2 Kings 7:13

Easy-to-Read Version

One of the king's officers said, "Let some men take five of the horses that are still left in the city. The horses will soon die anyway, just as all the Israelites who are still left in the city. Let's send these men to see what happened."

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
But one of his servants responded, “Please, let messengers take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their fate is like the entire Israelite community who will die, so let’s send them and see.”

Hebrew Names Version
One of his servants answered, Please let some take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Yisra'el who are left in it; behold, they are as all the multitude of Yisra'el who are consumed); and let us send and see.

King James Version
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, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see.

English Standard Version
And one of his servants said, "Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel who have already perished. Let us send and see."

New Century Version
One of his officers answered, "Let some men take five of the horses that are still left in the city. These men are like all the Israelites who are left; they are also about to die. Let's send them to see what has happened."

New English Translation
One of his advisers replied, "Pick some men and have them take five of the horses that are left in the city. (Even if they are killed, their fate will be no different than that of all the Israelite people—we're all going to die!) Let's send them out so we can know for sure what's going on."

Amplified Bible
One of his servants replied, "Please let some men take five of the horses which remain inside the city. Consider this: [if they are caught then at worst] they will be like all the people of Israel who are left in the city; [even if they are killed then] they will be like all the people of Israel who have already died. So let us send [them] and see [what happens]."

New American Standard Bible
One of his servants responded and said, "Please, have some men take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send them and see."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And one of his seruants answered, and said, Let me take now fiue of the horses that remaine, and are left in the citie, (behold, they are euen as all the multitude of Israel that are left therein: beholde, I say, they are as the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed) & we wil send to see.

Legacy Standard Bible
And one of his servants answered and said, "Please, let some men take five of the remaining horses, which remain in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who remain in it; behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who have already come to an end, so let us send and see."

Contemporary English Version
One of his officers replied, "We have a few horses left—why don't we let some men take five of them and go to the Syrian camp and see what's happening? We're going to die anyway like those who have already died."

Complete Jewish Bible
One of his servants answered, "I suggest letting some men take five of the remaining horses that are left in the city — they're like everything else in Isra'el that remains, like everything else in Isra'el, practically finished — and we'll send and see."

Darby Translation
And one of his servants answered and said, Let some one take, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, they are even as all the multitude of the Israelites that have perished), and let us send and see.

George Lamsa Translation
And one of his servants answered and said, Let some horsemen take five of the horses that remain; if they are captured, let them be considered a loss like all the army of Israel that has perished; therefore let us send and see.

Good News Translation
One of his officials said, "The people here in the city are doomed anyway, like those that have already died. So let's send some men with five of the horses that are left, so that we can find out what has happened."

Lexham English Bible
Then one of his servants replied and said, "Please let them take five of the remaining horses which remain in the city; behold, they are like all of the multitude of Israel that remain in it; they are like all the multitude of Israel who have perished. Let us send and see."

Literal Translation
And one of his servants answered and said, Let men take now five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel whohave been left in it. Behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have perished. And we will send and see.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then answered one of his seruauntes, and sayde: Let vs take the fyue horses that remayne, which yet are lefte in the cite (beholde, these are left therin for all ye multitude in Israel, which is destroyed) let vs sende these and se.

American Standard Version
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 (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed); and let us send and see.

Bible in Basic English
And one of his servants said in answer, Send men and let them take five of the horses which we still have in the town; if they keep their lives they will be the same as those of Israel who are still living here; if they come to their death they will be the same as all those of Israel who have gone to destruction: let us send and see.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And one of his seruauntes aunswered, and sayde: Let men take I pray you fyue of the horses that remayne and are left in the multitude: (Beholde they are euen as all the multitude of Israel that are left in the citie: Beholde [I say] they are euen as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed) and we will send, and see.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
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--behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed--and let us send and see.'

King James Version (1611)
And one of his seruants answered, and said, Let some take, I pray thee, fiue of the horses that remaine, which are left in the citie: (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, I say, they are euen as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed) and let vs send, and see.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And one of his servants answered and said, Let them now take five of the horses that were left, which were left here; behold, they are the number left to all the multitude of Israel; and we will send thither and see.

