Solomon
- "Solomon" redirects here.
Solomon or Shlomo (Hebrew: שְׁלֹמֹה; Standard Hebrew: Šəlomo; Tiberian Hebrew: Šəlōmōh, meaning "peace"; Arabic: سليمان Sulayman) in the Hebrew Bible (Old Testament), also called Jedidiah, was the third king of the united ancient Kingdom of Israel, which at that time also included the Kingdom of Judah.
The name Solomon (Shlomo) means "peaceful," or "complete", from the Hebrew Shelomoh (Arabic Sulaiman). The name given by God to Solomon through the prophet Nathan is Jedidiah, meaning "friend of God", (2 Samuel 12:25). Solomon's case is one of the few in the Bible where the name given by God does not stay with the character. Solomon's birth is considered a grace from God, after the death of the previous child between David and Bathsheba.
According to the bible, Solomon was the builder of the first Temple in Jerusalem, also known as Solomon's Temple. He was world-renowned for his great wisdom, wealth, and power. He is described as a Israelite potentate of unequalled reach in biblical history, his empire's borders stetching from the Euphrates to the Nile. However, this king of a supposedly great empire is nowhere evident in ancient sources from his time outside of the bible.
The biblical portrait of Solomon is highly pardoxical. On the one hand, he is portrayed as a pious king of supreme, divinely-endowed wisdom. On the other, he foolishly allows his love for his foreign wives to lead him into idolatry. His sin is ultimately responsible for the the splitting of his kingdom in two and the eventual fall of both Israel and Judah into the hands of foregin invaders.
In terms of his contribution to literature, Solomon is traditionally credited with the authorship of the Song of Solomon, the Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, along with a large number of aprocryphal and pseudigpigraphal works. He is the subject of many later legends and is also in a line of the greatest Kabbalah masters.
The Biblical account
Solomon's Early Reign
Solomon is David's second son by Bathsheba. His history is recorded in 1 Kings 1–11 and 2 Chronicles 1–9. He succeeded his father (reigned circa 1005 B.C.E. to 965 B.C.E.) to the throne before David's death while still a teenager. His father chose him as his successor, passing over the claims of his elder sons. His early enthronement is hastened mainly by the prophet Nathan and Solomon's mother, Bathsheba, in consequence of the attempt of David's eldest surviving son, Adonijah, to usurp the kingship.
Supported by David's military chief Joab and the venerable priest Abiathar, Adonijah's attempt to reign is cut short when Nathan and Bathsheba prevail on David to have Solomon publicly anointed as king at the very moment when Adonijah's is celebrating his own ascendency. Sensing defeat, Adonijah seeks sanctuary in the sacred tent that houses the Ark of the Covenant, clinging to the horns of the altar. Solomon grants him clemency, if "he shows himself to be a worthy man" (1 Kings 1).
Near death, David charges Solomon to follow God's commands "as written in the Law of Moses". He also advises the young monarch to collect certain blood debts David himself has not been able to collect, especially that of Joab, David's erstwhile general who had committed several murders against David's will and who lately supported Adonijah's aborted coup. "Do not let his gray head go down to the grave in peace," David commands. After David dies, Solomon dutifully obeys his father's last wish. He also takes Adonijah's request to marry David's young concubine Abishag as evidence of his elder brother's unworthiness, and orders his death as well. "The kingdom was now firmly established in Solomon's hands," the biblical author concludes. (1 Kings 2).
The rest of the biblical account of Solomon's reign is remarkably peaceful until near its close. Solomon's next action is to form an alliance with the king of Egypt, taking the pharoah's daughter as his primary wife to seal the bargain. He proceeds to an ambitious building project in Jerusalem, constructing a glorious palace for himself, expanding and fortifying the city walls, and creating the unifying religious symbol of his reign, the Temple. Until this time, a biblical writer concedes, "The people were still sacfricing at the high places" (1 Kings 3:2). Whether Solomon ever intended the Temple as the exclusive abode of Yahweh, or as a cosmopolitan center honoring the religious traditions of the various peoples over which he ruled. is a matter of much scholarly debate. (See "The Historical Solomon," below.)
