And out of the city he took an officer that was set over the men of war, and five men of them that were in the king's presence, which were found in the city, and the principal scribe of the host, which mustered the people of the land, and threescore men of the people of the land that were found in the city:
Five men of them that were in the king's presence - i:e., who belonged to the royal retinue: it is probable that there were five at first, and that other two were found afterward (Jeremiah 52:25).
And the principal scribe of the host. There were two army registrars, whose figures are seen in almost every bas-relief, writing down the various objects brought to them by the victorious warriors-the heads of the slain, the prisoners, cattle, sheep. furniture, and vessels of metal ('Nineveh and Babylon,' p. 633).