1 Kings 10:26

And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(26) Gathered together chariots.—See above, 1Kings 4:26. This gathering of chariots—the sign of military conquest and extended empire—is evidently noticed here in connection with the growth of commerce and wealth, as one of the powers which held Solomon’s kingdom together. Josephus (Ant. viii. 7, 4), in mentioning them, gives a vivid description of the use of these chariots and horsemen for progresses of royal magnificence and pleasure. But their chief use was. no doubt, military. The “chariot cities” would be the fortified posts, in the various parts of Solomon’s own dominions and in the tributary countries.

Benson Commentary

1 Kings 10:26. Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen — Ah! what availed thy boasted wisdom, Solomon, when thou forsookest the only true wisdom, obedience to the commandment of the Lord! Ah! what availed it that thou wast wiser than all the children of the east; that thou couldst speak of trees, from the cedar-tree that was in Lebanon, even unto the hyssop — and of beasts, and of fowls, and of creeping things; when thou forgottest the beginning and the end of wisdom, the fear of the Lord? God had commanded that the kings of Israel should not multiply horses, (Deuteronomy 17:16,) and here we find the wisest of their kings multiplying them to a vast extent! Nor did he stop here, but having disobeyed in one point, he soon proceeded to transgress in another. Contrary to the divine prohibition, he also multiplied wives, and the consequence was, as the Lord predicted it would be in such a case, his wives turned away his heart after their gods. And, shameful to tell! the wise Solomon, who not long before had professed that there was no god in heaven above or in the earth beneath, but the God of Israel, is persuaded by his wives to erect altars to Ashtaroth, to Milcom, to Chemosh, and to Molech, and other abominable idols of the heathen, and that even in the hill before Jerusalem, the city of God, the holy city, joining the altars of devils to the altars of the TRUE and ONLY GOD! O sad change! and shameful stupidity! O shocking blindness! and this found in one of the wisest men! Alas! what is man! and what his best wisdom, when he forsakes the word of the Lord! Jeremiah 8:9. What a striking example have we here, that a wilful departing from the commandments of God even in the smallest point at the beginning, may, and probably will, by degrees, lead into the greatest errors, the foulest crimes, and consequently the greatest misery!

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

10:14-29 Solomon increased his wealth. Silver was nothing accounted of. Such is the nature of worldly wealth, plenty of it makes it the less valuable; much more should the enjoyment of spiritual riches lessen our esteem of all earthly possessions. If gold in abundance makes silver to be despised, shall not wisdom, and grace, and the foretastes of heaven, which are far better than gold, make gold to be lightly esteemed? See in Solomon's greatness the performance of God's promise, and let it encourage us to seek first the righteousness of God's kingdom. This was he, who, having tasted all earthly enjoyments, wrote a book, to show the vanity of all worldly things, the vexation of spirit that attends them, and the folly of setting our hearts upon them: and to recommend serious godliness, as that which will do unspeakably more to make us happy, that all the wealth and power he was master of; and, through the grace of God, it is within our reach.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

See 1 Kings 4:26 note. Until the time of Solomon, war-chariots had not been in use among the Jews, except to a very small extent 1 Chronicles 18:4. Hence, it was necessary for him to put himself on an equality in this respect with neighboring powers.

Cities for chariots - They were probably fortresses upon the borders of his territory, in which he maintained the standing army necessary for the support of his dominion.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

26-29.—(See on [309]2Ch 1:14 [and [310]2Ch 9:25].)

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen; like a wise prince, in deep peace providing for war.

A thousand and four hundred chariots: See Poole "1 Kings 4:26".

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen,.... Both for war; for though it was a time of peace, he provided against the worst, lest an enemy should come upon him suddenly, and when unprepared:

and he had one thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; of the latter See Gill on 1 Kings 4:26.

whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem; some of the horsemen were quartered in the cities where the chariots were placed, and some of them in Jerusalem, to be near the king's person, and to be a guard to him on occasion. Josephus (f) says, half of them were in Jerusalem about the king, and the rest were dispersed through the king's villages.

(f) Antiqu l. 8. c. 2. sect. 4.

Geneva Study Bible

And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

26. And Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen] By reason, as Josephus tells us, of the great number of horses which were brought to him in these yearly offerings. The word פרשׁ (parash) here rendered ‘horsemen’ means both the horse for riding and the rider. Just as we speak of so many hundred ‘horse’. סוס (sus) on the other hand was the draught horse.

Here we find the first institution of cavalry in Israel in defiance of the Deuteronomic law. If this book was compiled after Deuteronomy was written we should expect some reference to this violation. There is such a reference about another matter in 1 Kings 11:2.

a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen] The LXX. gives for the first clause ‘four thousand mares for his chariots,’ which agrees as far as the number is concerned with 2 Chronicles 9:25, ‘four thousand stalls for horses and chariots’: though in 2 Chronicles 1:14 we have precisely the same number both of chariots and horsemen specified as is given here.

at Jerusalem] After this the LXX. adds ‘and he was chief over all the kings from the River even unto the land of the Philistines and to the borders of Egypt.’

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 26. - And Solomon gathered together his chariots and horsemen, and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots [these words have an important bearing on 1 Kings 4:26, where see note], and twelve thousand horsemen. [The question may suggest itself here, why did Solomon, who was a "man of peace," maintain such a formidable array of chariots and horsemen? For not only was it in contravention of Deuteronomy 17:16 (cf. 1 Samuel 8:11), but it was entirely unnecessary, especially for a nation inhabiting a hilly country like that of Israel. We find, consequently, that David, when he took a thousand chariots from Hadarezer (1 Chronicles 18:4), only reserved for his own use one hundred of them, though he was at the time engaged in war. It may perhaps be said that this force was necessary to keep the tributary kings in due subjection. But it seems quite as likely that it was maintained largely for the sake of pomp and display. Solomon seems to have determined in every way, and at any cost, to rival and surpass all contemporary kings. The maintenance of this large force of cavalry is another token of declension], whom he bestowed in the cities for chariots (1 Kings 9:19), and with the king at Jerusalem. 1 Kings 10:26

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

1 Kings 10:26 is simply a repetition of 1 Kings 5:6 (compare also 1 Kings 9:19); and 1 Kings 10:27 is merely a further extension of 1 Kings 10:21. The words of 1 Kings 10:27, "Solomon made silver like stones in Jerusalem, and cedars like the sycamores in the lowland for abundance," are a hyperbolical description of his collection of enormous quantities of precious metals and costly wood. שׁקמים, sycomori, mulberry fig-trees, are very rare in Palestine in its present desolate state (see Rob. Pal. iii. 27), and are only met in any abundance in Egypt; but in ancient times they abounded in the lowlands of Palestine to such an extent, that they were used as common building wood (vid., Isaiah 9:9, on which Theodoret observes, τούτων (συκαμίνων) ἡ Παλαιστίνη πεπλήρωται). According to 1 Chronicles 27:28, the sycamore forests in the lowland of Judah were royal domains.