Solomon's Wisdom
While his ruling concering the two women who both claimed the same child is by far the most famous of Solomon's judgements, there is no doubt the biblical authors intend his response to God's earlier promise in 1 Kings 3 to be even more emblemantic of his wisdom. "Ask for whatever you want me to give you," God offers in a dream. "Give your servant a discerning ear to govern your poeple and to distinguish between right and wrong," Solomon replies. Pleased with his non-materialistic wish, God tells him that not only will he recieve wisdom greater than any other man, but also great wealth, power and prosperity. The story of Solomon's wise ruling in the case of the two women follows immediately after this, as evidence of God's boon of great wisdom. The two women, who are both prostitutes, claim the same child. Solomon orders the babe to be brought forth and commands his aides to hack it into two equal pieces. He ultimately awards the child to the woman who offers to rescind her claim of motherhood so that the child may live.
The idea that Solomon's Wisdom is God-given is important to various Judeo-Christian beliefs. The biblical Book of Proverbs, ascribed to Solomon, is a dogmatic guideline for morality and manners in many Jewish and Christian denominations. Many believe that Solomon also wrote the biblical book of Ecclesiastes in which there is established a sense of the vanity of man's feeble accomplishments, characterized as "a striving after wind".
Go, eat your food with gladness, and drink your wine with a joyful heart, for it is now that God favors what you do... Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun — all your meaningless days. (Eccl. 9:7-9)
These writings also support Søren Kierkegaard's Christian existentialism and the two assumptions:
- Having a personal relationship with God supersedes all set moralities, social structures and communal norms.
- Social conventions are essentially a personal aesthetic choice made by individuals.
The bible is quite specific as to the number of Solomon's writings and the extent of his wisdom: "He spoke three thousand proverbs and his songs numbered a thousand and five. He described plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He also taught about animals and birds, reptiles and fish. Men of all nations came to listen to Solomon's wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world" (1 Kings 4:33-34).
Trade, Buildings and other works
During Solomon's long reign of 40 years the Hebrew monarchy reportedly gained its highest splendour. This period has well been called the Golden Age the Jewish history, a veritable precursor of the Messianic Age. "Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree, from Dan even to Beersheba" (1 Kings 4:25).
The bible describes Solomon as a great imperial potentate, who "ruled over all the kingdoms from the River [Euphrates] to the land of the Philistines, as far as the border of Egypt. These countries brought tribute and were Solomon's subjects all his life". His yearly tribute income is reported as 666 talents of gold (1 Kings 10:13). While this figure may or may not be accurate, the reason for the gifts is clear, since Solomon is described as possessing no less that 40,000 stalls for horses and chariots, and 12,000 mounted cavalry.
On the other hand, the biblical account also describes the tribute-giving as a two-way street. While Hiram of Tyre presents Solomon with both gold and copious amounts of valuable raw materials for his building projects, Solomon, in exchange, sends large yearly alotments of food to Trye. He even concscripts no less than 30,000 "men of Israel" to serve Hiram, as a gesture of peace. (1 Kings 5) Later Solomon cedes to Hiram twenty towns in Galilee, with which Hiram is still not satisfied (1 Kings 9).
Solomon's impressive building projects are described in conderable detail. Construction of the Temple takes seven years to complete, while Solomon's palace takes thirteen. Forced labor on a massive scale is involved, but this time not invovling "men of Israel". Instead Solomon conscripts slaves from among the non-Israelite tribes of Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites (1 Kings 9). When the Ark of the Covenant is finally installed in the Temple, the king celebrates by offering 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep as a sacrifce. There follows an fourteen-day feast involving a "great congregation" of "all Israel".
The first twenty years of his reign are now finished. Not only is his kingdom firmly established, but his glory is unparalleled throughout the world. Solomon now has another dream. Once again God promises wisdom and propserity, but this time a warning is also given: "If you or your sons turn away from me... to serve other gods and worship them, then I will cut off Israel and the land I have given them and will reject this temple I have consecrated for my Name."
Solomon erects many other buildings of importance in Jerusalem and in other parts of his kingdom. The bible reports that he forified the walls of Jerusalem as well as the strategic towns of Hazor, Megiddo, and Gezer. It describes impressive water works, desert fortresses, store cities, ship bhilding projects, and large housing projects for his military, including huges stables (1 Kings 9).
Great commercial prosperity enables these works and in turn results from them. Solomon engages in extensive trade on land with Tyre, Egypt, and Arabia and by sea with Tarshish (Spain), Ophir, South India, and the coasts of Africa. The royal magnificence and splendour of his court are unrivaled. Impressed by tales of his wisdom, the wonderfully rich Queen of Sheba visits with generous gifts of gold and spices, and Solomon in turn gives her "all she desired" (1 Kings 10). According to a later Ethiopian tradition, a son was born of this union, Menelik I, who would become the first emperor of Ethiopia.
