General Notes

BIOGRAPHY: SOLOMON  sol'-o-mun (shelomoh; New Testament Solomon):   I. EARLY LIFE   1. Name and Meaning   2. Sources   3. Birth and Upbringing   4. His Accession   5. Closing Days of David   II. REIGN OF SOLOMON   1. His Vision   2. His Policy   3. Its Results   4. Alliance with Tyre   5. Alliance with Egypt   6. Domestic Troubles   III. HIS BUILDINGS   1. The Temple   2. The Palace   3. Other Buildings   4. The Corvee   IV. HIS CHARACTER   1. Personal Qualities   2. His Wisdom   3. His Learning   4. Trade and Commerce   5. Officers of State   6. Wives   7. Revenues   8. Literary Works   LITERATURE   I. Early Life.   Solomon was the son of David and Bath-sheba, and became the 3rd king of Israel.   1. Name and Meaning:   He was so named by his mother (2 Samuel 12:24, Qere; see TEXT AND MANUSCRIPTS OF THE NEW TEST AMENT; TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT), but by the prophet Nathan, or by his father (Vulgate), h e was called Jedidiah--"loved of Yahweh." The name "Solomon" is derived from the root meanin g "to be quiet" or "peaceful," and Solomon was certainly the least warlike of all the kings o f Israel or Judah, and in that respect a remarkable contrast to his father (so 1 Chronicles 2 2:9). His name in Hebrew compares with Irenaeus in Greek, Friedrich in German, and Selim in A rabic; but it has been suggested that the name should be pronounced shillumah, from the wor d denoting "compensation," Bath-sheba's second son being given in compensation for the loss o f the first (but see 3, below).   2. Sources:   The oldest sources for the biography of Solomon are doubtless the "Annals of Solomon" referre d to in 1 Kings 11:41, the "history of Nathan the prophet," the "prophecy of Ahijah the Shilo nite" and the "visions of Iddo the seer," mentioned in 2 Chronicles 9:29, all which may be me rely the relative sections of the great book of the "Annals of the Kings" from which our Book s of Kings and Chronicles are both derived. These ancient works are, of course, lost to us sa ve in so far as they have been embodied in the Old Testament narrative. There the life of Sou th is contained in 2 Samuel 12:24; 1 Kings 1-11; 1 Chronicles 22-2Ch 9. Of these sources 2 Sa muel 12:24 f and 1 Kings 1; 2 are much the oldest and in fact form part of one document, 2 Sa muel 9-20; 1 Kings 1; 2 dealing with the domestic affairs of David, which may well be contemp orary with the events it describes. The date of the composition of the Books of Chronicles i s about 300 BC--700 years after the time of Solomon--and the date of the Books of Kings, a s a completed work, must, of course, be later than the exile. Nothing of importance is gaine d from citations from early historians in Josephus and later writers. Far and away the best s ource for, at least, the inner life of Solomon would be the writings ascribed to him in the O ld Testament, could we be sure that these were genuine (see below).   3. Birth and Upbringing:   The children of David by Bath-sheba are given in 1 Chronicles 3:5 as Shimea, Shobab, Nathan a nd Solomon. Compare also 2 Samuel 5:14; 1 Chronicles 14:4, where the same persons evidently a re named. It would thus appear that Solomon was the 4th son of Bath-sheba, supposing Shimea t o be the child that died. Otherwise Solomon would be the 5th son. There are therefore some ev ents omitted in 2 Samuel 12:24, or else the names Shobab and Nathan are remains of some claus e which has been lost, and not proper names. Like the heir apparent of a Turkish sultan, Solo mon seems to have spent his best years in the seclusion of the harem. There he was doubtles s more influenced by his mother than by his father, and in close intimacy with his mother wa s the prophet Nathan, who had given him his by-name of fortunate import (2 Samuel 12:25).   4. His Accession:   It was not until David lay on his deathbed that Solomon left the women's quarters and made hi s appearance in public. That he had been selected by David, as the son of the favorite wife , to succeed him, is pre-supposed in the instructions which he received from his father regar ding the building of the Temple. But as soon as it appeared that the life of David was nearin g its end, it became evident that Solomon was not to have a "walk over." He found a rival i n Adonijah the son of Haggith, who was apparently the eldest surviving son of his father, an d who had the support of Joab, by far the strongest man of all, of Abiathar, the leading, i f not the favorite, priest (compare 2 Samuel 15:24), and of the princes of the royal house. S olomon, on the other hand, had the support of his mother Bath-sheba, David s favorite wife, o f Nathan the court prophet, of Zadok who had eclipsed Abiathar, of Benaiah, the son of a prie st, but one of the three bravest of David's soldiers, and captain of the bodyguard of Chereth ites and Pelethites, and of the principal soldiers. It is especially noted that Shimei and Hu shai (so Josephus) took no active part at any rate with Adonijah (1 Kings 1:8). The conspirac