How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master's servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?

2 KINGS 18:24KJV
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2 Kings 18:24 (KJV)

What does 2 Kings 18:24 mean?

In 2 Kings 18:24, an Assyrian official tells the people of Jerusalem that they cannot hope to defeat even a minor Assyrian commander. He mocks their reliance on Egypt for the chariots and horsemen they would need to resist Assyria.

The official speaks on behalf of the Assyrian king to representatives of King Hezekiah of Judah. His question is meant to intimidate, not to invite an answer. By calling the commander one of his master’s “least” servants, he presents Assyria’s power as far greater than Judah’s.

The Hebrew behind 2 Kings 18:24

  • “turn away” — שׁוּב (shuv): The word can mean to turn back. Here, “turn away the face” pictures forcing an approaching commander to withdraw.
  • “trust” — בָּטַח (batach): The word carries the sense of relying or counting on someone. The official uses it to challenge Judah’s expectation of military help from Egypt.

Why 2 Kings 18:24 matters

  • The speaker is making a claim, not giving a neutral report of Judah’s strength. His words are part of a warning delivered by an Assyrian official during a confrontation outside Jerusalem.
  • The verse focuses on military strength. “Chariots and horsemen” point to the kind of forces the official says Judah is counting on Egypt to supply.
  • The challenge follows a pointed offer in verse 23: the Assyrian official says his king would give Judah two thousand horses if Judah could provide riders. Verse 24 continues the taunt by questioning Judah’s ability to face even one Assyrian commander.

Where else these words appear

“captain” Hebrew H6346 · used in 27 verses

  • 1 Kings 10:15 Beside that he had of the merchantmen, and of the traffick of the spice merchants, and of all the kings of Arabia, and of the governors of the country.
  • Nehemiah 5:15 But the former governors that had been before me were chargeable unto the people, and had taken of them bread and wine, beside forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.
  • Jeremiah 51:57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men: and they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, saith the King, whose name is the LORD of hosts.

“horsemen” Hebrew H6571 · used in 54 verses

  • Genesis 50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
  • 1 Kings 9:22 But of the children of Israel did Solomon make no bondmen: but they were men of war, and his servants, and his princes, and his captains, and rulers of his chariots, and his horsemen.
  • Isaiah 22:6 And Elam bare the quiver with chariots of men and horsemen, and Kir uncovered the shield.

“least” Hebrew H6996 · used in 100 verses

  • Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
  • 1 Samuel 15:17 And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed thee king over Israel?
  • 2 Chronicles 34:30 And the king went up into the house of the LORD, and all the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the priests, and the Levites, and all the people, great and small: and he read in their ears all the words of the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the LORD.

“chariots” Hebrew H7393 · used in 104 verses

  • Genesis 50:9 And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen: and it was a very great company.
  • 1 Kings 10:26 And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.
  • 2 Chronicles 12:3 With twelve hundred chariots, and threescore thousand horsemen: and the people were without number that came with him out of Egypt; the Lubims, the Sukkiims, and the Ethiopians.