2 Chronicles 1:14
And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem. And Solomon gathered chariots and horsemen: and he had a thousand and four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, which he placed in the chariot cities, and with the king at Jerusalem.
This account belongs to the reign of Solomon over the undivided kingdom, paralleling the history given in 1 Kings 1–11. It records his gathering of a large force of chariots and horsemen, and in thus multiplying horses he acted against God's direct command not to do so. The prohibition in Deuteronomy 17:16 was meant to prevent trust in military strength, and by forbidding a return to Egypt for horses it also guarded against Egyptian idolatry. Horses were linked with worship of the sun, and this disobedience helped bring that worship even into the temple. The horses dedicated to the sun that had thus become connected with the temple were later removed by Josiah.