Decline and fall
The rest of Solomon's reign as described in the Book of Kings is far less bright and prosperous, as his fatal flaw, namely his weakness for women, manifests. This portion of his reign is clouded by idolatries, mainly resulting from his intermarriages, which the biblical historian denounces as contary to God's will. Besides his famous marriage to the princess of Egypt, according to 1 Kings 11:4, he accumulates 700 wives and 300 concubines. Even if the numbers are exaggerated, many of these must have been political marriages sealing alliances with nieghboring tribes and clans; the bible specifically names Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites among Solomon's wives. For their sakes, and no doubt to honor the peoples and kings they represent, Solomon offers sacrifice to their deities as well as to Yawheh of the Israelites.
The sacred historian declares that God now turns against Solomon, mobilizing the Edomite prince Hadad and the Aramean leader Rezon against him. Finally, one of Solomon's own officials, Jeroboam son of Nebat, rebels against him, with the encouragement of the prophet Ahijah (1 Kings 11). Later, Jereboam would go on to become the first king of the northern Kingdom of Israel, while Solomon's son Reheboam would rule over the southern Kingdom of Judah.
A less distressing end to Solomon's reign is described in the Book of Chronicles, which does not mention Solomon's idolatry or Ahijah's prophecy against him, just as it does not mention the story of Solomon's mother Bathseba's adultery with King David. It concldues: "Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty years. Then he rested with his fathers and was buried in the city of David his father. And Rehoboam his son succeeded him as king" (2 Chron. 9: 30-31).
The Historical Solomon
Solomon's Kingdom
Just how literally we should take the story of Solomon's glory boils down to a chicken-and-egg enigma. Which came first, the reality of his expansive empire centering on a temple dedicated to the Israelite God, or the need of later biblical historians to explain the reality of their own times by harkening back to a Golden Age from which the kings of Judah and Israel had fallen? A theory proposed by the well known archeaologist Israel Finkelstein is that Solomon is a kind of back-dated version of the Israelite King Ahab, who in historical terms was the first real Israelite king who could lay claim to anything resembling an empire. Ahab, of course, was unacceptable to the Deuteronimic historians who composed the Books of Kings and parts of the Books of Samuel, because his wife, Jezebel, was an infamous Baal worshipper. (See below: Solomon's religion). The true extent of Solomon's kingdom, assuming he was a real monarch at all, must have been much smaller than the bible says. The glorious Temple of Yawheh in Jesusalem, was surely a much smaller edifice than the bible describes. Not only that, but it may very well have been built by a later king than Solomon. Finkelstein and other deconstructionists base their arguments on archaelogy as well as literary criticism of the bible. Aracheaological evidence indicates that Jerusalem in Solomon's time, the 10 century B.C.E., was far too small to have served as an adminstrative center for an empire resembling that of Solomon's. It could certainly not have housed a palace and temple on the scale described in Kings and Chronicles. Also, some of the walls that the bible describes as being built by Solomon have been uncovered, and they seem to date for a century or so after his reign. The large stables and other structures unearthed by earlier archaelogists and cited of proof of the bible's accuracy concerning Solomon are now dated to the reign of King Ahab, two centuries laters. Bibical literalists answer these challenges in various ways. They reject the basic thesis of biblical criticism and accept the bible's claim to be a document of divine inspiration. There was no "Deuteronimic Historian," because Deuteronomy was written by Moses, and the Book of Kings was written under divine inspiration. Bible defenders also point out that the fact that a large building has not been found is no proof that it never existed. They also cite the fact that biblical critics often disagree among themselves as to what is factual and what is legendary in the bible. Finally, they challenge to dating proceedures and other archaelogical methods of the critics.
