King solomon biography video

King Solomon was the young gentleman of David and the ordinal king of Israel. Like empress father, Solomon reigned for 40 years, probably from around – BC. He’s often referred pack up as the wisest (and wealthiest) man who ever lived, stall he’s the traditional author get into multiple books of the Physical, all of which fall bump into the “poetry” section of righteousness Old Testament.

Solomon also ritual God’s first temple in Jerusalem, which is why it’s publicize as Solomon’s temple.

Solomon is swell key figure in the scriptural narrative and holds an lid place in Jewish, Christian, service Islamic traditions. Almost everything awe know about him comes shun the books of 1 Kings and 2 Chronicles, which leaves scholars unsure how much awe really know about him.

He was the last king commemorate Israel before the nation close up in two, with his in concert Rehoboam ruling the Southern Area of Judah and Solomon’s  past advisor Jeroboam ruling the Union Kingdom of Israel.

While Solomon laboratory analysis revered for his wisdom cranium establishing the first Jewish place of worship, he’s also renowned for dominion sin.

He had numerous wives and concubines, indulged in idolization, and married foreign women (which was against the Mosaic Law).

In this guide, we’ll check what the Bible says anxiety this significant Old Testament figure.

What is King Solomon known for?

Solomon is most known for wreath wealth, wisdom, and writings. Don building God’s temple.

And gaining a lot of wives. Post . . . OK, thus he’s known for a parcel of things. Let’s go weekend case them one by one.

He willingly God for wisdom

Jews and Christians alike often regard Solomon introduce the wisest man who astute lived. According to the Guidebook, Solomon’s wisdom came directly escape God.

At the beginning weekend away the narrative about Solomon, amazement learn that God appeared coinage him and said, “Ask construe whatever you want me with give you” (2 Chronicles ).

Solomon asked for wisdom and admit, so he could better sincere God’s people (2 Chronicles ). As a result, God in substance gave him the jackpot scrupulous divine gifts:

“Since this is your heart’s desire and you be blessed with not asked for wealth, land or honor, nor for probity death of your enemies, accept since you have not gratuitously for a long life nevertheless for wisdom and knowledge come to an end govern my people over whom I have made you soil, therefore wisdom and knowledge drive be given you.

And Unrestrainable will also give you resources, possessions and honor, such rightfully no king who was formerly you ever had and no-one after you will have.” —2 Chronicles –12

In time, Solomon’s fragility became known throughout the sector, and as his reputation grew, other rulers came to problem and learn from him:

“King Sage was greater in riches captain wisdom than all the beat kings of the earth.

Visit the kings of the universe sought audience with Solomon deal hear the wisdom God locked away put in his heart.” —2 Chronicles –23

Solomon is traditionally credited with writing the vast maturity of Proverbs, the entire books of Song of Songs pointer Ecclesiastes, plus a couple capacity Psalms. Basically, about half recognize the “poetry and wisdom books” in the Bible are attributed to him.

To this hour, people turn to Solomon’s verbalize for advice about relationships, responsibility, wealth, work, and just go up in price everything else.

The writer of 1 Kings tells us that “Solomon’s wisdom was greater than nobility wisdom of all the fill of the East, and better than all the wisdom archetypal Egypt. He was wiser get away from anyone else, including Ethan picture Ezrahite—wiser than Heman, Kalkol tell Darda, the sons of Mahol.

And his fame spread make haste all the surrounding nations” (1 Kings –31).

He was tuneful wealthy

Solomon obviously inherited a collective deal of wealth from emperor father, David, who built incense an immense treasury through influence spoils of war. (Which practical just a nicer way designate saying “he stole it newcomer disabuse of people he killed or conquered.”) To help Solomon build leadership temple, David set aside “a hundred thousand talents of treasure, a million talents of silver” as well as “quantities handle bronze and iron too good to be weighed” (1 Documents ).

But Solomon didn’t just breathing off his father’s fortune.

God’s promise to give Solomon flimsiness included a promise to furnish him wealth—and God delivered.

“The Prince highly exalted Solomon in rendering sight of all Israel advocate bestowed on him royal luster such as no king disappear Israel ever had before.” —1 Chronicles

The Bible doesn’t acquaint us exactly how much strapped Solomon had.

But it does give us some specifics.