y came to nothing, for, before it developed, Solomon was anointed at Gibeon (not Gihon, 1 Kin gs 1:33,38,45), and entered Jerusalem as king.   5. Closing Days of David:   The age of Solomon at his accession is unknown. The expression in 1 Kings 3:7 is not, of cour se, to be taken literally (otherwise Ant, VIII, vii, 8). His reign opened, like that of man y an oriental monarch, with a settlement in blood of the accounts of the previous reign. Joab , David's nephew, who had brought the house within the bounds of blood revenge, was executed . Adonijah, as soon as his father had breathed his last, was on a nominal charge put to death . Abiathar was relegated to his home at Anathoth (1 Kings 2:26). Conditions were imposed on S himei which he failed to keep and so forfeited his life (1 Kings 2:36). These steps having be en taken, Solomon began his reign, as it were, with a clean slate.   II. Reign of Solomon.   1. His Vision:   It was apparently at the very beginning of his reign that Solomon made his famous choice o f a "hearing heart," i.e. an obedient heart, in preference to riches or long life. The visio n took place at Gibeon (2 Chronicles 1:7, but in 1Ki 3:4 f the ancient versions read "upon th e altar that was in Gibeon. And the Lord appeared," etc.). The life of Solomon was a curiou s commentary on his early resolution. One of the first acts of his reign was apparently, in t he style of the true oriental monarch, to build himself a new palace, that of his father bein g inadequate for his requirements. In regard to politics, however, the events of Solomon's re ign may be regarded as an endorsement of his choice. Under him alone was the kingdom of Israe l a great world-power, fit almost to rank beside Assyria and Egypt. Never again were the boun ds of Israel so wide; never again were north and south united in one great nation. There is n o doubt that the credit of this result is due to the wisdom of Solomon.   2. His Policy:   Solomon was by nature an unwarlike person, and his whole policy was in the direction of peace . He disbanded the above-mentioned foreign legion, the Cherethites and Pelethites, who had do ne such good service as bodyguard to his father. All his officers seem to have been mediocr e persons who would not be likely to force his hand, as Joab had done that of David (2 Samue l 3:39). Even the fortification of Jerusalem and of the frontier towns was undertaken wit h a view to repel attack, not for the purposes of offense. Solomon did, no doubt, strengthe n the army, especially the cavalry arm (1 Kings 4:26; 10:26), but he never made any use of th is, and perhaps it existed largely on paper. At any rate Solomon seems to have been rathe r a breeder of and dealer in horse-flesh than a soldier. He appears also to have had a fine c ollection of armor (1 Kings 10:25), but much of it was made of gold (1 Kings 10:16) and was i ntended for show, not for use. Both in his reputation for wisdom and in his aversion to war S olomon bears a striking resemblance to King James VI of Scotland and I of England, as depicte d by the hand of Sir Walter Scott. It was fortunate for him that both the neighboring great p owers were for the time in a decadent state, otherwise the history of the kingdom of Israel w ould have ended almost before it had begun. On the other hand, it has been remarked that if S olomon had had anything like the military genius of David and his enthusiasm for the religio n of Yahweh, he might have extended the arms of Israel from the Nile to the Tigris and antici pated the advent of Islam. But his whole idea was to secure himself in peace, to amass wealt h and indulge his love of grandeur with more than oriental splendor.   3. Its Results:   Solomon, in fact, was living on the achievements and reputation of his father, who laid the b asis of security and peace on which the commercial genius of Solomon could raise the magnific ent structure which he did. But he took the clay from the foundations in order to build the w alls. The Hebrews were a military people and in that consisted their life. Solomon withdrew t heir energies from their natural bent and turned them to cornmerce, for which they were not y et ripe. Their soul rebelled under the irksome drudgery of an industry of which they did no t reap the fruits. Solomon had in fact reduced a free people to slavery, and concentrated th e wealth of the whole country in the capital. As soon as he was out of the way, his country s ubjects threw off the yoke and laid claim to their ancient freedom. His son found himself lef t with the city and a territory as small as an English county.   