Solomon's Religion
The Bible describes the young Solomon as being committed to "walk in [God's] ways, to keep his statutes, and his commandments, and his judgments, and his testimonies, as it is written in the law of Moses" (1 Kings 2:3). But did the Law of Moses, as such even exist in Solomon's time? This is the question seriouis students of the bible, both pious and secular, must confront. Later in the Book of Kings, it is mentioned that the Passover feast commemorating Moses and the Exodus was not celebrated by the kings of Israel or Judah until the time of King Hezekiah in the 7th century B.C.E. Many biblical scholars hold the opinion that the Law of Moses as such did not come into being on the national seen until around the time of king Josiah (6th century B.C.E.). According to this theory, the people of Israel and Judah, as well as the people of neighboring tribes, did not view their deity as the only deity, and may have the various names of the chief deities such as El, Yahweh, Chemosh, Baal, as essentially different names for the some idea. A feminine counterpart to Yawheh or El (two names the bible gives for the same Israelite deity) was also worhsipped as Astarte, Ashera, Ishtar, etc. It was only around the time of King Hezekiah and later than a "Yawheh-only" ethic came to the fore and eventually prevailed among the Jerusalem priesthood. Thus it was only natural that Solomon, to the extent that he wanted to be seen as a unversal ruler and not just a tribal chief, would honor other deities besides that of is own tribe, Judah. Such a theory, of course, calls into question the basic presumptions of the sacred history presented in the bible. Instead of Solomon's apostasy causing God's emnity and resulting in the division of his kingdom, his worship of "foreign" deities becomes a manifestation of is wisdom, manifested later in the policy of Alendar the Great, who, like Solomon, did not impose the religion of his own folk on the people of his great empire. In this view, it would have been economic, political, and military issues that truly cause Judah and Israel to go their separate ways, rather than the idolatry of King Solomon.
Solomon's Writings
The bible clearly claims that he was a prolific writer of proverbs and other works. Although the tradition of Solomon as a fount of Jewish wisdom literature is thus quite ancient, it is questionable whether he wrote any of the works traditionally ascribed to him. ''Ecclesiastes'' claims to be the work of someone called The Preacher (Hebrew: Koheleth), a "son of David" is a ruler of considerable worldly wisdom. Solomon, of course, is the personage implied. However, most scholars consider the work to reflect the philosophy of a considerbly later era: either the period of Babylonian exile of even as late as the third century B.C.E. The Song of Solomon is a love poem of a prince for his bride or lover. The Book of Proverbs is a collection of wisdom sayings. Both the first book of the book and the opening verse of Proverbs 10 provide the heading: "The Proverbs of Solomon." and since King Hezekiah is mentioned in Proverbs 25, the book itself cannot date from earlier than the seveth century B.C.E. While some of the book's indidual proverbs may be more ancient, it is generally agreed that the book in its current form dates from the post-exilic period. The work usually refered to as the Song of Solomon, is in reality entitled "Song of Songs." Most scholars consider it to be a composite work by several anonymous authors. It contains both Greek and Persian words, but because these could have been included by later scribes, the work is hard to date. The romantic notion that it is a love song composed by Solomon for his Etyptian wife is attractive, but unlikely. A great number of non-biblical works are also attributed to Solomon, from the apocrypal Wisdom of Solomon to numerous magical and kabbalistic writings. The idea that the historical Solomon penned this works must be veiwed with skepticism.
Solomon in the World's Religions
Solomon in Judaism
Solomon not occupies a very important part in rabbinical legend. He is one of the zaddikim (the just), a friend of God, and "he who built the Temple". He is particularly honored by the Rabbis for asking the Lord for wisdom after God had promised to grant him whatever he wished. He is considered to have been a prophet, and a godly judge without equal. Some rabbinical legends endow him with magic powers, potraying him as being able to fly by means of a huge eagle or magic carpet. His majestic throne was the most opulent ever created and also had magical qualities. Some rabbis esteem Solomon so highly that they deny that he fell into idolatry, claiming that he only failed to restrain his wives from the practice. However, earlier Talmudic authorities alos focus on Solomon's weakness for women and his sin of idolatry. His marriage to Pharoah's daughter is particularly condemned, as is his idolatry in association with his other foreign wives. It is indicative of the the ambiguous place of Solomon in Jewish tradition that when the Talmudic sage Rabbi Eliezer was asked by his students for his opinion of Solomon's life in the world to come, he reportedly gave an evasive answer.
Solomon in Christianity
In Christian tradition, Solomon is viewed as a great king of Israel who reigned for the most part in peace with godly wisdom with the tragic exception of his idolatry. He presents Israel's Golden Age before it fell into the sin of idolotray and rebellion against God. Solomon is one of the ancestors of Jesus Christ listed in Matthew 1, and Jesus refers to both his wisdom and his slpendor (Matthew 6:29; 12:42). In the Christian scriptures, Solomon is credited with the authorship of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon. The Catholic bible includes the Wisdom of Solomon in the Apocrypha.
Solomon in Islam
- See Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an
The Qur'an refers to Solomon as Sulayman. He the son of David, a prophet and a great ruler imparted by God with tremendous wisdom, favor, and mystical powers. Solomon was said to have under his rule not only people, but also hosts of invisible beings (i.e., jinn). And like his father David, Solomon is said to have been able to understand the language of the birds, and to see some of the hidden glory in the world that was not accessible to common human beings.
