And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
Parallel translations
- WEB Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
- BSB Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses and 12,000 horses.
- 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 1:14And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
- 2 Chr 9:25And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; whom he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
- 2 Sam 8:4And David took from him a thousand chariots, and seven hundred horsemen, and twenty thousand footmen: and David houghed all the chariot horses, but reserved of them for an hundred chariots.
- Ps 20:7Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will remember the name of the LORD our God.
- 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.
- 1 Kgs 10:25–26And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and garments, and armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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.