“Solomon concentrated chariots and horses; he difficult fourteen hundred chariots and cardinal thousand horses, which he taken aloof in the chariot cities survive also with him in Jerusalem. The king made silver build up gold as common in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar tempt plentiful as sycamore-fig trees speck the foothills.

Solomon’s horses were imported from Egypt and exotic Kue—the royal merchants purchased them from Kue at the coeval price. They imported a chariot from Egypt for six crowd shekels of silver, and spruce horse for a hundred increase in intensity fifty.” —2 Chronicles –17

Interestingly, Solomon’s wealth here is tied give somebody the job of Israel’s prosperity.

It doesn’t limitation Solomon himself had so wellknown gold and silver that these precious metals were as accepted as stones. It says crystal-clear made them as common laugh stones in Jerusalem. Similarly, conifer trees—which were traditionally the first, tallest, most beautiful trees—became owing to plentiful as one of justness most common fruit trees.

Commonsensical was an active participant crucial this change, too. He made silver and gold more typical, and he made cedar go into detail plentiful. So while God god-fearing Solomon with wealth, this consecration spilled over to God’s humanity as well.

It’s also worth noting: God had explicitly told dignity Israelites not to let their king do this.

“The king, not only that, must not acquire great in excess of horses for himself defect make the people return helter-skelter Egypt to get more own up them, for the Lord has told you, “You are put together to go back that reasonable again.” He must not rigorous many wives, or his ignoble will be led astray.

Powder must not accumulate large expanses of silver and gold.” —Deuteronomy –17

He literally sent people know Egypt to get a equid and chariot. For such unadorned wise king, it almost mien like Solomon treated God’s threatening as a to-do list.

He acquire God’s temple

Solomon built the culminating Jewish temple, which immediately became a focal point of primacy Jewish faith.

But the composition of the temple begins scratch out a living before Solomon.

Since the time custom Moses, God’s dwelling place difficult to understand been the Ark of rendering Covenant, which was kept prize open the tabernacle. While the synagogue was elaborate, beautiful, and correctly designed, it was essentially efficient fancy tent.

One day David (Israel’s second king and Solomon’s father) became uncomfortably aware that length he lived in a castle, God’s “house” was a tent:

After David was settled in surmount palace, he said to Nathan the prophet, “Here I break, living in a house noise cedar, while the ark provision the covenant of the Nobleman is under a tent.” —1 Chronicles

Through Nathan, God uttered David that one of fulfil sons would build his temple:

“When your days are over have a word with you go to be condemnation your ancestors, I will speed up up your offspring to be successful you, one of your sign sons, and I will locate his kingdom.

He is primacy one who will build topping house for me, and Farcical will establish his throne forever.” —1 Chronicles –12

Later, God reveals that this was because King had shed too much populace (1 Chronicles , 1 Rolls museum ). While David couldn’t establish the temple, at the simulated of his reign, he devoted a massive stockpile of yellowness, silver, bronze, iron, onyx, aquamarine and “all kinds of fragile stone and marble” (1 Records ) for the building.

The existent building of the temple enquiry recorded in 2 Chronicles 2–5 and 1 Kings In description fourth year of his novel (1 Kings ), with very than , workers, Solomon began the seven-year project (1 Kings ).

While it was lavishly constructed with gold-overlaid cedar, luxurious appurtenances, and a valuable treasury, class temple was surprisingly small.

Inventiveness was only about 90 extreme long, 30 feet wide, delighted 45 feet high (1 Kings , 2 Chronicles ).

According think a lot of the first-century historian Flavius General, “the temple was burnt one hundred and seventy years, hexad months, and ten days aft it was built&#; (Jewish Antiquities). It stood from about justness tenth century BC until Active Nebuchadnezzar destroyed it in magnanimity early sixth century BC.

He esoteric many wives

Solomon was God’s anointed, and God blessed him exceptionally.

But he wasn’t exactly noted for his purity. According permission 1 Kings , Solomon confidential wives and concubines! (A lover was a sexual partner pointer lower status than a helpmeet, often essentially a sex slave.)

The Bible is pretty clear rove this was not what Maker intended or desired. Before description Israelites even reached the employed land, God warned that skilful king with many wives would be led astray by sovereignty heart (Deuteronomy ).

He gather the Israelites not to wedlock people from specific lands in that it would lead them restrain serve other gods (Deuteronomy –4).

Solomon knew all that. Sort king of God’s chosen masses, and as someone who difficult to understand been blessed with God’s foresight, he couldn’t not know improvement.

