Solomon, the wise king

Solomon, son of David and Bathsheba, is remembered as the wisest and richest king of Israel. Under his reign the nation reached its greatest splendour: peace, prosperity, international trade and, above all, the building of the first temple in Jerusalem. He wrote proverbs, songs and reflections that are part of the Bible. Yet his story ends with a warning: wisdom and wealth are not enough if the heart turns away from God. After his death the kingdom divided.

Beloved of God

When he was born, David named him Solomon, a name related to shalom, “peace”. But God, through the prophet Nathan, gave him another name: Jedidiah, meaning “beloved of the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:24-25). It is significant that God chose as David’s successor precisely a son of Bathsheba: God’s grace shone in the middle of a story marked by sin and repentance.

At the end of David’s life, his son Adonijah tried to make himself king. But the prophet Nathan and Bathsheba intervened, and David ordered Solomon to be anointed. Zadok the priest anointed him at Gihon, and the people blew trumpets and shouted: “God save king Solomon!”

The dream at Gibeon: “Give me wisdom”

At the beginning of his reign, Solomon went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices. There God appeared to him in a dream and said: “Ask what I shall give thee.” Instead of asking for riches, long life or the death of his enemies, Solomon asked for wisdom:

“Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?”

1 Kings 3:9

This request pleased God, who gave him a wise and understanding heart like no one before or after, and also gave him what he had not asked for: riches and honour.

The judgment of the two women

Soon afterwards two women came before the king. Both lived in the same house and had given birth a few days apart. One night one of the babies died, and each claimed the living child was hers. There were no witnesses. Solomon called for a sword and ordered: “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.” Then the real mother, moved with love, cried: “O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.” The other said: “Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it.” Solomon gave judgment: the child should be given to the first, for she was his mother. All Israel feared the king, “for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment” (1 Kings 3:28).

Wisdom and splendour

The Bible says Solomon’s wisdom excelled that of all the people of the east and of Egypt. He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were a thousand and five, and he spoke of trees, beasts, birds, creeping things and fishes (1 Kings 4:32-33). People from every nation came to hear his wisdom. Much of the book of Proverbs, the Song of Songs and, according to tradition, Ecclesiastes are attributed to him, as well as two psalms (72 and 127).

His kingdom stretched from the Euphrates to the border of Egypt. Israel lived in peace: “Judah and Israel dwelt safely, every man under his vine and under his fig tree” (1 Kings 4:25). Solomon developed trade with ships sailing to Ophir for gold, and built palaces, fortified cities and stables for thousands of horses.

Building the temple

Solomon’s most important work was the temple in Jerusalem. David had gathered the materials, but it was his son who built it, on Mount Moriah, the place where, according to tradition, Abraham had offered Isaac (2 Chronicles 3:1). King Hiram of Tyre supplied cedar wood from Lebanon and skilled craftsmen. The stones were prepared at the quarry, so that there was neither hammer nor axe heard in the house while it was being built (1 Kings 6:7). The interior was overlaid with gold. The work took seven years.

At the dedication of the temple, the priests brought the ark of the covenant into the Most Holy Place, and a cloud filled the house of the Lord so that the priests could not stand to minister, “for the glory of the Lord had filled the house”. Solomon offered a long prayer, acknowledging God’s greatness:

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house that I have builded?”

1 Kings 8:27

In his prayer Solomon also prayed for foreigners who would come from distant lands to pray towards the temple, so that all the peoples of the earth might know God’s name (1 Kings 8:41-43). God answered with a promise still known today: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land” (2 Chronicles 7:14).

The queen of Sheba

Solomon’s fame reached the queen of Sheba, who came to Jerusalem with a great train, camels bearing spices, gold and precious stones, to test him with hard questions. Solomon answered them all. Seeing his wisdom, his palace and the order of his court, the queen was astonished: “the half was not told me” (1 Kings 10:7), and she blessed the God of Israel. Ethiopian tradition holds that a son, Menelik, founder of Ethiopia’s royal dynasty, was born of that visit.

The heart turned away

But Solomon’s story takes a sad turn. The law of Moses warned that the king must not multiply horses, wives, or silver and gold (Deuteronomy 17:16-17). Solomon did all three. He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, many of them foreign, and “when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart after other gods” (1 Kings 11:4). He built altars to Chemosh, Molech and other gods. He also imposed heavy taxes and forced labour on the people.

God told him that because of this unfaithfulness the kingdom would be divided after his death, although for David’s sake one tribe would be left to his descendants. Solomon reigned forty years. After his death his son Rehoboam rejected the advice to lighten the people’s burdens, and ten tribes broke away to form the northern kingdom, Israel, while Judah remained with David’s dynasty.

Ecclesiastes: the search for meaning

The book of Ecclesiastes, traditionally attributed to Solomon, reads like the reflection of a man who had everything: wisdom, pleasures, riches, great works, and concluded that without God all is “vanity of vanities”, a breath. His final conclusion is clear: “Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man” (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

Places in the story

Interesting facts

Lessons for our lives

Asking for wisdom pleases God: James 1:5 promises that God gives it liberally. God’s presence matters more than the building. Prosperity can be a harder test than poverty. A divided heart ends up turned away: small compromises lead to great falls. The meaning of life is found in God. Our decisions affect the next generations.

On the road to Jesus

Jesus said: “The queen of the south… came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here” (Matthew 12:42). Jesus is the wisdom of God made flesh (1 Corinthians 1:24). Solomon built a temple of stone; Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”, speaking of his body (John 2:19-21). The glory that filled Solomon’s temple was fully revealed in Christ: “we beheld his glory” (John 1:14). And Jesus taught that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like a lily of the field, inviting us to seek first the kingdom of God. Solomon, son of David, was an imperfect king of peace; Jesus, the Son of David, is the true Prince of Peace.

In the next episode we will meet Elijah, the prophet of fire who confronted the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.

Prayer

Lord, like Solomon, I ask you for an understanding heart to discern between good and evil. Guard me from a divided heart and from letting prosperity draw me away from you. Thank you that in Jesus Christ I have one greater than Solomon, the wisdom of God. May my life be a temple where your glory dwells. Amen.