Solomon- Hebrew/Jewish FigureMortal"King of Israel"

The Dream at Gibeon

Solomon was born to David and Bathsheba, the woman David had taken after engineering her husband Uriah's death in battle. Their first child died as divine punishment. Solomon was their second, and the prophet Nathan named him Jedidiah, "beloved of the Lord."

Early in his reign, Solomon went to Gibeon to offer sacrifice. At night, God appeared in a dream: "Ask what I shall give you." Solomon answered: "I am but a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in. Give your servant an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil."

God was pleased that he asked for wisdom rather than long life or riches or victory. He gave Solomon all three.

The wisdom showed itself at once. Two prostitutes came before the king, each claiming the same living baby. Solomon called for a sword: "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other." The true mother screamed to give the child away rather than see it killed. The false mother agreed to the division. Solomon gave the baby to the one who would rather lose him than watch him die. All Israel heard of the judgment and stood in awe.

The Temple Builder

David had longed to build a permanent house for the Ark of the Covenant, but God refused him. He was a man of blood; he could not raise a house for the divine name. That charge fell to Solomon.

The Temple took seven years to build. Cedar and cypress from Lebanon, gold in abundance, precious stones, and the finest craftsmanship. The inner sanctuary housed the Ark beneath the wings of golden cherubim. At the consecration, Solomon prayed: let prayers offered toward this place be heard in heaven. God answered: "I have consecrated this house by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time."

Wisdom and Learning

Solomon spoke three thousand proverbs and composed over a thousand songs. His knowledge ranged from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop growing on the wall. People came from all nations to hear him.

Three books bear his name. Proverbs collects his counsel on everything from laziness to the fear of God. The Song of Songs sings of love in his voice. And Ecclesiastes speaks as a king who has seen everything under the sun and found it fleeting: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity."

The Queen of Sheba

The Queen of Sheba came to test Solomon with hard questions, arriving with camels bearing spices, gold, and precious stones. Solomon answered all her questions; nothing was hidden from him. When the queen saw his wisdom, the house he had built, and the order of his court, "there was no more spirit in her." She declared: "The half was not told me." She gave Solomon gold and spices, and he gave her all that she desired.

The encounter grew far beyond the biblical account. Ethiopian tradition in the Kebra Nagast claims she bore Solomon a son, Menelik I, founder of the Solomonic dynasty that ruled Ethiopia until 1974.

The Magic Ring

Post-biblical Jewish tradition made Solomon a sorcerer. God gave him a ring inscribed with the divine name, and with it Solomon could command demons. He put them to work building the Temple.

The most famous story involves Asmodeus. Solomon needed the shamir, a creature whose touch could cut stone without iron tools. Asmodeus knew where it was. Solomon's servant Benaiah captured the demon, binding him with a chain inscribed with the divine name.

Asmodeus revealed the shamir's location and was forced to help build the Temple. But the demon tricked Solomon, seized his ring, and flung the king from his throne. For three years Asmodeus ruled Israel in Solomon's shape while the true king wandered as a beggar. Only through repentance and God's mercy did Solomon recover his ring and his throne.

The Decline

Solomon's reign ended in shadows. He loved many foreign women, from the nations God had forbidden. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. In old age, they turned his heart. He built high places for Chemosh of Moab and Molech of Ammon.

God's judgment was direct: the kingdom would be torn from Solomon's son, though not entirely, and not in Solomon's lifetime, for David's sake. When Solomon died, his son Rehoboam's arrogance drove the northern tribes to secede. The kingdom David had built and Solomon had glorified shattered in one generation.

He built God's house and burned incense at foreign altars. He asked for an understanding heart as a young man and by old age had given it away.