In this post we will be looking at History of Solomon, Biblical account, Sins and punishment, Features of Solomon’s Reign and Solomon’s Temple.
INTRODUCTION
Nearly all evidence for Solomon’s life and reign comes from the Bible (especially the first 11 chapters of the First Book of Kings and the first nine chapters of the Second Book of Chronicles). According to those sources, his father was David (flourished c. 1000 BCE), the poet and king who, against great odds, founded the Judaean dynasty and united all the tribes of Israel under one monarch. Solomon’s mother was Bathsheba, formerly the wife of David’s Hittite general, Uriah. She proved to be adept at court intrigue, and through her efforts, in concert with the prophet Nathan, Solomon was anointed king while David was still alive, despite the fact that he was younger than his brothers. Material evidence for Solomon’s reign, as for that of his father, is scant. Although some scholars claim to have discovered artifacts that corroborate the biblical account of his reign in the early 10th century BCE, others claim that the archaeological record strongly suggests that the fortified cities and even the Temple of Jerusalem actually emerged more than a century later. In the latter view, the kingdom of Solomon was far from the vast empire that the biblical narrative describes.
HISTORY OF SOLOMON
Solomon was a monarch of ancient Israel and the son and successor of David, according to the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament. He is described as having been the penultimate ruler of an amalgamated Israel and Judah. The hypothesized dates of Solomon’s reign are 970–931 BCE. After his death, his son and successor Rehoboam would adopt a harsh policy towards the northern tribes, eventually leading to the splitting of the Israelites between the Kingdom of Israel in the north and the Kingdom of Judah in the south. Following the split, his patrilineal descendants ruled over Judah alone. The Bible says Solomon built the First Temple in Jerusalem,0 dedicating the temple to Yahweh, or God in Judaism. Solomon is portrayed as wealthy, wise and powerful, and as one of the 48 Jewish prophets. He is also the subject of many later references and legends, most notably in the Testament of Solomon (part of first-century biblical apocrypha). According to biblical tradition, King Solomon was the third and last king in the ancient United Kingdom of Israel. Other faiths, such as Islam and Rastafarianism, also embrace the notion of Solomon as a sagacious king and powerful prophet of Israel. He was renowned for his wisdom, his prolific writings, and his building accomplishments. Born around 1010 BCE, Solomon was the tenth son of King David (the second king of ancient united Israel) and the second son of Bathsheba. Like King Saul and King David, King Solomon reigned for 40 years in one of the highest and most prosperous periods in Israel’s history – called by many, “The Golden Age” of Israel. During his reign, Solomon controlled the trade routes coming out of Edom, Arabia, India, Africa, and Judea; he constructed an elaborate and profitable web of alliances (cemented by an enormous assemblage of hundreds of wives and concubines), and he purportedly built the first Temple of God in Jerusalem, which was destroyed (along with the entire city of Jerusalem) by the Babylonians in 586 BCE. Despite initial sovereign successes, the end of Solomon’s rule was marked by several insurrections and attacks from both foreign and domestic enemies, as well as a disintegration of national and religious integrity because of cultural appeasements within Israel, which compromised and weakened the social fabric of the United Kingdom. He died in 931 BCE at age 80, possibly the most prosperous and productive king ever to rule over Israel.
Biblical Account
The life of Solomon is primarily described in 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. His two names mean “peaceful” and “friend of God”, both considered “predictive of the character of his reign”. Solomon was born in Jerusalem, the second born child of David and his wife Bathsheba (widow of Uriah the Hittite). The first child (unnamed in that account), a son conceived adulterously during Uriah’s lifetime, had died during birth. It is suggested in Scripture that this was a judgment from God. Solomon had three named full brothers born to Bathsheba: Nathan, Shammua, and Shobab, besides six known older half-brothers born of as many mothers. The biblical narrative shows that Solomon served as a peace offering between God and David, due to his adulterous relationship with Bathsheba. In an effort to hide this sin, for example, he sent the woman’s husband to battle, in the subsequently realized hope that he would be killed there. After he died, David was finally able to marry his wife. As punishment, the first child, who was conceived during the adulterous relationship, died. Solomon was born after David was forgiven. It is this reason why his name, which means peace, was chosen. Solomon was the biblical king most famous for his wisdom. In 1 Kings he sacrificed to God, and God later appeared to him in a dream asking what Solomon wanted from God. Solomon asked for wisdom in order to better rule and guide his people. Pleased, God personally answered Solomon’s prayer, promising him great wisdom because he did not ask for self-serving rewards like long life or the death of his enemies. According to the Hebrew Bible, the ancient Kingdom of Israel gained its highest splendour and wealth during Solomon’s reign of 40 years. In a single year, according to 1 Kings 10:14, Solomon collected tribute amounting to 666 talents (18,125 kilograms) of gold. Solomon is described as surrounding himself with all the luxuries and the grandeur of an Eastern monarch, and his government prospered. He entered into an alliance with Hiram I, king of Tyre, who in many ways greatly assisted him in his numerous undertakings. According to the biblical account, Solomon had 700 wives and 300 concubines. The wives were described as foreign princesses, including Pharaoh’s daughter and women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon and of the Hittites. His marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter appears to have cemented a political alliance with Egypt, whereas he clung to his other wives and concubines “in love”. The only wife mentioned by name is Naamah the Ammonite, mother of Solomon’s successor, Rehoboam. The biblical narrative notes with disapproval that Solomon permitted his foreign wives to import their national deities, building temples to Ashtoreth and Milcom.
Sins And Punishment
According to 1 Kings 11:4 Solomon’s “wives turned his heart after other gods”, their own national deities, to whom Solomon built temples, thus incurring divine anger and retribution in the form of the division of the kingdom after Solomon’s death (1 Kings 11:9–13). 1 Kings 11 describes Solomon’s descent into idolatry, particularly his turning after Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom, the god of the Ammonites. In Deuteronomy 17:16–17, a king is commanded not to multiply horses or wives, neither greatly multiply to himself gold or silver. Solomon sinned in all three of these areas. In addition to his wives, he collected 666 talents of gold each year (1 Kings 10:14), a huge amount for a small nation like Israel. He gathered multitudes of horses and chariots from as far as Egypt, and as Deuteronomy 17 warns, took Israel back to Egypt in spirit. Solomon was said to have sinned by acquiring many foreign wives. Solomon’s descent into idolatry, Willem de Poorter, Rijksmuseum. According to 1 Kings 11:30–34 and 1 Kings 11:9–13, it was because of these sins that the Lord punished Solomon by removing most of the tribes of Israel from rule by Solomon’s house.
Features of Solomon’s Reign and Solomon’s Temple
Solomon’s prosperity and success were also achieved through ingenious reforms and innovations such as the improvement of defense measures; the expansion of the royal court; the financial windfall from more sophisticated taxation, labor conscriptions of Canaanites and Israelites, tributes and gifts from foreign countries under the influence of Solomon; and a land and sea trading system that utilized a powerful navy and army to protect assets and trade routes. According to the Hebrew scriptures, “The king made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and he made cedars as abundant as the sycamores, which are in the lowland” (2 Chronicles 1).
King Solomon is credited in the Hebrew scriptures as sponsoring, planning, funding, and executing the building of the Temple to house the Ark of the Covenant, per the wishes of his father, King David, and God. The building of the Temple is recorded in 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, with the ground-breaking beginning in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign, and construction was completed seven years later with an ostentatious dedication. In a seven-day celebration, Solomon sacrificed 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep to celebrate the Temple’s completion and God’s willingness to dwell among them, therein.
