“Shlomo also had 40,000 stalls for the horses used with his chariots and 12,000 horsemen.”-1 Kings 5:6
So we’ve gotta problem with verse 6.
It tells us that Solomon had 40,000 stalls for the horses he used for his chariots.
However, take a look at this verse from 2nd Chronicles:
“Shlomo also had 4,000 stalls of horses for his chariots and his 12,000 horsemen; he assigned them to the chariot cities and to the king in Yerushalayim.”-2 Chronicles 9:25
So which is it?
Also, keep in mind, we’re NOT talking about the number of horses.
We’re talking about the number of stalls for the horses.
So this leads to the question of how many horses were in each stall?
Ya feel me here?
How can we solve this discrepancy?
Some homies will try to solve the problem by saying that Chronicles lists the number of stalls, while the verse here in Kings lists the number of horses.
If that’s the case, then there would’ve been 10 horses per stall.
I don’t know about that man.
The problem is that when we examine the evidence, whether Biblical or archeological, we don’t come across any proof that stalls at that time housed 10 horses each.
On top of that, what are the chances that Solomon really had 40,000 horses in his possession?
That is a ridiculously huge number.
So what gives?
Well, the solution is simple.
Have you ever heard of something called a…
Copyist error?
That’s right, homies.
That’s what this is.
A copyist error, plain and simple.
We’re talking about 4,000 stalls here, and NOT 40,000.
So drop a zero from the number in 1st Kings.
Further, since Solomon had 1,400 chariots, and each chariot likely required two horses plus one spare horse, as was customary in those days, the chariot force alone would have needed about 4,200 horses.
If each of his 12,000 horsemen also had a horse, the total comes to approximately 16,200 horses.
That number makes a lot more sense than the 40,000 figure.
Regardless, 16,200 horses were still incredible for that era.
So what takeaway can we extract from this?
Simple.
The Bible was inspired by God, but it was copied by human beings.
And human beings make mistakes.
That’s why serious Bible study involves comparing passages, examining the original languages, and weighing the evidence.
Instead of pretending every textual difficulty doesn’t exist, we should investigate it honestly.
The good news is that when we do, most of these issues have reasonable explanations.
In this case, a copyist likely added an extra zero somewhere along the line.
Far from weakening our confidence in Scripture, this shows why careful study matters.
God didn’t ask us to shut off our brains when we open our Bibles.
He expects us to use them.
Done.
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