25–28. Compare i. 14–17.
²⁵And Solomon had four thousand stalls for horses and chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he bestowed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
25. four thousand stalls for horses and chariots] In the parallel passage (1 Kings iv. 26 = v. 6, Hebrew), forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots. Compare also i. 14 (= 1 Kings x. 26) where 1400 stalls of horses for chariots are ascribed to Solomon. This number is much more likely to correspond with fact, but that does not affect the probability that the Chronicler would find no difficulty in crediting Solomon with possessing 4000 or even 40,000, especially at the close of his reign. The meaning of the word rendered “stalls” is quite uncertain: it may mean “pair.”
twelve thousand horsemen] So 1 Kings iv. 26 (v. 6, Hebrew); and 2 Chronicles i. 14 (= 1 Kings x. 26).
chariot cities] See note on i. 14.
²⁶And he ruled over all the kings from the River even unto the land of the Philistines, and to the border of Egypt.
26. from the River] i.e. the Euphrates.
even unto the land of the Philistines] The Philistines, it is implied, were able to maintain their independence.
²⁷And the king made silver to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance.
27. cedars] Rather, cedar wood.