On this side the river - i. e., the region west of the Euphrates.
Tiphsah, or Tiphsach, the place on the Euphrates called Thapsacus. The word means “ford,” or “passage,” being formed from פסח pâsach, “to pass over” (compare “paschal”). It is the modern Suriyeh, forty-five miles below Balls, at the point where the Euphrates changes its course from south to southeast by east. The stream is fordable here, and nowhere else in this part of its course. Solomon’s possession of Thapsacus would have been very favorable to his schemes of land commerce 1 Kings 9:19.
To Azzah - i. e., Gaza.
All the kings - Compare Joshua 12:9-24. In Philistia, small as it was, there were five kings 1 Samuel 6:18. Syria was divided into numerous small states, as many as thirty-two kings being mentioned on one occasion 1 Kings 20:1. The Hittites were ruled by a great number of chieftains or princes 1Ki 10:29; 2 Kings 7:6. twelve are mentioned in the Assyrian inscriptions.