Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of 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.
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 ( parash) here rendered ‘horsemen’ means both the horse for riding and the rider. Just as we speak of so many hundred ‘horse’. ( 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 1Ki 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 2Ch 9:25, ‘four thousand stalls for horses and chariots’: though in 2Ch 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.’
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See 1Ki 4:26 note. Until the time of Solomon, war-chariots had not been in use among the Jews, except to a very small extent 1Ch 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 26. He had a thousand and four hundred chariots] 1Kg 4:26.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen; like a wise prince, in deep peace providing for war.
A thousand and four hundred chariots: See Poole “1Ki 4:26“.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
26-29.(See on 2Ch1:14 [and 2Ch 9:25].)
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole 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 comments on 1Ki 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.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
(26) Gathered together chariots.See above, 1Ki. 4:26. This gathering of chariotsthe sign of military conquest and extended empireis evidently noticed here in connection with the growth of commerce and wealth, as one of the powers which held Solomons 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 Solomons own dominions and in the tributary countries.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
1Ki 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.
Ver. 26. And Solomon gathered. ] This he did contrary to the law, Deu 17:16 wherefore also he and his family soon after suffered a change: Gloria enim eius mox facta est ingloria, et fama infamia, ac opulentia paupertas. a
a Sic transit gloria mundi.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Solomon: 1Ki 4:26, Deu 17:16, 2Ch 1:14, 2Ch 9:25, Isa 2:7
in the cities: 2Ch 9:25
Reciprocal: 1Sa 8:11 – He will take 2Sa 8:4 – reserved 2Sa 15:1 – Absalom 1Ch 18:4 – an hundred chariots 2Ch 8:6 – chariot cities Mat 21:5 – sitting
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
1Ki 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, (Deu 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! Jer 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!