And Solomon went. — Marched (2 Samuel 12:29).
Hamath-zobah. — That is, Hamath bordering on Zobah. (Comp. 1 Chronicles 18:3.) Solomon’s conquest of the kingdom of Hamath, which had been on terms of amity with David, is not mentioned in 1 Kings 9; nor indeed anywhere else in the Old Testament. Thenius (on 2 Kings 14:25) supposes that the text describes not a conquest of Hamath itself, but only the annexation of part of its territory; viz., a part of the highly fruitful plain of Cœle-Syria, called by the Arabs Ard-el-Beqâa. This appears to be correct.
Against it. — Or, over it (a late construction, 2 Chronicles 27:5; Daniel 11:5).