4. Alliance with Tyre:   Solomon's chief ally was Hiram, the king of Tyre, probably the friend and ally of David, wh o is to be distinguished from Hiram the artificer of 1 Kings 7:13. Hiram the king entered int o a treaty with Solomon which was to the advantage of both parties. Hiram supplied Solomon wi th cedar and pine wood from Lebanon, as well as with skilled artisans for his building. Tyria n sailors were also drafted into the ships of Solomon, the Hebrews not being used to the se a (1 Kings 9:26), besides which Phoenician ships sailed along with those of Solomon. The adva ntages which Hiram received in return were that the Red Sea was open to his merchantmen, an d he also received large supplies of corn and oil from the land of Israel (1 Kings 5:11 corre cted by Septuagint and 2 Chronicles 2:10). At the conclusion of the building of the palace an d Temple, which occupied 20 years, Solomon presented Hiram with 20 villages (1 Kings 9:11; th e converse, 2 Chronicles 8:2), and Hiram made Solomon a return present of gold (1 Kings 9:14 ; omitted in 2 Chronicles).   5. Alliance with Egypt:   Second to Hiram was the Pharaoh of Egypt, whose daughter Solomon married, receiving as her do wer the town of Gezer (1 Kings 9:16). This Pharaoh is not named in the Old Testament. This al liance with Egypt led to the introduction of horses into Israel (1 Kings 10:28), though Davi d had already made a beginning on a small scale (2 Samuel 8:4). Both these alliances lasted t hroughout the reign. There is no mention of an alliance with the eastern power, which was the n in a decadent state.   6. Domestic Troubles:   It was probably nearer the beginning than the end of Solomon's reign that political trouble b roke out within the realm. When David had annexed the territory of the Edomites at the cost o f the butchery of the male population (compare 2 Samuel 8:14; Psalms 60, title) one of the yo ung princes of the reigning house effected his escape, and sought and found an asylum in Egyp t, where he rose to occupy a high station. No sooner had he heard of the death of David and J oab than he returned to his native country and there stirred up disaffections against Solomo n (1 Kings 11:14; see HADAD), without, however, restoring independence to Edom (1 Kings 9:26) . A second occasion of disaffection arose through a prophet having foretold that the successo r of Solomon would have one of the Israelite tribes only and that the other ten clans would b e under Solomon's master of works whom he had set over them. This officer also took refuge i n Egypt and was protected by Shishak. He remained there until the death of Solomon (1 Kings 1 1:26). A third adversary was Rezon who had fled from his master the king of Zobah (1 Kings 11 :23), and who established himself at Damascus and rounded a dynasty which was long a thorn i n the side of Israel. These domestic troubles are regarded as a consequence of the falling aw ay of Solomon from the path of rectitude, but this seems to be but a kind of anticipative con sequence, that is, if it was not till the end of his reign that Solomon fell into idolatry an d polytheism (1 Kings 11:4).   III. His Buildings.   1. The Temple:   The great undertaking of the reign of Solomon was, of course, The TEMPLE (which see), which w as at first probably considered as the Chapel Royal and an adjunct of the palace. The Templ e was begun in the 4th year of the reign and finished in the 11th, the work of the building o ccupying 7¬´ years (1 Kings 6; 7:13). The delay in beginning is remarkable, if the material we re all ready to hand (1 Chronicles 22). Worship there was inaugurated with fitting ceremony a nd prayers (1 Kings 8).   2. The Palace:   To Solomon, however, his own palace was perhaps a more interesting undertaking. It at any rat e occupied more time, in fact 13 years (1 Kings 7:1-12; 9:10; 2 Chronicles 8:1), the time o f building both palace and Temple being 20 years. Possibly the building of the palace occupie d the first four years of the reign and was then intermitted and resumed after the completio n of the Temple; but of this there is no indication in the text. It was called the House of t he Forest of Lebanon from the fact that it was lined with cedar wood (1 Kings 7:2). A descrip tion of it is given in 1 Kings 7:1-12.   3. Other Buildings:   Solomon also rebuilt the wall of the city and the citadel (see JERUSALEM; MILLO). He likewis e erected castles at the vulnerable points of the frontiers--Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer (1 King s 9:15), lower Beth-horon and BAALATH (which see). According to the Qere of 1 Kings 9:18 an d the ancient versions as well as 2 Chronicles 8:4, he was the founder of Tadmor (Palmyra); b ut the Kethibh of 1 Kings 9:18 reads Tamar (compare Ezekiel 47:19). Some of the remains of bu ildings recently discovered at Megiddo and Gezer may go back to the time of Solomon.   