King Solomon

Solomon, (about 1010 BC to 931 BC); was the son of David, the second monarch of the ancient United Kingdom of Israel. He was naturally intelligent and was praised by the Israelites. For the king of wisdom. After David's death, he became the third monarch of Israel. He reigned for more than 40 years. He was also the last monarch before the division of the United Kingdom of Israel. It is said that he wrote many works during his lifetime, including "Proverbs", "Song of Songs", "Evangelism" The book includes extensive research on historical plants and animals as well as astronomy and geography.

Chinese name: Solomon

Foreign name: Solomon

Alias: King of Wisdom

Nationality: Israel

Ethnicity: Jewish

Birthplace: City of David

Birthdate: 1010 BC

Death date: 931 BC

Occupation: The third monarch of Israel

Religion: Judaism

Main achievements: Building the temple

Developing commerce and trade

Creating all nations The coming situation brought the country to its peak

Representative works: "Proverbs", "Song of Songs" and "Ecclesiastes"

Father: David

Mother: Bathsheba

Character Life

King Solomon is the greatest king in the history of the Jewish nation and one of the most legendary kings in the world. According to the Bible, after Solomon ascended the throne at the age of 20, he prayed to God for wisdom in a dream. God not only gave him incomparable wisdom, but also endless glory, wealth and virtue.

Since then, Solomon has conquered the hearts of the people with his wisdom. In particular, stories such as "The Case of Wise Judgment of Paternity" demonstrate the power of his wisdom. The huge wealth created by King Solomon was unprecedented and unparalleled at the time: he built the famous Jewish temple and welcomed back the "golden ark" where God stored the oracles; he engaged in economic construction and urban construction, and built He built a luxurious palace and strong city walls; he built two fleets and sent them overseas to vigorously develop commerce; he formed a powerful navy, not only carried out expeditionary expansion, but also went to sea to seek to develop his country's trade.

Character Evaluation

In the forty years of King Solomon’s reign, his achievements in politics, economy, and diplomacy were further developed than during the reign of his father David. The reigns of David and Solomon can be said to be an unparalleled golden age in the existence of the unified kingdom of the nation of Israel.

Israel

The reasons for the division

King Solomon was extravagant and extravagant in his later years, which intensified the dissatisfaction of the people.

According to biblical records, this split was due to the fact that King Solomon followed his concubines to worship and serve many gods when he was old, instead of following the example of his father King David. serve the LORD, thereby incurring the wrath of the LORD. Jehovah sent the prophet Ahijah of Shiloh to tear one of his new coats into twelve pieces outside Jerusalem and asked Jeroboam to take ten pieces. This meant that God would tear the United Kingdom into two pieces after the death of Solomon. A kingdom, the northern kingdom of Israel was composed of ten tribes and would be ruled by Jeroboam I; the southern kingdom of Judea was left with two tribes of Judea and Benjamin, which continued to be ruled by King Solomon's son Rehoboam.

The situation after the division

In order to consolidate his kingdom, Jeroboam set up golden calf altars in Bethel and Dan to compete with the Jerusalem temple in the southern kingdom, but he also led The people of the North fell into the mortal sin of idolatry. The political center of the northern kingdom of Israel was originally established in Shechem, and later moved to Tirza. When Omri became king, he purchased Mount Samaria from Samar and built it into the capital. There were frequent wars between the Southern Kingdom and the Northern Kingdom in the sixty years after the division. It was not until the marriage of King Jehoshaphat of Judea and King Ahab of Israel that the relationship between the two countries was gradually restored.

The northern kingdom of Israel was destroyed by Assyria in 721 BC, and the southern kingdom of Judea was destroyed by Babylon in 583 BC.

After the Assyrian king destroyed the northern kingdom of Israel, he adopted a very strict ethnic migration policy and moved most of the northern Israelites to various parts of the Assyrian empire. At the same time, he moved people from other vassal states to live in the Samaritan area. Therefore, Samaria The demi-humans were the descendants of the few remaining Israelites from the northern kingdom who intermarried with the various ethnic groups that were moved into Samaria. Their blood and religious beliefs are mixed.

The Impact of Schism

In 538 BC, King Cyrus of Persia issued an edict allowing the Jews to return to the land of Judea. Therefore, in Shebassa, Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah Under the leadership of others, a group of Jews returned from Babylon and rebuilt the walls of Jerusalem. At this time, the Jews clearly refused to recognize that the Samaritans were also descendants of the Israelites (Nehemiah 2:20). The racial, political, cultural, and religious barriers between the Samaritans and the Jews only worsened. The Samaritans' religious beliefs are extremely conservative. They only believe in the Pentateuch passed down from their ancestors and refuse to accept other prophetic or wisdom books. They also insisted that Mount Gerizim was the holy mountain for worshiping Jehovah, and built the temple there, which was destroyed by Hyrcanus of the Jewish Maccabean dynasty in 128 BC.

Historical records

According to the "Book of Kings" in the Bible, the Queen of Sheba admired King Solomon's wisdom and came to Jerusalem with her servants, spices, gems and gold to meet her. . During the meeting, she asked King Solomon many questions, and King Solomon answered them one by one to her great satisfaction. King Solomon's erudition, the luxury of his palace, the sumptuousness of his banquets, and even the exquisite attire of his ministers all made her "astonished and stunned."

