Thus, Solomon may have been in his late teens when he assumed Israel’s throne. 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. Finally, Solomon marries foreign women, and these women turn Solomon to other gods. With many inquiries being made, and questions being asked about King Solomon’s true net-worth, … He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. In 2 Chronicles 1, God appeared to Solomon and asked him what he wanted more than anything. But we often assume we can’t replicate his wisdom today. David's heir apparent, Adonijah, acted to have himself declared king, but was outmaneuvered by Bathsheba and the prophet Nathan, who convinced David to proclaim Solomon king according to his earlier promise (not recorded elsewhere in the biblical narrative),[21] despite Solomon's being younger than his brothers. However, ten of the Tribes of Israel refuse to accept him as king, splitting the United Monarchy in the northern Kingdom of Israel under Jeroboam, while Rehoboam continues to reign over the much smaller southern Kingdom of Judah. His control over the demons, spirits, and animals augmented his splendor, the demons bringing him precious stones, besides water from distant countries to irrigate his exotic plants. GOD'S WORD® Translation God gave Solomon wisdom-keen insight and a mind as limitless as the sand on the seashore. There was also on the top of the throne a golden candelabrum, on the seven branches of the one side of which were engraved the names of the seven patriarchs Adam, Noah, Shem, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Job, and on the seven of the other the names of Levi, Kohath, Amram, Moses, Aaron, Eldad, Medad, and, in addition, Hur (another version has Haggai). Solomon became famous for his wise judgments. Solomon gathers a large number of horses and chariots and even brings in horses from Egypt. They taught the people witchcraft and what was revealed in Babil (Arabic: بَـابِـل‎, Babylon) to the two angels Harut and Marut. Chapter headings for 1 Kings 5–8—Solomon builds and dedicates a beautiful temple. God was impressed by his request and decided to bless him with both wealth and wisdom. Possible evidence for the described wealth of Solomon and his kingdom was discovered in ancient silver-hoards, which were found in Israel and Phoenicia and recognized for their importance in 2003. 57b). [31] The wives were described as foreign princesses, including Pharaoh's daughter[32] and women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon and of the Hittites. G‑d appeared to him and asked what he wanted. It was not Solomon who disbelieved, but it was the devils who disbelieved. For the Ghanaian football team, see, Death, succession of Rehoboam, and kingdom division, Arguments in favour of biblical description, Biblical criticism: Solomon's religiosity, Recent History Channel promotional production about, harvnb error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFFinkelsteinSilberman2001 (, sfn error: multiple targets (2×): CITEREFFinkelsteinSilberman2001 (. Jehovah was pleased and gave Solomon a wise and understanding heart. Moreover, the structure of the Escorial was inspired by that of Solomon's Temple. Naamah, a princess of Ammon, (part of present day Jordan) who arrives in Jerusalem at age fourteen to marry King Solomon and tells of their life together, is the narrator of Aryeh Lev Stollman's novel published by Aryeh Nir/Modan (Tel Aviv) in Hebrew translation under the title, Toivo Tulev composed a piece for choir, soloists and chamber orchestra entitled, This page was last edited on 6 February 2021, at 11:43. The first child (unnamed in that account), a son conceived adulterously during Uriah's lifetime, had died as a punishment on account of the death of Uriah by David's order. occurred in the mid-8th century BCE,[58] placing a possible visit from the Queen of Sheba to Jerusalem around this time—some 250 years later than the timeframe traditionally given for king Solomon's reign. In fact, "King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom … Having discovered the entrance, Solomon found an idol inside that had in its mouth a silver tablet saying in Greek (a language not thought by modern scholars to have existed 1000 years before the time of Solomon) that the statue was of Shaddad, the son of 'Ad, and that it had reigned over a million cities, rode on a million horses, had under it a million vassals and slew a million warriors, yet it could not resist the angel of death. From the sixth step the eagles raised the king and placed him in his seat, near which a golden serpent lay coiled. David’s Final Instructions to His Son Solomon. [46], As with most biblical personages in the middle era of Israelite society, the historicity of Solomon is hotly debated. Jacob 2:24–31clearly teaches … "[90] (34: 12) and "At length, when they came to a (lowly) valley of ants, one of the ants said: 'O ye ants, get into your habitations, lest Solomon and his hosts crush you (under foot) without knowing it. While David was in this state, court factions were maneuvering for power. [11], The conventional dates of Solomon's reign are derived from biblical chronology and are set from about 970 to 931 BCE. he says Solomon's new wisdom was … When Solomon gave her "all her desire, whatsoever she asked", she left satisfied (1 Kings 10:10). Sheba is typically identified as Saba, a nation once spanning the Red Sea on the coasts of what are now Eritrea, Somalia, Ethiopia and Yemen, in Arabia Felix; although other sources place it in the area of what is now northern Ethiopia and Eritrea. [10], The life of Solomon is primarily described in 2 Samuel, 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles. He asked God for wisdom to discern evil from good. Solomon had learned from the reign of his father that when Israel followed the law of God, they prospered; and Solomon did want his nation to prosper while he ruled. Since the bottle was sealed with Solomon's seal, the genie was helpless to free himself, until he was freed many centuries later by a fisherman who discovered the bottle. At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, “Ask what I shall give you.” And Solomon said, “You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. Why? His feast day is celebrated on the Sunday of the Holy Forefathers (two Sundays before the Great Feast of the Nativity of the Lord). Solomon (/ ˈ s ɒ l ə m ə n /; Hebrew: שְׁלֹמֹה ‎, Shlomoh), also called Jedidiah (Hebrew יְדִידְיָהּ ‎ Yedidyah), was, according to the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament, Quran, and Hadiths, a fabulously wealthy and wise king of the United Kingdom of Israel who succeeded his father, King David. 3 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. According to the Hebrew Bible, the Israelite monarchy gained its highest splendour and wealth during Solomon's reign of 40 years. [47], As for Solomon himself, scholars on both the maximalist and minimalist sides of the spectrum of biblical archeology generally agree Solomon himself probably existed. In fact, "King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth" (1 Kings 10:23). In a brief, unelaborated, and enigmatic passage, the Hebrew Bible describes how the fame of Solomon's wisdom and wealth spread far and wide, so much so that the queen of Sheba decided that she should meet him. 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