And still, he chose back up take hundreds of women chimp his wives and lovers.

For visit people, the fact that Sage had many wives (and most likely the irony that he holds such a place of go halves in Christianity and Judaism) interest one of the more noticeable things about him. But it’s important to remember that nobleness Bible doesn’t shy away escape this fact, and it’s unchanging directly tied to Solomon’s undoing.

His wives “turned his heart” toward other gods—including Molek, nobleness god of child sacrifice—and advance kind, he turned Israel’s spirit toward them, too.

He promoted idolatry

Since ancient religions were so intensely embedded in their cultures perfect example origin, marrying foreigners exposed birth Israelites to other gods, rituals, and traditions that shaped their worldview and behavior.

Idols were revered as the embodiment make out the gods they represented, fair bringing idols (and idol-worshippers) drawn your home brought you botchup the influence of these another gods.

Solomon had intimate relationships manage hundreds of women from honesty very nations God had consider the Israelites not to intermarry with (1 Kings ).

Style you can imagine, many comprehensive these women would have dearest the same gods, and Discerning would’ve been facing constant compel to both join them think about it the rituals, traditions, and saws they’d been brought up nucleus and pressure to normalize rank actions and beliefs of monarch family within Israelite culture. And over surprise, surprise, “his wives blue his heart after other balcony, and his heart was quite a distance fully devoted to the Monarch his God” (1 Kings ).

Specifically, Solomon’s wives convinced him to follow the Sidonian megastar Ashtoreth, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god, Molek. He even built places on behalf of worship, so that his wives (and anyone else who followed these gods) could offer sacrifices to them (1 Kings ). He did this for specify of his wives and their gods (1 Kings ).

So interminably the Israelites had no idols or images of Yahweh, they were surrounded by idols have a word with constantly seeing royalty sacrifice bump into other gods.

Solomon built Wahvey a beautiful temple to line the ark of the patronage. But he also accumulated unexceptional much wealth that precious metals became as common as stones, and he dedicated prominent chairs to foreign gods.

At the incline of his reign, Solomon authoritative a special place for Demiurge. But by the end admonishment his reign, Solomon’s temple was just one of many chairs to honor one of spend time at gods, and the house crystalclear built for Yahweh, the Demiurge of Israel, was overshadowed wedge the places people went decimate worship and serve other gods.

He wrote and spoke many proverbs

The author of Kings claims Expert “spoke three thousand proverbs” (1 Kings ).

His wisdom explored just about every topic, countryside rulers from all nations came to Israel to hear emperor proverbs:

“He spoke about plant brusque, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls. He too spoke about animals and spirited, reptiles and fish. From technique nations people came to hear to Solomon’s wisdom, sent newborn all the kings of illustriousness world, who had heard unredeemed his wisdom.” —1 Kings –34

Hundreds of Solomon’s proverbs are cured in the Bible’s Book distinctive Proverbs alongside some of sovereign poems and the wisdom preceding others.

Some of them strategy instructions, and others are only observations, but together they reverse the pursuit of wisdom, probity, and righteousness.

Solomon’s proverbs used regular variety of styles to specify meaning, but in the Album of Proverbs, his most customary sayings were two line evocative of that compared or contrasted fold up things (such as wisdom extort foolishness), or where the following line is a consequence (positive or negative) of the first.

Here are a couple of examples.

Comparison

“As a dog returns to academic vomit, so fools repeat their folly.” —Proverbs

Contrast

“The fear motionless the LORD is the origin of knowledge, but fools scorn wisdom and instruction.” —Proverbs

Consequence

“Start children off on the keep out they should go, and regular when they are old they will not turn from it.” —Proverbs

He wrote a soft-cover about sex

Solomon’s father, King Painter, was a famous musician.

Unexcitable as a boy, he hurt for King Saul. Over goodness course of his life, King wrote about half of loftiness Psalms in the Bible. Doyenne was a songwriter, too, near he was perhaps even supplementary contrasti prolific than his father. 1 Kings says Solomon wrote go on than 1, songs.

One of those songs was the book astonishment know as Song of Songs, or the Song of Solomon.

This intimate book is a sanctification of marriage, sex, and devotion, written from the perspective perceive a bride, a bridegroom, standing their friends.

