The name of this ruler of the ancient kingdom of Israel has long been a symbol of wisdom, justice and prosperity. However, in fact, the Bible tells about King Solomon very contradictory things. If you carefully analyze his biography and actions, then there may be well-founded doubts about his wisdom and justice …
When the biblical king Solomon lived and whether he even existed in reality is a question to which they cannot find an unambiguous answer. On the one hand, the Bible, of course, reflects real events that took place many centuries ago, on the other, it cannot be perceived as a chronicle strictly fixing events. Attempts to calculate the century in which the legendary ruler lived have been made many times. As a rule, historians place it in the X century BC, although according to traditional Jewish chronology, he lived and ruled earlier - about 874-796 BC. His reign is considered to be the true "golden age" of the Kingdom of Israel. But this does not mean at all that these years were quiet and calm.
Younger son
The very coming of Solomon to power was already surrounded by scandals, intrigues and conspiracies. And the heir to the throne showed himself at the same time rather a tyrant than a zealot of truth. The fact is that, in fact, he was not the heir to the throne, since his father David had several sons, and Solomon belonged to the younger ones. The throne was to be inherited by one of the elders - Amnon, Absalom or Adonijah.
But Amnon did not at all seem like a man to whom the kingdom could be entrusted. He was distinguished by extreme lust for power and susceptibility to passions. It all ended very badly: Amnon raped his half-sister Tamar. David reluctantly forgave the heir, but Absalom (born of the same mother as Tamar) decided that this could only be washed off by blood. He killed Amnon, rebelled against his father, and died while trying to hide from the soldiers.
Against the backdrop of his violent brothers, Solomon made an extremely positive impression. From an early age, he was distinguished by discretion, was not prone to shocking antics and willingly learned everything that was given the opportunity. The prophet Nathan, highly respected by King David, who was Solomon's educator, from a certain moment began to strongly advise the ruler to transfer the throne to his youngest son, violating the rule of seniority. After thinking it over carefully, David, whose days were drawing to a close, agreed.
This angered Adonijah, who was now the eldest and was actually trying on the crown. He had powerful allies - the high priest Abiathar and the commander Joab. Together they formed a conspiracy and proclaimed Adonijah king, without waiting for the death of decrepit David. Even the date of the coronation ceremony had already been set. But the plan failed. First, the conspirators were not supported by the tsarist guard and the most respected courtiers. Secondly, David managed to officially anoint Solomon as king, which gave him a decisive argument for any dispute.
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Not daring to unleash a full-scale civil war, Adonijah, Abiathar and Joab repented before Solomon. He forgave his brother, but treated the others harshly. Abiathar lost his title of high priest and lost all the influence he had. The new king ordered Joab to be executed. In this he followed the advice of his father, who had long believed that a military leader is capable of any crime.
After some time, it was Adonijah's turn. He promised that he would never again claim power. But soon he decided to marry the last concubine of King David - Avisaga the Sunamite. When Solomon found out about this, his reaction turned out to be unexpectedly tough - he considered this behavior of his brother a violation of the agreement. And without hesitation he gave the order to execute Adonijah. This made it clear to all subjects that prudence and wisdom do not mean generosity. And joke with the new king is not worth it.
Gold talents
There are many different stories known about the time of Solomon's reign. Some of them are instructive and even somewhat amusing, such as, for example, the parable of the "Solomon's solution." Two women came to the king, arguing over which of them the infant belongs to. Having listened to both, Solomon ordered to chop the baby and give each half. Immediately one of the women shouted in fright: "No, let them then give him to her, but leave him alive." So the king realized that this is a real mother, ready for anything to save the life of her child.
Other stories have left intriguing mysteries over which both historians and interpreters of Holy Scripture still puzzle. One of these mysteries is Solomon's relationship with the Queen of Sheba. The legendary ruler of the kingdom of Saba, located in the south of the Arabian Peninsula, arrived in Jerusalem to test the Israeli monarch with riddles. He passed the test with honor, and also gave the queen “everything she wanted and what she asked for, in addition to what King Solomon gave her with his own hands” (ZK 10:13). After that, an era of prosperity began in Israel.
From this episode, it is often concluded that the king and the queen became lovers and even had children in common. For example, the imperial dynasty, which ruled Ethiopia from the 13th to the 20th centuries, derived its lineage from Menelik, the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba.
The Bible says that every year Israel received a bbb of talents of gold, not counting the income from trade. But the main role in this was not played by good relations with the Queen of Sheba, but by the fact that one of the most ancient trade routes, the "Royal Road", passed through the territory of Israel. She went from Egypt, through Damascus and Mesopotamia to Persia. Solomon skillfully took advantage of this circumstance, contriving to impose favorable duties on the caravans, and not to quarrel over this with the neighboring powers.