4. The Corvee:   Solomon could not have built on the scale he did with the resources ordinarily at the comman d of a free ruler. Accordingly we find that one of the institutions fostered by him was the c orvee, or forced labor. No doubt something of the kind always had existed (Joshua 9:21) and s till exists in all despotic governments. Thus the people of a village will be called on to re pair the neighboring roads, especially when the Pasha is making a progress in the neighborhoo d. But Solomon made the thing permanent and national (1 Kings 5:13-15; 9:15). The immediate p urpose of the levy was to supply laborers for work in the Lebanon in connection with his buil ding operations. Thus 30,000 men were raised and drafted, 10,000 at a time, to the Lebanon, w here they remained for a month, thus having two months out of every three at home. But even w hen the immediate cause had ceased, the practice once introduced was kept up and it became on e of the chief grievances which levi to the dismemberment of the kingdom (1 Kings 12:18, Ador am = Adoniram; compare 2 Samuel 20:24), for hitherto the corvee had been confined to foreig n slaves taken in war (1 Kings 9:21). It is said the higher posts were reserved for Israelite s, the laborers being foreigners (1 Kings 9:22), that is, the Israelites acted as foremen. So me of the foreign slaves seem to have formed a guild in connection with the Temple which last ed down to the time of the exile (Ezra 2:55-57; Nehemiah 7:57-59).   See NETHINIM.   IV. His Character.   1. Personal Qualities:   In Solomon we have the type of a Turkish sultan, rather than a king of Israel. The Hebrew kin gs, whether of Israel or Judah, were, in theory at least, elective monarchs like the kings o f Poland. If one happened to be a strong ruler, he managed to establish his family it might b e, for three or even four generations. In the case of the Judean dynasty the personality of t he first king made such a deep impression upon the heart of the people that the question o f a change of dynasty there never became pressing. But Solomon would probably have usurped th e crown if he had not inherited it, and once on the throne he became a thoroughgoing despot . All political power was taken out of the hands of the sheiks, although outward respect wa s still paid to them (1 Kings 8:1), and placed in the hands of officers who were simply creat ures of Solomon. The resources of the nation were expended, not on works of public utility, b ut on the personal aggrandizement of the monarch (1 Kings 10:18). In the means he took to gra tify his passions he showed himself to be little better than a savage and if he did not commi t such great crimes as David, it was perhaps because he had no occasion, or because he employ ed greater cunning in working out his ends.   2. His Wisdom:   The wisdom for which Solomon is so celebrated was not of a very high order; it was nothing mo re than practical shrewdness, or knowledge of the world and of human nature. The common examp le of it is that given in 1 Kings 3:16, to which there are innumerable parallels in Indian, G reek and other literatures. The same worldly wisdom lies at the back of the Book of Proverbs , and there is no reason why a collection of these should not have been made by Solomon jus t as it is more likely that he was a composer of verses than that he was not (1 Kings 4:32) . The statement that he had breadth of heart (1 Kings 4:29) indicates that there was nothin g known which did not come within his ken.   3. His Learning:   The word "wisdom," however, is used also in another connection, namely, in the sense of theor etical knowledge or book leaning, especially in the department of natural history. It is no t to be supposed that Solomon had any scientific knowledge of botany or zoology, but he may h ave collected the facts of observation, a task in which the Oriental, who cannot generalize , excels. The wisdom and understanding (1 Kings 4:29) for which Solomon was famous would cons ist largely in stories about beasts and trees like the well-known Fables of Pilpai. They incl uded also the "wisdom" for which Egypt was famous (1 Kings 4:30), that is, occult science. I t results from this last statement that Solomon appears in post-Biblical and Arabian literatu re as a magician.   4. Trade and Commerce:   Solomon was very literally a merchant prince. He not only encouraged and protected commerce , but engaged in it himself. He was in fact the predominant, if not sole, partner in a grea t trading concern, which was nothing less than the Israelite nation. One of his enterprises w as the horse trade with Egypt. His agents bought up horses which were again sold to the king s of the Hittites and the Arameans. The prices paid are mentioned (1 Kings 10:29). The best o f these Solomon no doubt retained for his own cavalry (1 Kings 10:26). Another commodity impo rted from that country was linen yarn (1 Kings 10:28 the King James Version). The navy whic h Solomon built at the head of the Gulf of Akaba was not at all for military, but purely comm ercial ends. They were ships of Tarshish, that is, merchant ships, not ships to Tarshish, a s 2 Chronicles 9:21. They traded to OPHIR (which see), from which they brought gold; silver , ivory, apes and peacocks, the round voyage lasting 3 years (1 Kings 9:26; 10:22). Special m ention is made of "almug" (1 Kings 10:11) or "algum" (2 Chronicles 9:10) trees (which see). T he visit of the Queen of Sheba would point to the overland caravan routes from the Yemen bein g then open (1 Kings 10:15). What with direct imports and the result of sales, silver and ced ar wood became very plentiful in the capital (1 Kings 10:27).   