English Revised Version
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, (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed:) and let us send and see.

Berean Standard Bible
But one of his servants replied, "Please, have scouts take five of the horses that remain in the city. Their plight will be no worse than all the Israelites who are left here. You can see that all the Israelites here are doomed. So let us send them and find out."

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Forsothe oon of his seruauntis answeride, Take we fyue horsis, that leften in the citee; for tho ben oonli in al the multitude of Israel, for othere horsis ben wastid; and we sendynge moun aspie.

Young's Literal Translation
And one of his servants answereth and saith, `Then let them take, I pray thee, five of the horses that are left, that have been left in it -- lo, they [are] as all the multitude of Israel who have been left in it; lo, they are as all the multitude of Israel who have been consumed -- and we send and see.'

Update Bible Version
And one of his slaves answered and said, Let some take, I pray you, five of the horses that remain, which are left in it, look, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are consumed; and let us send and see.

Webster's Bible Translation
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, (behold, they [are] as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it: behold, [I say], they [are] even as all the multitude of the Israelites that are consumed:) and let us send and see.

World English Bible
One of his servants answered, Please let some take five of the horses that remain, which are left in the city (behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel who are consumed); and let us send and see.

New King James Version
And one of his servants answered and said, "Please, let several men take five of the remaining horses which are left in the city. Look, they may either become like all the multitude of Israel that are left in it; or indeed, I say, they may become like all the multitude of Israel left from those who are consumed; so let us send them and see."

New Living Translation
One of his officers replied, "We had better send out scouts to check into this. Let them take five of the remaining horses. If something happens to them, it will be no worse than if they stay here and die with the rest of us."

New Life Bible
One of his servants said, "Let some men take five of the horses that are left. Those who are left in the city are not doing better than all those who have died. So let us send men out to see."

New Revised Standard
One of his servants said, "Let some men take five of the remaining horses, since those left here will suffer the fate of the whole multitude of Israel that have perished already; let us send and find out."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then responded one of his servants, and said - Let there be taken, I pray thee, five of the horses that remain, which have been left therein, there they are, according to all the multitude of Israel who have been left therein, there they are, according to all the multitude of Israel, who have been consumed, - and let us send and see!

Douay-Rheims Bible
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.

Revised Standard Version
And one of his servants said, "Let some men take five of the remaining horses, seeing that those who are left here will fare like the whole multitude of Israel that have already perished; let us send and see."

THE MESSAGE
One of his advisors answered, "Let some men go and take five of the horses left behind. The worst that can happen is no worse than what could happen to the whole city. Let's send them and find out what's happened."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
One of his servants said, "Please, let some men take five of the horses which remain, which are left in the city. Behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who are left in it; behold, they will be in any case like all the multitude of Israel who have already perished, so let us send and see."

Contextual Overview

¹² It was night, but the king got up from bed and said to his officers, "I will tell you what the Aramean soldiers are doing to us. They know we are hungry. They left the camp to hide in the field. They are thinking, ‘When the Israelites come out of the city, we will capture them alive. And then we will enter the city.'" ¹³ One of the king's officers said, "Let some men take five of the horses that are still left in the city. The horses will soon die anyway, just as all the Israelites who are still left in the city. Let's send these men to see what happened." ¹⁴ So the men took two chariots with horses. The king sent these men after the Aramean army. He told them, "Go and see what happened." ¹⁵ The men went after the Aramean army as far as the Jordan River. All along the road there were clothes and weapons. The Arameans had thrown these things down when they hurried away. The messengers went back to Samaria and told the king. ¹⁶ Then the people ran out to the Aramean camp and took valuable things from there. So it happened just as the Lord had said. A person could buy a basket of fine flour or two baskets of barley for only one shekel. ¹⁷ There was one officer who always stayed close by the king to help him. The king sent this officer to guard the gate, but the people knocked him down and trampled him, and he died. So everything happened just as the man of God had said when the king came to Elisha's house. ¹⁸ Elisha had said, "A person will be able to buy a basket of fine flour or two baskets of barley for only one shekel in the marketplace by the city gates of Samaria." ¹⁹ But that officer had answered the man of God, "Even if the Lord made windows in heaven, this could not happen!" And Elisha had told the officer, "You will see it with your own eyes, but you will not eat any of that food." ²⁰ It happened to the officer just that way. The people knocked him down at the gate and trampled him, and he died.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