In general, unlike most of the great rulers of antiquity, Solomon was not distinguished by a warlike character. Instead, he relied on diplomacy. And he achieved by these methods much more than others - by force of arms. Solomon put an end to the eternal enmity of the Jews with the Egyptians and even took Pharaoh's daughter as a wife to consolidate the alliance. He established close ties with the Phoenician ruler Hiram.
Apostate from the faith
By far the most famous and great creation of Solomon was the First Temple that he built. This religious building became a symbol of the unification of the state and the greatness of God's chosen people. The Ark of the Covenant was placed there with the tablets on which the commandments given by God to Moses were inscribed.
But in addition to its spiritual significance, the temple was also a demonstration of the economic power of Israel. A huge amount of expensive materials were used to build and decorate the giant building. Silver, gold, Lebanese cedar and mahogany - all this was spent by Solomon in gigantic amounts. The people could only obey and endure. The entire free population of Israel served labor service at the royal construction sites. Moreover, if in the case of the temple this did not cause special objections, then when the king wished to erect an equally luxurious palace for himself, a murmur gradually began to rise among the people. But Solomon did not want to listen to him.
Despite Solomon's vaunted wisdom, he was seized by a kind of "dizziness with success." He was insanely rich, extremely powerful, respected by the surrounding kings and his own subjects. How can you not believe in your own absolute exclusivity? And Solomon succumbed to this temptation headlong.
The decoration of the palace became more and more luxurious (because of this, it was built twice as long as the temple), taxes - more and more, the character of the king - more and more harsh. Soon, unrest and uprisings of some tribes, conquered by the Jews, began. And the treasury, which seemed bottomless, gradually began to deplete. But Solomon could no longer be stopped. He got himself a giant harem (according to the Bible - 700 wives and 300 concubines). And, not without the help of court flatterers, he completely believed in his godliness.
In Judaism and Christianity, the decline of Israel after the death of Solomon is usually associated with the fact that the king apostate from the faith: “Then Solomon built a temple for Hamos, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain that is in front of Jerusalem, and Moloch, the abomination of the Ammonites. So he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. (ZK 11: 7-8). But even without the involvement of higher powers, these reasons for the tragedy were enough.
Dying after 40 years of reign, Solomon left his state in a very difficult situation. And his son Rehoboam ascended the throne, being firmly convinced of two things: first, Israel is infinitely rich, and secondly, the king is always right. From his father, he learned only rigidity, but not wisdom. And his programmatic statement “My father punished you with scourges, and I will punish you with scorpions” led to the fact that the once united and mighty Israel was divided into two independent kingdoms - Judah and Northern Israel. Neither Rehoboam nor Solomon had time to understand the main thing: it is not enough to achieve prosperity. It needs to be preserved.
Archaeological controversy
The question of how much King Solomon is a historical and not a legendary person is closely related to the question of the historicity of the one kingdom of Israel itself in the 11th-10th centuries BC. The fact is that no clear archaeological evidence of the existence of such a powerful power can be found at that time. And the books of the Old Testament, which tell about the reign of three great Israelite kings - Saul, David and Solomon - were written only in the 7th century BC, so that only echoes of real historical events are also brought to us.
Nevertheless, large-scale excavations in modern Israel continue, and each year they bring interesting results confirming that people have lived here, built cities, fought and erected temples for many centuries. Here are just all attempts to connect certain finds directly with King Solomon (or David), as a rule, fail.
modern Israeli scientists believe that talking about a mighty kingdom with huge cities and giant temples in the 10th century BC is not worth it. For example, Israel Finkelstein, professor of archeology at Tel Aviv University, insists that at the time the Old Testament talks about, the process of state formation was just beginning in Palestine. Accordingly, David and Solomon were the leaders of small tribal alliances, their armies were more like gangs of robbers, and Jerusalem was just a small village.
Another Tel Aviv archaeologist Zeev Herzog, supporting his colleague, says that the northern and southern kingdoms were originally separate and periodically even feuded. Jerusalem under the real king Solomon was, of course, a fairly large settlement, but there were no large temples and palaces in it.
Opponents call the supporters of this point of view adherents of "low archeology" (as opposed to "high" - following the biblical tradition). One of the most famous modern researchers, standing in "high" positions, is the archaeologist Eilat Mazar, who, in her own words, works "with the Bible in one hand and the excavation tool in the other." She found many unique objects and ancient artifacts, but she cannot yet defend their "biblical" dating.
On the other hand, if King Solomon was really only the leader of the tribal union, and not the ruler of a mighty state, then many of his actions are easier to understand and explain. Perhaps the whole point is not a lack of wisdom, but just a difference in the scale of what is happening.
Victor BANEV