1 Kings 9:19

And all the cities of store that Solomon had [cities where the produce of the land was stored for the use of the troops or household, or against a season of scarcity ( Genesis 41:35 ; Exodus 1:11 ), or possibly (Ewald) they were emporiums for the development of trade. The fact that these store cities are mentioned in the same breath with Tadmor, is an argument for the identification of that place with Palmyra, which Solomon could only have built as a means of gaining or retaining control over the caravan trade between the East and the Mediterranean. Cf. 2 Chronicles 17:12 ; 2 Chronicles 32:28 , and Genesis 41:48 . They would seem to have been chiefly on the northern frontier, 2 Chronicles 8:4 ("in Hamath"), ib . 2 Chronicles 16:4 speaks of "the store cities of Napthali ." It should be remembered that Solomon had an adversary in Damascus], and cities for his chariots, and cities for his horsemen [Cf. 1 Kings 4:26 . These were not so much fortresses ( 1 Kings 4:15-18 ) as places adapted to accommodate his cavalry, etc. For horsemen we should perhaps read horses . See note on 1 Kings 5:6 ], and that which Solomon desired to build [Heb. and the desire of Solomon which he desired ; cf. ver.

1 . The use of the cognate verb refutes the idea that Solomon's "desire" is another name for pleasure buildings or pleasaunces, as does also "desire" in verse 11. It is certain, however, that such buildings were erected, and it is probable that they are referred to here] in Jerusalem and in Lebanon [It is highly probable that pleasure houses were built in Lebanon (So Hebrews 7:4 , passim ), for which Solomon may well have had a strong affection, and pleasure gardens in Jerusalem ( Ecclesiastes 2:4-7 ). See Stanley, pp. 197-199); and we may reasonably imagine (with Ewald) that in these latter he sought to grow specimens of the plants, etc; about which he "spoke" ( Hebrews 4:1-16 :33; cf. Ecclesiastes 2:5 ). "It is a curious fact that in the ground hard by the 'fountains of Solomon' near Bethlehem, which exhibit manifest traces of an ancient garden, and where the intimations of Josephus would lead us to suppose that Solomon had a rural retreat, are still to be found a number of plants self sown from age to age, which do not exist in any other part of the Holy Land". Some of Solomon's journeys to these favourite resorts, we can hardly doubt, are referred to in So Hebrews 3:6-10 ; Hebrews 4:8 sqq.; Hebrews 6:11 ] and in all the land of his dominion.