Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Kings 22:39

"Now the rest of the acts of Ahab, and all that he did, and the ivory house which he built, and all the cities that he built, are they not written in the book of the chronicles of the kings of Israel?" — 1 Kings 22:39 (ASV)

The ivory house — So called from the character of its ornamentation. Ivory was largely used in the ancient world as a covering for woodwork and seems to have been applied not only to furniture but also to the doors and walls of houses.

Nothing is known of the cities built by Ahab, but the fact is important as it indicates the general prosperity of the country in his time and his own activity as a ruler. Prosperity, it is plain, may for a while coexist with causes—such as the decay of religion—which are sapping the vital power of a nation and leading it surely, if slowly, to destruction.

The book of the chronicles... — See above, 1 Kings 14:19; 1 Kings 15:31; 1 Kings 16:5, 14, 20, 27.