And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.
Parallel translations
- WEB The horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt. The king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price.
- BSB Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and Kue; the royal merchants purchased them from Kue.
- NKJV Also Solomon had horses imported from Egypt and Keveh; the king’s merchants bought them in Keveh at the current price.
- NASB Also Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king’s merchants acquired them from Kue for a price.
- NLT Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and from Cilicia; the king’s traders acquired them from Cilicia at the standard price.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Solomon imported horses from Egypt through his merchants. It notes another aspect of his trade that ran counter to the law's warning.
Overview
His large-scale horse trade with Egypt, while economically lucrative, stood in tension with Deuteronomy 17:16, which forbade the king to send to Egypt to multiply horses. The detail is recorded plainly, but it reveals Solomon increasingly testing the boundaries God had set for Israel's kings. These small compromises in commerce and military strength prepare the way for the greater compromise of his heart in chapter 11.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Deut 17:16But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
- 2 Chr 9:28And they brought unto Solomon horses out of Egypt, and out of all lands.
- Isa 31:1–3Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots, because they are many; and in horsemen, because they are very strong; but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!
- Isa 36:9How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
- Prov 7:16I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.
- 2 Chr 1:16–17And Solomon had horses brought out of Egypt, and linen yarn: the king’s merchants received the linen yarn at a price.
- Ezek 27:7Fine linen with broidered work from Egypt was that which thou spreadest forth to be thy sail; blue and purple from the isles of Elishah was that which covered thee.
- Isa 19:9Moreover they that work in fine flax, and they that weave networks, shall be confounded.
- Gen 41:42And Pharaoh took off his ring from his hand, and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck;
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 10:28 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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