Anecdotes

The relationship between the two of them is further described in some Jewish documents and legends. The Queen of Sheba was beautiful and intelligent, and King Solomon was mighty and witty. When the two met, they were both fascinated by each other's appearance and intelligence, and fell in love spontaneously. On her way back home, the queen gave birth to a mixed-race son, named Menelik, which means "son of wisdom." This son later succeeded to the throne and was called Menelik I. He knew his life experience, and after he ascended the throne, he went to Jerusalem to meet his biological father, King Solomon. When he left Jerusalem to return home, King Solomon sent some young Israelites to escort him. These Israelites later settled in the Kingdom of Sheba and intermarried with the locals. Menelik I and the descendants of these Israelites became the ancestors of Beta Israel.

Adonijah

The reason for the incident

David was old and approaching death. The fourth son Adonijah received support from the general Joab and the priest Abiathar, and was active in preparing to inherit the throne. But another faction headed by Nathan the prophet and Zadok the priest strongly supported Bathsheba's son Solomon as king. Together with Bathsheba, they carried out various activities in front of the aging King David, prompting David to formally elect him before his death. Solomon succeeds to the throne.

What happened

So the group that supported Solomon gathered around Solomon and rode David's mule to the city of Gihon. The priest Zadok presided over a grand anointing ceremony, which shook the earth and the earth. Amidst the cheers of long live King Solomon, the other faction supporting Adonijah declared that they collapsed and fled. Although Adonijah temporarily saved his life, soon after the death of King David, King Solomon still used "a small matter" as an excuse to kill his half-brother who competed with him for the throne.

Main achievements

Trade development

Solomon ascended the throne and inherited the vast land territory of his father David: from the Euphrates River in the northeast to the Gulf of Aqaba in the southeast. The southwest extends to the borders of Philistia and Egypt. King Solomon was ambitious and his decisions were wise and strategic. He vigorously strengthened the state apparatus of rule, divided the country into twelve administrative regions, and added various official positions to facilitate administrative rule and collect central taxes.

Solomon also strengthened the defense construction of the capital Jerusalem, expanded the city walls of Jerusalem, and established six fortified cities outside Jerusalem, including Megiddo, Hazor, and Gezer. A storage city, vehicle depot, horse racing field, etc. were also built.

A horse farm from the Solomon era has been excavated in Megiddo, and the remains of a metal smelting plant from the Solomon era have been discovered at Ezion Geber (now called Eilat) at the northern end of the Gulf of Aqaba. During the Solomon era, maritime trade was developed based on the Port of Eilat. His trading fleet sailed in the Red Sea and the Mediterranean, reaching as far away as Africa, India and other places.

Building the Temple and the Royal Palace

Another important achievement of Solomon was the construction of the Temple and the Royal Palace. He completed the great work of building the temple that his father David had failed to complete. It is reported that the construction of the temple took seven years. Chapter 6 of "1 Kings" and Chapter 3 of "2 Chronicles" record the construction process and grand scale of the palace in detail. This temple was later called the "First Temple".

In addition, Solomon spent thirteen years building a gorgeous palace and other buildings, including the Pharaoh's Daughter's Palace, the Forest of Lebanon, the Column Gallery, the Throne Hall, etc. For the construction of the above project, Solomon entered into a construction contract with the Phoenician king of Tire, and the people of Tire and Sidon supplied building materials and construction workers. For this purpose, Solomon paid twenty cities in the land of Asher as a consideration. King of Tyre (1 Kings 9:11-13).

Friendly relations with foreign countries

King Solomon developed friendly relations with neighboring countries. He married the Pharaoh of Egypt and attracted neighboring countries from all over the world to come to pay homage and visit. For example, the well-known Queen of Sheba (at the southernmost tip of the Arabian Peninsula, today's Yemen) also led a large number of officials to visit. The beauty of Solomon's palace and King Solomon's wise questions and answers made the queen "astonished to the point of losing her mind" (1 Guardians 10:5), and many beautiful legends about the queen and Solomon have been left to this day. He also had a beautiful love affair, and his sweet and romantic relationship with the Queen of Sheba has been passed down through the ages.

The Queen of Sheba admired King Solomon's wisdom, so she brought her servants, spices, precious stones and gold to Jerusalem to meet him.

During the meeting, she asked King Solomon many questions, and King Solomon answered them one by one to her satisfaction.

King Solomon's erudition, the luxury of his palace, the sumptuous banquets, and even the exquisite costumes of his ministers all made her "astonished and stunned."

The relationship between the two of them is further stated in some Jewish documents and legends.

The Queen of Sheba was beautiful and intelligent, and King Solomon was mighty and witty.

As soon as the two met, they were fascinated by each other's appearance and intelligence, and fell in love spontaneously.

On the way back home, the queen gave birth to a mixed-race son, named Menelik, which means "son of wisdom."

This son later succeeded to the throne and was called Menelik I.

He knew his life experience, and after he ascended the throne, he went to Jerusalem to meet his biological father, King Solomon.

When he left Jerusalem to return home, King Solomon sent some young Israelites to escort him.

Classic Quotes

King Solomon said: A word of rebuke is better when it enters the heart of a wise person than a hundred smites on a foolish person, which precedes destruction and pride in the heart, and pride before honor. There must be humility.

King Solomon said: Where your heart is, there your treasure is.

King Solomon said: What has been done will be done again; what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

King Solomon said: Vanity of vanity, all things are vanity. Everything is based on speculation. will become a thing of the past. What do you get when all is said and done.