Bible Strands
2 Kings 13:7
Jehoahaz had no army left, except fifty horsemen, ten chariots, and ten thousand foot soldiers, because the king of Aram had destroyed them and made them like the dust at threshing.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrator records the depleted military state of King Jehoahaz of Israel following Hazael’s campaigns. The text specifies the exact number of surviving troops after the king of Aram’s destruction.
The words — The Hebrew לֹא (lo') "not" and הִשְׁאִיר (hish'ir) "he left" establish the negation of strength, while אִם (im) "except" introduces the surviving remnant of horsemen, chariots, and foot soldiers.
The thread — The reduction of Israel's forces continues the pattern begun in 2 Kings 10:32 where Hazael defeats the Israelites. The judgment language parallels the structural formula in Amos 1:3 for divine assessment of national transgressions.
Why it lands — The verse states the historical reality of Israel's diminished capacity to resist foreign conquest. It requires the reader to recognize the concrete outcome of sustained political and spiritual failure without adding theological commentary.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
Neither did he leave of the people to Jehoahaz but fifty horsemen, and ten chariots, and ten thousand footmen; for the king of Syria had destroyed them, and had made them like the dust by threshing.
Cross-references
- Amos 1:3 This is what the LORD says: “For three transgressions of Damascus, even four, I will not revoke My judgment, because they threshed Gilead with sledges of iron.
- 2 Kings 10:32 In those days the LORD began to reduce the size of Israel. Hazael defeated the Israelites throughout their territory
- 1 Samuel 13:6 Seeing that they were in danger because their troops were hard-pressed, the men of Israel hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in cellars and cisterns.
- 1 Samuel 13:15 Then Samuel set out from Gilgal and went up to Gibeah in Benjamin. And Saul numbered the troops who were with him, about six hundred men.
- 1 Samuel 13:19 And no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel, because the Philistines had said, “The Hebrews must not be allowed to make swords or spears.”
- 1 Kings 20:15 So Ahab assembled the young officers of the district governors, and there were 232 men. And after them, he assembled the rest of the Israelite troops, 7,000 in all.
- 1 Kings 20:27 The Israelites also mobilized, gathered supplies, and marched out to meet them. The Israelites camped before them like two small flocks of goats, while the Arameans covered the countryside.
- 2 Kings 8:12 “Why is my lord weeping?” asked Hazael. “Because I know the evil you will do to the Israelites,” Elisha replied. “You will set fire to their fortresses, kill their young men with the sword, dash their little ones to pieces, and rip open their pregnant women.”
- Psalms 18:42 I ground them as dust in the face of the wind; I trampled them like mud in the streets.
- Isaiah 36:8 Now, therefore, make a bargain with my master, the king of Assyria. I will give you two thousand horses—if you can put riders on them!