Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 4:20-28
Such a kingdom, and such a court, surely never any prince had, as Solomon's are here described to be.
I. Such a kingdom. Never did the crown of Israel shine so brightly as it did when Solomon wore it, never in his father's days, never in the days of any of his successors; nor was that kingdom ever so glorious a type of the kingdom of the Messiah as it was then. The account here given of it is such as fully answers the prophecies which we have concerning it in Ps. 72, which is a psalm for Solomon, but with reference to Christ. 1. The territories of his kingdom were large and its tributaries many; so it was foretold that he should have dominion from sea to sea, Psa 72:8-11. Solomon reigned not…
Read the whole note in the consoleJamieson-Fausset-Brown on 1 Kings 4:26
forty thousand stalls--for the royal mews (see on Ch2 9:25).
Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 4:26
Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses - and twelve thousand horsemen - In Ch2 9:25, instead of forty thousand stalls, we read four thousand; and even this number might be quite sufficient to hold horses for twelve thousand horsemen; for stalls and stables may be here synonymous. In Kg1 10:26 it is said he had one thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen; and this is the reading in Ch2 1:14. In Ch2 9:25, already quoted, instead of forty thousand stalls for horses, the Septuagint has τεσσαρες χιλιαδες θηλειαι ἱπποι, four thousand mares; and in this place the whole verse is omitted both by the Syriac and Arabic. In the Targum of Rabbi Joseph on this book we have ארבע…
Read the whole note in the consoleJohn Gill on 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 fort…
