who could manage their horses if they had them?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
8. “Now try your hand,” continues Rabshakeh.
Give pledges Hostages, securities, to the great king, for two thousand horses, if indeed you can mount such a wonderful number. A contemptuous comparison, yet of keen edge, because cavalry was not an arm the Jews could boast of. The sense of the phrase “give pledges,” is, to make an engagement with, strong and well secured.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
“Now therefore, I pray you, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able for your part to set two thousand riders on them.”
Now he sought to emphasise Hezekiah’s weakness by further derision. Let them simply compare the size of their cavalry. The verb ‘arab means ‘to pledge’ and the hithpael ‘to pledge oneself’, for example in a wager. The challenge was as to whether Hezekiah could produce two thousand capable horsemen. Then, if he succeeded in doing so, the king of Assyria would give them two thousand horses for them to mount. The purpose of the offered wager was in order to demonstrate both Judah’s poverty with regard to capable manpower in that regard, and also in order to emphasise that they had few horses of their own. That they had no cavalry to speak of. In contrast Assyria for their part could easily spare two thousand horses, and not notice it. The emphasis is on how weak Hezekiah’s cavalry were, comparatively a mere handful, in contrast with the huge Assyrian cavalry which all could see there, eagerly awaiting their opportunity. It was intended to weaken the resolve of the listening people on the wall.
The Rabshakeh’s bad Hebrew, faithfully recorded here, is in fact smoothed out in 2 Kings, confirming that Isaiah is not a copy of that record.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
master. Hebrew. Adonai. App-4.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
pledges: or, hostages, 2Ki 14:14
and I: Isa 10:13, Isa 10:14, 1Sa 17:40-43, 1Ki 20:10, 1Ki 20:18, 2Ki 18:23, Neh 4:2-5, Psa 20:7, Psa 20:8, Psa 123:3, Psa 123:4
Reciprocal: Gen 49:18 – General Deu 17:16 – multiply horses Jdg 9:29 – Increase thine army 1Sa 17:36 – seeing 2Ki 13:7 – fifty horsemen Psa 80:6 – our enemies Isa 10:8 – General Jer 9:23 – neither Hos 14:3 – we will not
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Judah was so inferior militarily that the commander felt safe offering his enemy 2,000 horses. He believed that the Judeans did not have enough cavalry soldiers to ride them. His offer was the equivalent of giving one’s rival a long lead in a foot race.