Moses had warned that the king of the Israelites was not to have a large number of horses for his army (Deut 17.16).
Solomon’s import of horses was from Egypt and Kue: Revised Standard Version speaks of the import of horses while Good News Translation talks about “the export of horses.” The meaning is that Solomon’s agents controlled the import of horses into Israel, horses that were exported from Egypt and Kue.
The Hebrew name for Egypt is Mitsrayim. The consonants in Mitsrayim are similar to those in the place name “Musri.” Since Musri and Cilicia were two ancient countries in what is now southeast Turkey and were centers of horse breeding in Solomon’s time, many interpreters correct the Hebrew to read “Musri” (so Good News Translation, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy,Parola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente, Osty-Trinquet, Gray). It is interesting to note that the text of the New International Version Study Bible reads Egypt but the study note on this verse indicates the text should read “Muzur.” The same kind of confusion exists in 2 Kgs 7.6; 2 Chr 1.16; 9.28. Critique Textuelle de l’Ancien Testament gives a {B} rating to the Masoretic Text. Some translations omit Egypt in this verse, considering it to be a later insertion from the following verse (so New American Bible).
King James Version and Reina-Valera revisada translate the Hebrew word for Kue as “linen yarn.” Other interpreters have understood the Hebrew word to mean “a pool, collection, or group.” This whole verse in Nouvelle version Segond révisée, for example, reads “They brought Solomon’s horses from Egypt: a group of the king’s merchants went to take them in groups, at a set price.” But the word Kue is widely recognized today to refer to a place, which was called “Cilicia” in the Greco-Roman period. Since the name “Cilicia” is better known among speakers of American English than the name Kue (which is used in Revised Standard Version/New Revised Standard Version, Revised English Bible, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh; similarly Traduction œcuménique de la Bible), Good News Translation has used the better-known name (also New Jerusalem Bible, New American Bible, Anchor Bible, Bible en français courant, Parole de Vie, Biblia Dios Habla Hoy).
Translators may wish to explain the location and significance of these two place names in a footnote as Good News Translation has done. Compare also the footnote inParola Del Signore: La Bibbia in Lingua Corrente: “These two places of Asia Minor [that is, Musri and Cilicia] were famous for the breeding of horses.”
The king’s traders received them from Kue at a price: The Hebrew word rendered at a price probably means “at market price.” Compare “at the prevailing price” (New Jerusalem Bible) and “at the standard price” (New Living Translation). Other interpreters, however, understand this word to mean simply that the king’s agents paid for the horses (Revised English Bible “by purchase”) without any indication of whether it was at market price or some other price. Compare New American Bible: “from Cilicia, where the king’s agents purchased them.” Good News Translation appears to follow this second interpretation by restating the information and saying simply that “The king’s agents controlled the export.” Good News Translation leaves implicit that the king’s agents paid for the horses.
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .