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. (2 Kings 13:7)
A figure of speech, denoting the extreme cruelty of Syria. For this cruelty, of threshing “Gilead with threshing instruments of iron” (Amos 1:3), the prophet Amos a short time later pronounced the Lord’s judgment upon Damascus (Amos 1:4, 5).
Fifty horsemen.
According to the Assyrian account Ahab had 2,000 chariots and 10,000 infantry at the time of the battle of Qarqar. As a result of a series of disastrous engagements with Syria, Israel lost practically all its chariots and cavalry. This was equivalent to practically complete disarmament, and rendered Israel almost entirely defenseless.