Surah 27 (An Naml/Ant):15 “And, indeed, We granted [true] knowledge unto David and Solomon [as well]; and both were wont to say: 'All praise is due to God, who has [thus] favored us above many of His believing servants!' And [in this insight] Solomon was [truly] David's heir; and he would say: 'O you people! We have been taught the speech of the birds, and have been given [in abundance] of all [good] things: this, behold, is indeed a manifest favor [from God]!'”
In Arabic legend, Solomon is well represented. A letter purporting to be from him to the Queen of Sheba invites her to convert to Islam. He is said to possess a magical ring by which he commands various natural forces. Arabic tradition, unlike its Jewish counterpart, makes much of Solomon's ability as a warrior, especially his love for horses. In one tradition, Solomon dies at age 53, having reigned 40 years, but without entirely completing his work on the Temple. The angel of death took his soul while he was leaning upon his staff, so that the jinn who assisted him in contructing the Temple would not know that he had passed away. Only a year later, when the jinn had completed the task, was Solomon's death recognized.
Solomon in Unificationism
In Unification teaching, Solomon's most important contribution was the establishment of the Temple on the foundation of King David's successful work in unifying the northern and southern kingdoms. The Temple was to be the central object of faith for the people of Israel during their national course of restoration in preparation for the coming of the Messiah. However, Solomon's sin of idolatry allowed Satan to invade this foundation. If Solomon had succeeded in his course the Messiah could have come at the end of Solomon's reign and would have been Solomon's own son. Instead, the providence centering on the Temple was prolonged through the 400-year period of the Divided Kingdoms. This too failed, and the Temple was destroyed by foreign invaders. After the Babylonian exile, it was rebuit; but not until the time of Solomon's descendant, Jesus of Nazareth, was the foundation for the Messiah on the national level finally accomplished.
The Solomon of Legend
To Solomon are attributed, by rabbinical tradition but not internally, the Biblical books of Book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon. Then comes the Wisdom of Solomon, probably written in the 2nd century B.C.E. where Solomon is portrayed as an astronomer. Other books of wisdom poetry attributed to Solomon are the "Odes of Solomon" and the "Psalms of Solomon". The Jewish historian Eupolemus, who wrote about 157 B.C.E., included copies of apocryphal letters exchanged between Solomon and the kings of Egypt and Tyre. As the kabbalistic tradition developed, many other legends and works of Solomon emerged in association with his wisdom and other powers.
The Gnostic Apocalypse of Adam, which may date to the 1st or 2nd century, refers to a legend in which Solomon sends out an army of demons to seek a virgin who had fled from him, perhaps the earliest surviving mention of the later common tale that Solomon controlled demons and made them his slaves. This tradition of Solomon's control over demons appears fully elaborated in the early Christian work called the "Testament of Solomon" with its elaborate and grotesque demonology.
Solomon's mastery of demons is a common element in later Jewish and Arab legends, and is often attributed to possession of the magic ring called the "Seal of Solomon".
The ancient Imperial legend of Ethiopia, as told in the Kebra Nagast, maintains that the Queen of Sheba returned to her realm from her Biblical visit to Solomon, pregnant with his child, and giving birth to a son by the Mai Bella stream in the province of Hamasien, Eritrea. This child would eventually inherit her throne with the new rank and title of Menelik I, Emperor of Abyssinia. The dynasty he would establish would reign in Abyssinia with few interruptions until the overthrow of Emperor Haile Selassie in 1974.
The Table of Solomon was said to be held in Toledo, Spain during the the Visigothic rule and was part of the loot taken by Tarik ibn Ziyad during the Islamic conquest of Spain, according to Ibn Abd-el-Hakem's History of the Conquest of Spain. Finally, many stories, novels, and even motion pictures, have been made about the fabulous wealth contained int King Solomon's mines.
| Preceded by: David |
Kingdom of Israel | Succeeded by: Rehoboam (Judah) Jeroboam (Israel) |
See also
External links
- Jewish Encyclopeida (1901-1905)
- Catholic Encyclopedia: Solomon entry by Gabriel Oussani (1913)
- Web links on Solomon
de:Salomo eo:Salomono fr:Salomon (Bible) he:שלמה המלך id:Salomo ja:ソロモン王 ko:솔로몬 왕 nl:Salomo nn:Sjelomo I av Israel pl:Salomon (król Izraela) ru:Соломон sk:Šalamún sv:Salomo zh:所羅門王
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