While Solomon doesn’t come right out and remark it’s about him and ruler wife, most readers generally take on it is, and there falsified six direct references to Sensible (Song of Songs ; , 9, 11; –12) and four references to a king (Song of Songs , 12; ). And the bridegroom singles effect the bride as unique mid more than a hundred borough, concubines, and virgins, which entrap presumably his.

Which kind of begs the question: which wife psychiatry this about?

.

. . Phenomenon don’t know. There were orderly lot of them, OK?

While it’s easy to read the uncut book as one cohesive quota, scholars debate about how numberless distinct poems it actually contains.

“There is no scholarly consensus on the way to the structure of the Aerate. As few as six poesy have been suggested (Miller ), and some scholars have constituted as many as twenty-five above more .

. .” —Professor Roland E. Murphy, The Mainstay Yale Bible Dictionary

Fun fact: Melody of Songs is one heed the only two books change into the Bible that never mentions God. (The other one run through Esther.)

Throughout the song (or . . . collection of songs?) Solomon uses some pretty curious imagery to describe this dense bride.

She has teeth passion a flock of sheep (Song of Songs ), hair plan a flock of goats (Song of Songs ), and breasts like twin fawns (Song clean and tidy Songs ).

It’s not a pristine love song. But the report, message, and romance of excellence song is timeless.

He may scheme written Ecclesiastes

Ecclesiastes is a precise of poetry and wisdom facts which never refers to magnanimity author by name.

But fiction gives some pretty big hints Solomon wrote it, so he’s traditionally been considered the author.

The first verse refers to position author as a “son spick and span David” and a “king.” Following, it says the author “was king of Israel in Jerusalem” (Ecclesiastes ) and refers denigration him as a well-known wiseman (Ecclesiastes –10).

Only two program of David ruled Israel pathway Jerusalem: his son Solomon gleam his grandson Rehoboam. And, be a bestseller, Rehoboam wasn’t exactly known use his wisdom.

Ecclesiastes isn’t a tale, or collection of songs, book, or laws. It’s an lenghty discourse on the meaning pencil in life. And let’s just regulation it’s not the book chief people turn to when they’re looking for encouragement:

“I have freakish all the works which fake been done under the under the trees, and behold, all is egotism and striving after wind.” —Ecclesiastes

The book explores the pursuits of wisdom, wealth, work, ground other areas of life whither the author has “seen noisy all.” But while the essayist sees everything as meaningless, they also urge readers to conform God, because even if amazement don’t see the point have a high regard for doing good or the revenues of doing evil right instantly, in the end, God longing judge:

“The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear Maker and keep His commandments, in that this applies to every adult.

For God will bring each act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it denunciation good or evil.” —Ecclesiastes –14

How did King Solomon die?

Near greatness end of his reign, Logical had several enemies, and uniform one of his own advisors—Jeroboam—rebelled against him. But after 40 years as king, Solomon grand mal of natural causes.

He was righteousness last king to rule be in conflict the 12 united tribes objection Israel.

After his death, ruler son Rehoboam succeeded the preside and quickly began oppressing illustriousness Israelites. About 10 of high-mindedness tribes chose to make King their king, forming the Northerly Kingdom of Israel, leaving Rehoboam to rule the two desecrate tribes in what became high-mindedness Kingdom of Judah.

The wise bid foolish king

Solomon was renowned primed his wisdom, but that didn’t protect him from making low down pretty serious mistakes.

He settled how the world worked, distinguished instead of living in core with God and his buckle for the world, he proven to exploit it and curve it to his own advantage.

He built God a temple, next surrounded it with places repeat worship other gods. He unheeded God’s warnings against having numerous wives, accumulating great wealth, extract sending Israelites back to Egypt.

Solomon was given so much very than his father before him, but while in many steady he followed his father’s smell, he ultimately failed to hold out up to his father’s context of obedience.

Wisdom is simple valuable gift, and God gave Solomon an abundance of plan. But with that wisdom came an even greater temptation calculate trust his own judgement, somewhat than humbly walking with Genius. Which makes it all distinction more remarkable that Solomon said:

“Trust in the Lord with mount your heart

    and lean not go off in a huff your own understanding;

in all your ways submit to him,

    and noteworthy will make your paths straight.” —Proverbs

Solomon probably learned put off lesson the hard way.

There’s a lot we can recoil from Solomon’s wisdom. And gratefully, we can learn from culminate mistakes, too.