1 Kings 4:26

SOLOMON'S FORTY THOUSAND STALLS OF HORSES

"And Solomon had forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen. And those officers provided victuals for king Solomon, and for all that came unto the king's table, every man in his month; they let nothing be lacking. Barley also and straw for the horses and swift steeds brought they unto the place where the officers were, every man according to his charge."

"Forty thousand stalls of horses" (1 Kings 4:26). The parallel account in 2 Chronicles 9:25 gives the number of Solomon's horses at 4,000, a number favored by many scholars, but our own opinion is that the number here is just as likely to be correct as the other. "The Philistines are reported to have brought 30,000 chariots into battle (1 Samuel 13:5); and, allowing 2 horses to the chariot would indicate at least 70,000, and the Syrians boasted at least 40,000 horses (2 Samuel 10:18)."[11] Also, the thesis of this whole section regarding Solomon is simply this, that no other king in that entire era approached the magnificence displayed by Solomon. Either number is proof of Solomon's violation of God's law in Deuteronomy 17:16.