=18.= _with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne_] A quite different detail takes the place of this in 1 Kings x. 19, _and the top of the throne was round behind_. Perhaps both details were found in the original text of Kings. ²¹For the king had ships that went to Tarshish with the servants of Huram: once every three years came the ships of Tarshish, bringing gold, and silver, ivory, and apes, and peacocks. ²²So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and wisdom. ²³And all the kings of the earth sought the presence of Solomon, to hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart. =21.= _For the king had ships that went to Tarshish_] Here the Chronicler misunderstands the parallel passage (1 Kings x. 22, “For the king had at sea _a navy of Tarshish_”). “Navy (or ‘ships’) of Tarshish” (compare Psalms xlviii. 7) is a phrase meaning _large ships fit for long voyages_; i.e. such as were the vessels used by the Phoenicians in trading with Tarshish (i.e. Tartessus in Spain). We may well compare the use of the title “Indiaman,” for that term came to be used generally of large trading vessels besides those actually trading with India. The merchandise mentioned in this verse doubtless came from the East and not from Tarshish. _apes_] These animals were much sought after; they appear pictured in relief on the Black Obelisk (in the British Museum; among the tribute received by Shalmaneser II of Assyria. ²⁴And they brought every man his present, vessels of silver, and vessels of gold, and raiment, armour, and spices, horses, and mules, a rate year by year. =24.= _his present_] i.e. his tribute. _armour_] A less probable rendering is στακτὴ (“oil of myrrh”) LXX. (here and in Kings); also “myrrh,” Peshitṭa of 2 Chronicles. =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.