Solomon’s Warhorses

1 Kings 4:26, 28: “Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariots and twelve thousand horses. The officials supplied the king and all who came to King Solomon’s table with food, each in his turn. They also brought to the proper place their quotas of barley and straw for the chariot horses and the other horses.”

“Horses for chariots” refers to horses used to pull chariots. These chariots and horses were imported from Egypt and were worth 1,440,000 shekels of silver, equivalent to a month’s wages for all 1.3 million adult males in the nation (2 Samuel 24:9). Maintaining such a large number of horses and chariots during peacetime placed an enormous burden on the people.

God had previously commanded the king of Israel, “The king, moreover, must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself” (Deuteronomy 17:16). Yet, Solomon, rather than trusting God to fight for him, cleverly amassed a vast number of horses, relying on military might for a sense of security. God had also commanded the king of Israel, “He must not take many wives” (Deuteronomy 17:17), but Solomon, still uneasy despite his massive military, took a thousand wives and concubines, building a network of political alliances. In reality, the surrounding nations of Israel were in the midst of the Bronze Age Collapse (1200-900 BC): Egypt to the south had entered its Late Period, its power waning and unable to expand externally; Aram to the north had fragmented into many small kingdoms, subservient to Israel; and Assyria in Mesopotamia was in a period of decline and would not begin its external expansion until 90 years later, during the reign of Ashurnasirpal II of the Neo-Assyrian Empire (883–859 BC).

Therefore, God had already given Solomon “rest on every side; there was no adversary or disaster” (1 Kings 5:4) and had promised to “establish his kingdom” (2 Samuel 7:12). Since Solomon insisted on building a massive army, God later raised up Hadad the Edomite and Rezon of Aram as adversaries to Solomon, proving that these horsemen were merely for show and useless. Solomon had wisdom but lacked “the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding” (Isaiah 11:2). So, while he built up a massive military and pursued political marriages everywhere, his kingdom appeared very stable for a time. But this good fortune did not last. At the same time, God declared, “Since you have done this and have not kept my covenant and my decrees, which I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to one of your subordinates” (1 Kings 11:11).