2 Kings 7:10 - Exposition

So they came and called unto the porter of the city ; i.e. to the guard of the gate nearest them. The word שֹׂעַד , "porter," or "gate-man," is used collectively . And they told them, saying, We came to the camp of the Syrians, and, behold, there was no man there, neither voice of man, but horses tied, and asses tied, and the tents as they were. The horses and asses within a camp were always "tied," or tethered, as we see from the monumental representations of Egyptian camps, and also learn from historians (Herod; 4:135). It is somewhat surprising that the horses were left behind, as they would have expedited the flight had they been saddled and mounted. But this was, perhaps, overlooked in the panic.