Isaiah 36:8
ESV
Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them.
NIV
" ‘Come now, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!
NASB
Now then, come make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to put riders on them!
CSB
"Now make a deal with my master, the king of Assyria. I’ll give you two thousand horses if you’re able to supply riders for them!
NLT
'I’ll tell you what! Strike a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you 2,000 horses if you can find that many men to ride on them!
KJV
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.
NKJV
Now therefore, I urge you, give a pledge to my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses—if you are able on your part to put riders on them!
What does Isaiah 36:8 mean?
The Rabshakeh—some kind of advisor or commander (Isaiah 36:1, 4)—continues to taunt and mock King Hezekiah for resisting to Assyria's King Sennacherib. One likely reason Judah made an alliance with Egypt was because Egypt had many horses, chariots, and riders. The Assyrians obviously had many more and knew how to use them to destroy their enemies.Judah was a tiny nation with limited resources, and their ally Egypt had already been defeated. After mocking Hezekiah for trusting Egypt or trusting the Lord to save Judah from the Assyrians, the Rabshakeh now mocks the idea that Judah's army could ever hope to put up a real fight.
The field commander mockingly offers a wager. He will give Judah 2,000 battle horses if they can scrape together enough men who can ride them. Both the Rabshakeh and Hezekiah know Judah doesn't have anywhere near that many trained riders. Without Egypt, they are completely outnumbered, out-equipped, and out-matched by the Assyrians.