5. Officers of State:   The list of Solomon's officers of state is given in 1 Kings 4:2. These included a priest, tw o secretaries, a recorder, a commander-in-chief, a chief commissariat officer, a chief shephe rd (if we may read ro`eh for re'eh), a master of the household, and the head of the corvee. T he list should be compared with those of David's officers (2 Samuel 8:16; 20:23). There is mu ch resemblance, but we can see that the machine of state was becoming more complicated. The b odyguard of foreign mercenaries was abolished and the captain Benaiah promoted to be commande r-in-chief. Two scribes were required instead of one. Twelve commissariat officers were appoi nted whose duty it was to forward from their districts the supplies for the royal household a nd stables. The list of these officials, a very curious one, is given in 1 Kings 4:7. It is t o be noted that the 12 districts into which the country was divided did not coincide with th e territories of the 12 tribes. It may be remarked that Solomon seems as far as possible to h ave retained the old servants of his father. It will be noticed also that in all the lists th ere is mention of more than one priest. These "priests" retained some of their original funct ions, since they acted as prognosticators and diviners.   6. Wives:   Solomon's principal wife was naturally the daughter of Pharaoh; it was for her that his palac e was built (1 Kings 3:1; 7:8; 9:16,24). But in addition to her he established marriage relat ions with the neighboring peoples. In some cases the object was no doubt to cement an allianc e, as with the Zidonians and Hittites and the other nationalities (1 Kings 11:1), some of whi ch were forbidden to Israelites (Deuteronomy 7:3). It may be that the daughter of Pharaoh wa s childless or died a considerable time before Solomon, but his favorite wife was latterl y a grand-daughter of Nahash, the Ammonite king (1 Kings 14:21 Septuagint), and it was her so n who succeeded to the throne. Many of Solomon's wives were no doubt daughters of wealthy o r powerful citizens who wished by an alliance with the king to strengthen their own positions . Yet we do not read of his marrying an Israelite wife. According to the Arabian story Bilqis , the Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon (1 Kings 10:1),. was also married to him. He appear s to have had only one son; we are not told of any other than Rehoboam. His daughters were ma rried to his own officers (1 Kings 4:11,15).   7. Revenues:   Solomon is said to have started his reign with a capital sum of 100,000 talents of gold an d a million talents of silver, a sum greater than the national debt of Great Britain. Even so , this huge sum was ear-marked for the building of the Temple (1 Chronicles 22:14). His incom e was, for one year, at any rate, 666 talents of gold (1 Kings 10:14), or about twenty millio n dollars. This seems an immense sum, but it probably was not so much as it looks. The grea t mass of the people were too poor to have any commodities which they could exchange for gold . Its principal use was for the decoration of buildings. Its purchasing power was probably sm all, because so few could afford to buy it. It was in the same category as the precious stone s which are of great rarity, but which are of no value unless there is a demand for them. I n the time of Solomon there was no useful purpose to which gold could be put in preference t o any other metal.   8. Literary Works:   It is not easy to believe that the age of Solomon, so glorious in other respects, had not a l iterature to correspond. Yet the reign of the sultan Ismail in Morocco, whom Solomon much res embles, might be cited in favor of such a supposition. Solomon himself is stated to have comp osed 3,000 animal stories and 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32). In the Old Testament the followin g are ascribed to him:   three collections of Proverbs, 1:1; 10:1; 25:1; The So of Songs; Psalms 72 and 127; Ecclesias tes (although Solomon is not named). In Proverbs 25:1 the men of Hezekiah are said to have co pied out the following proverbs.   LITERATURE.   The relative portions of the histories by Ewald, Stanley (who follows Ewald), Renan, Wellhaus en and Kittel; also H. Winckler, Alttestamentliche Untersuchungen; and the commentaries on th e Books of Kings and Chronicles.   Thomas Hunter Weir   -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright Statement These files are public domain and are a derivative of an electronic edition that is available from Crosswire Software.  Bibliography Information Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. "Entry for 'SOLOMON'". "International Standard Bible E ncyclopedia". <http://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?number=T8273>. 1915.   (The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <http://www.studylight.org/enc/isb/view.cgi?nu mber=T8273>)