He said, This will be the manner of the king who shall reign over you: he will take your sons, and appoint them to him, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and they shall run before his chariots;
and some shall run before his chariots; be his running footmen, being swift of foot, and trained up for that service; some are naturally swift, as Asahel was 2 Samuel 2:18. Pliny b speaks of some swifter than horses; and of the swiftness of some he elsewhere gives c many surprising instances. It seems as if it was usual to have fifty such men to run before them, see 2 Samuel 15:1.