Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses.
Parallel translations
- WEB Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
- KJV And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
- NKJV Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
- NASB Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
- NLT Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses, and he had 12,000 horses.
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 kept large numbers of horses and chariots for his army. The figure highlights his military strength, though it raises a caution.
Overview
The verse notes Solomon's vast cavalry and chariot force, a mark of royal power. Yet Deuteronomy 17:16 had warned that Israel's king must not multiply horses, and the parallel in 2 Chronicles 1:14 gives a smaller stalls figure, a point readers have long noted. The detail thus shows both Solomon's grandeur and the seeds of disobedience that would later compromise his reign.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- 2 Chr 1:14Solomon accumulated 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
- 2 Chr 9:25Solomon had 4,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 horses, which he stationed in the chariot cities and also with him in Jerusalem.
- 2 Sam 8:4David captured from him a thousand chariots, seven thousand charioteers, and twenty thousand foot soldiers, and he hamstrung all the horses except a hundred he kept for the chariots.
- Ps 20:7Some trust in chariots and others in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
- Deut 17:16But the king must not acquire many horses for himself or send the people back to Egypt to acquire more horses, for the LORD has said, ‘You are never to go back that way again.’
- 1 Kgs 10:25–26Year after year, each visitor would bring his tribute: articles of silver and gold, clothing, weapons, spices, horses, and mules.
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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 4:26 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.