Albert Barnes Commentary Isaiah 36:9

"How then canst 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?" — Isaiah 36:9 (ASV)

How then will you turn away the face - The most unimportant captain in the army of Assyria commands more horsemen than this, and how can you expect to oppose even him, much less be able to resist all the mighty army of the Assyrians?

One captain of the least - The word ‘captain’ here (פחת pachat — construct state from פחה pechâh) denotes a prefect or governor of a province less than a satrap, an officer who was under the satrap, and subject to him. It is applied to an officer in the Assyrian empire (2 Kings 18:24); in the Chaldean empire (Jeremiah 51:23); the Persian (Esther 8:9; Esther 9:3); and to the prefects of Judea in the time of Solomon (1 Kings 10:15). The word is of foreign origin.