Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

HORSE

First introduced to Palestine by the Hyksos in the early 2nd millennium b.c.e., horses are usually mentioned in contexts where they are harnessed to a chariot or ridden in the cavalry. Horses always belonged to royalty since only kings could afford their maintenance. They had little value for the ordinary Israelite, who utilized asses and mules in daily life.

The Philistines mustered 30 thousand chariots and 6000 horsemen against King Saul (1 Sam. 13:5). David kept only 100 horses for himself, choosing instead to hamstring those he had captured (2 Sam. 8:4). However, horses were a mainstay of Solomon’s power — he had 4000 stalls and 12 thousand horses (1 Kgs. 4:26) — and were a prime weapon in the Israelite military. At the battle of Qarqar in 853, Ahab contributed 2000 chariots to the coalition against the Assyrians. The Horse Gate, located in the southeast corner of the city wall (Jer. 31:40; Neh. 3:28), demonstrated how horses had become essential to Jerusalem. While the text says that Solomon imported his horses from Egypt (1 Kgs. 10:28), the Egyptians must have imported them from Anatolia.

About two-thirds of the biblical references to horses are metaphorical. Horses are used to refer to the dangers of kingship and militarism (Deut. 17:14-16; Ps. 20:7[MT 8]; Isa. 2:7). They also figure in the apocalyptic imagery of Revelation (Rev. 6:2, 4-5; 19:11, 14, 19, 21).

Donald Fowler

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

HORSE

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)