And Solomon's import of horses was from Egypt and Kue, and the king's traders received them from Kue at a price.
Solomon's reign has just been described at its most splendid. Then comes a plain business note about where the king bought his horses. It looks harmless. Commentators read it as the point where failure starts to show.
What the verse describes
The older English Bibles read "linen yarn" here, and that reading has long been questioned. One reference work explains why the wording was revised:
Morrish Bible Dictionary["Linen yarn"] appears in the Authorised Version only in 1 Kings 10:28 and 2 Chronicles 1:16, as something brought out of Egypt. But "horses" come just before and just after, so "linen yarn" is unlikely to be the sense here... The Septuagint, Latin, Syriac and Arabic versions treat the word as a proper name. The Revised Version, following others before it, reads: "And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; and the king's merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price." This is no doubt the best translation.
The ESV follows that proper-name reading and prints "Kue." Either way, the trade is the same: Solomon bought horses in bulk. The next verse adds that he sold them on:
W. W. FeredaySolomon appears to have established a considerable business in horse-dealing... The next verse tells us that he sold horses to the kings of the Hittites and of Syria. This trading may have been profitable, but the Lord was not pleased with His servant for it. What a testimony to the nations around him! They should have learned from him that trusting God is better than trusting horses.
A law the king already had in writing
The law had already spoken to Israel's king about horses:
F. B. HoleThere were also three laws set down specially for him. First, he was NOT to multiply horses to himself, and thereby cause the people to return to Egypt. Second, he was NOT to multiply wives to himself, so that his heart should not be turned away. Third, he was NOT to multiply to himself silver and gold. Notice how the word "multiply" keeps coming back. The third time it is "greatly multiply." And in each case it is "multiply to himself."
One writer weighs what that trade meant if Solomon had read the law:
Leslie M. GrantIf he had read Deuteronomy 17:15-16, then he was disobedient on purpose. The Lord forbade a king to multiply horses or to have horses bought from Egypt. This was depending on the world (Egypt) for the protection of his kingdom, instead of on the Lord.
Why Egypt, of all places
Egypt was the country God had brought Israel out of. One writer connects the horse trade to that history:
J. N. DarbyEgypt was famous for its horses and chariots. The Lord's ban on the king takes note of this: "he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt so that he should multiply horses, since the Lord has said to you, You shall never return that way again." Their redemption from Egypt and all its power should have been final; nothing should have tempted them back to it. But in Solomon's reign we find horses were a main item of trade with Egypt.
Solomon himself had written that the horse is made ready for the day of battle — and then forgot the second half of his own proverb:
W. W. FeredaySolomon himself tells us in Proverbs 21:31 that "the horse is made ready for the day of battle"; and he adds, what he afterwards quite forgot, "but the victory belongs to the Lord."
Failure inside the splendour
William Kelly presses the obvious questions:
William KellyWas this obedience? Was this the king after God's own heart? Had He not expressly warned His king to beware of it?... God had guaranteed him wealth, but he sought it and prided himself on it. He laid no small burdens on his people to build up wealth for the king. At the same time he shows his dependence on the Gentiles. He goes down to Egypt for horses, for what would add to royal splendour.
What it cost
One writer draws out the principle behind it:
F. B. HoleAll this self-promotion rests on one idea: that the way of life is to get everything possible for self-gratification. The consequence is solemn. You are trapped into disobedience, and you forfeit the support of God. Solomon did not act in ignorance of God's Word — it was simply staring him in the face, and so he broke it outrageously.
Summary
- Read it right. The Hebrew describes horses bought in droves at a price, not "linen yarn." Solomon ran a bulk trade in horses, buying and selling.
- Known law. The law named three things the king must not multiply for himself: horses, wives, and gold. God's Word was staring Solomon in the face, so this was not ignorance.
- Wrong source. The horses came from Egypt — the country God had redeemed Israel out of for good. Buying there meant leaning on the world for protection.
- Wrong hour. The crack shows at the peak of his splendour. He leaned on the Gentiles and burdened his own people to build up royal wealth.
- Real cost. Egypt cost him more than money: his wives turned his heart, and the first invader after his death was Shishak king of Egypt. "Wisdom did not keep Solomon, nor will it keep any one of us, but cleaving to the Lord will" (A. J. Pollock).