one: 2 Kings 5:13

in the city: Heb. in it

they are even: 2 Kings 7:4, 2 Kings 6:33, Jeremiah 14:18, Lamentations 4:9

Reciprocal: Genesis 43:8 - that we

Cross-References

Genesis 5:32
After Noah was 500 years old, he had sons named Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 6:10
Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

Genesis 6:18
I will make a special agreement with you. You, your wife, your sons, and their wives will all go into the boat.

Genesis 7:1
Then the Lord said to Noah, "I have seen that you are a good man, even among the evil people of this time. So gather your family, and all of you go into the boat.

Genesis 7:2
Get seven pairs (seven males and seven females) of every kind of clean animal. And get one pair (one male and one female) of every other animal on the earth. Lead all these animals into the boat with you.

Genesis 7:4
Seven days from now, I will send much rain on the earth. It will rain for 40 days and 40 nights, and I will wipe everything off the face of the earth. I will destroy everything I made."

Genesis 7:7
He and his family went into the boat to be saved from the flood. His wife and his sons and their wives were on the boat with him.

Genesis 7:9
went into the boat with Noah. These animals went into the boat in groups of two, male and female, just as God commanded.

Genesis 7:18
The water continued to rise, and the boat floated on the water high above the earth.

Genesis 7:19
The water rose so much that even the highest mountains were covered by the water.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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,.... 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Behold ... - The Septuagint and a large number of the Hebrew MSS. omit the clause, “behold, they are as all the multitude of Israel that are left in it.” But the text followed by our translators, which is that of the best maunscripts, is intelligible and needs no alteration. It is merely a prolix way of stating that the horsemen will incur no greater danger by going to reconnoitre than the rest of their countrymen by remaining in the city, since the whole multitude is perishing.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Kings 7:13. And one of his servants answered — This is a very difficult verse, and the great variety of explanations given of it cast but little light on the subject. I am inclined to believe, with Dr. Kennicott, that there is an interpolation here which puzzles, if not destroys, the sense. "Several instances," says he, "have been given of words improperly repeated by Jewish transcribers, who have been careless enough to make such mistakes, and yet cautious not to alter or erase, for fear of discovery. This verse furnishes another instance in a careless repetition of seven Hebrew words, thus: -

הנשארים אשר נשארו בה הנם ככל ההמון ישראל אשר נשארו בה הנם ככל המון ישראל אשר תמי

The exact English of this verse is this: And the servant said, Let them take now five of the remaining horses, which remain in it; behold they are as all the multitude of Israel, which [remain in it; behold they are as all the multitude of Israel which] are consumed; and let us send and see.

"Whoever considers that the second set of these seven words is neither in the Septuagint nor Syriac versions, and that those translators who suppose these words to be genuine alter them to make them look like sense, will probably allow them to have been at first an improper repetition; consequently to be now an interpolation strangely continued in the Hebrew text." They are wanting in more than forty of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS. In some others they are left without points; in others they have been written in, and afterwards blotted out; and in others four, in others five, of the seven words are omitted. De Rossi concludes thus: Nec verba haec legunt LXX., Vulg., Syrus simplex, Syrus Heptaplaris Parisiensis, Targum. They stand on little authority, and the text should be read, omitting the words enclosed by brackets, as above.

They are consumed — The words אשר תמו asher tamu should be translated, which are perfect; i.e., fit for service. The rest of the horses were either dead of the famine, killed for the subsistence of the besieged, or so weak as not to be able to perform such a journey.