=14.= _a thousand and four hundred chariots_] See note on ix. 25. _the chariot cities_] The greater part of Palestine is unsuitable for the evolutions of chariots, but flat country is found along the coast of the Mediterranean, in the plain of Esdraelon, and east of Jordan, and in these three districts the chariot cities were probably situated. Compare G. A. Smith, _Historical Geography of the Holy Land_, p. 667, Appendix v. ¹⁵And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycomore trees that are in the lowland, for abundance. =15.= _to be in Jerusalem as stones_] In Kings this is asserted of silver only. Jerusalem is one of the stoniest places in the world. See Kelman, _Holy Land_, pp. 9‒11. _the sycomore trees_] See 1 Chronicles xxvii. 28, note. _lowland_] Literally _the Shephelah_; i.e. essentially the stretch of low hills separating the maritime plain from the hill country of Judah, yet perhaps also including the Philistine plain. See Hastings, _Dictionary of the Bible_ III. 893‒894. ¹⁶And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt; the king’s merchants received them in droves, each drove at a price. =16.= _And the horses which Solomon had were brought out of Egypt_] Egypt is an agricultural not a pastoral country; it lacks the broad plains suitable for the rearing of large numbers of horses. But the Arabs of the Sinai peninsula stood in close political and mercantile relations with Egypt, and it may be that though the horses were raised in Arabia and Central Asia they passed through Egyptian hands (Barnes on 1 Kings x. 28). It is possible, however, that the reading _Egypt_ is a mistake――see the following note. _in droves, each drove at a price_] The word “droves” is incorrectly translated “linen yarn” in the Authorized Version The rendering _droves_ is just possible; but it is probable that, on the basis of some versions, we should read =from Ku‘i= (_or_ =Kuë=) =at a price=. _Kuë_ is a district mentioned in Assyrian inscriptions and generally identified with Cilicia. It is further proposed that, instead of _Egypt_ (Hebrew _Miṣraim_), we should read _Muṣri_, a name applied (1) to Egypt, and (2) extended beyond it to the area south of Palestine, and (3) also denoting a district in north Syria, south of the Taurus, and named in Assyrian inscriptions. In this case, in connection with _Kuë_, we should identify it with the last mentioned. ¹⁷And they fetched up, and brought out of Egypt a chariot for six hundred _shekels_ of silver, and an horse for an hundred and fifty: and so for all the kings of the Hittites, and the kings of Syria, did they bring them out by their means. =17.= _out of Egypt_] Hebrew _Miṣraim_. If the suggestion mentioned in the previous note be adopted, then here also read _Muṣri_, the north Syrian district.