2 Kings 18:24

24. Turn away the face Or, cause to face about, that is, put to flight.

One captain of the least That is, how canst thou repulse even one of the less valiant officers who commands one of the smallest divisions of the army? The word פחת , here rendered captain, means properly a governor or satrap. It is “first used of Assyrian subordinate stadtholders and generals; (Isaiah 36:9;) afterwards transferred to the governors and prefects of the Babylonian, (Jeremiah 51:57; Ezekiel 23:6; Ezekiel 23:23,) Median, (Jeremiah 51:28,) and Persian empires, (Esther 8:9; Esther 9:3;) applied especially to the Persian governors on this side of the Euphrates and in Judea, (Nehemiah 2:7; Nehemiah 2:9; Nehemiah 3:7; Ezra 8:36; Haggai 1:1; Haggai 1:14,) Nehemiah and Zerubbabel being such. The word was transplanted into Hebrew by early Assyrian influence.” Furst.