1 Kings 4:26

26 Solomon had four[a] thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses.[b]

1 Kings 4:26 in Other Translations

King James Version (KJV)
26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
English Standard Version (ESV)
26 Solomon also had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.
New Living Translation (NLT)
26 Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses, and he had 12,000 horses.
The Message Bible (MSG)
26 Solomon had forty thousand stalls for chariot horses and twelve thousand horsemen.
American Standard Version (ASV)
26 And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen.
GOD'S WORD Translation (GW)
26 Solomon had stalls for 40,000 chariot horses. He also had 12,000 chariot soldiers.
Holman Christian Standard Bible (CSB)
26 Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen.
New International Reader's Version (NIRV)
26 Solomon had 4,000 spaces where he kept his chariot horses. He had a total of 12,000 horses.

1 Kings 4:26 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 4:26

And Solomon had forty thousand stalls for horses
In ( 2 Chronicles 9:25 ) ; it is only four thousand; and therefore some think that here is a mistake of the copier, of "arbaim", forty, for "arbah", four; which it is thought might be through divine permission, in such lesser matters, without any prejudice to the authority of the Scriptures in matters of faith and practice; but without supposing this, a reconciliation may be made, by observing, that here the writer, as Ben Gersom notes, gives the number of the horses that were in the stables, which were forty thousand, there the stables themselves, which were four thousand, ten horses in a stable; or here he numbers the stalls, which were forty thousand, and there the stables, which were four thousand, there being ten stalls in each; and the word there has the letter "yod" in it more than here, which is the numerical letter for "ten", and may point thereunto; or here the writer speaks of all the stalls for horses Solomon had throughout the kingdom, there of those only he had in Jerusalem. Benjamin of Tudela F7 affirms, that these stalls, or stables, which Solomon built very strong of large stones, are still in being in Jerusalem, and that there is no building to be seen like it any where; but no other writer speaks of them; nor is it at all probable that they should remain:

for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen;
some of the said stalls of horses were for his chariots, to draw in them for various uses, of which had 1400, ( 1 Kings 10:26 ) ; and others to mount twelve thousand horsemen, who were placed in various parts, to defend kingdom.


FOOTNOTES:

F7 Itinerar. p. 43.

1 Kings 4:26 In-Context

24 For he ruled over all the kingdoms west of the Euphrates River, from Tiphsah to Gaza, and had peace on all sides.
25 During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.
26 Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses.
27 The district governors, each in his month, supplied provisions for King Solomon and all who came to the king’s table. They saw to it that nothing was lacking.
28 They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.

Cross References 1

  • 1. S Deuteronomy 17:16; 1 Kings 10:26; 2 Chronicles 1:14

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. Some Septuagint manuscripts (see also 2 Chron. 9:25); Hebrew "forty"
  • [b]. Or "charioteers"
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