or SALOMON, son of David and Bathsheba, was born A. M. 2971.
The Lord loved him, and sent Nathan to David to give Solomon the name of
Jedidiah, or, “beloved of the Lord,” 2 Sam. xii, 24, 25. This was
probably when Nathan assured David that his son should succeed him, and
that he should inherit those promises which had been made to him some
years before, when he had conceived the design of building a temple to
the Lord; for then God declared, by the prophet Nathan, that the honour
of building a temple should be reserved for his son, 2 Sam. vii, 5, &c.
Solomon, being confirmed in his kingdom, contracted an alliance with
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and married his daughter, A.M. 2291. He brought
her to Jerusalem, and had apartments for her in the city of David, till
he should build her a palace, which he did some years afterward, when he
had finished the temple. It is thought that on occasion of this
marriage, Solomon composed the Canticles, which are a kind of
epithalamium. The Scripture speaks of the daughter of Pharaoh, as
contributing to pervert Solomon, 1 Kings xi, 1, 2; Neh. xiii, 26; and it
is very likely, that if at first this princess might seem converted to
the Lord, she afterward might retain her private disposition to
idolatry, and might engage her husband in it.
Solomon, accompanied by his troops and all Israel, went up to Gibeon,
where was then the brazen altar, upon which he offered a thousand
burnt-offerings. The night following, God appeared to him in a dream,
and said, “Ask of me what thou wilt.” Solomon begged of God a wise and
understanding heart, and such qualities as were necessary for the
government of the people committed to him. This request pleased the
Lord, and was fully granted by him. Solomon returned to Jerusalem, where
he offered a great number of sacrifices on the altar before the ark of
the Lord, and made a great feast for his servants. He enjoyed a profound
peace throughout his dominions; Judah and Israel lived in security; and
his neighbours either paid him tribute, or were his allies; he ruled
over all the countries and kingdoms from the Euphrates to the Nile, and
his dominions extended even beyond the former; he had abundance of
horses and chariots of war; he exceeded the orientals, and all the
Egyptians, in wisdom and prudence; he was the wisest of mankind, and his
reputation was spread through all nations. He composed or collected,
three thousand proverbs, and one thousand and five canticles. He knew
the nature of plants and trees, from the cedar on Libanus to the hyssop
on the wall; also of beasts, of birds, of reptiles, of fishes. There was
a concourse of strangers from all countries to hear his wisdom, and
ambassadors from the most remote princes.
When Hiram, king of Tyre, knew that Solomon was made king of Israel, he
sent ambassadors to congratulate him on his accession to the crown. Some
time afterward, Solomon desired him to supply wood and workmen, to
assist in building a temple to the Lord. Hiram gladly undertook this
service, and Solomon, on his part, obliged himself to give twenty
thousand measures of wheat, and twenty thousand measures of oil. The
Hebrew and the Vulgate have only twenty measures of oil; but the reading
ought no doubt to be twenty thousand. Solomon began to build the temple
in the fourth year of his reign, and the second after the death of
David; four hundred and eighty years after the exodus from Egypt. He
employed in this great work seventy thousand proselytes, descendants of
the ancient Canaanites, in carrying burdens, fourscore thousand in
cutting stones out of the quarries, and three thousand six hundred
overseers of the works; beside thirty thousand Israelites in the
quarries of Libanus.
The temple was completed in the eleventh year of Solomon, so that he was
but seven years in performing this vast work. The dedication was made
the year following, A. M. 3001. To make this ceremony the more august,
Solomon chose for it the eighth day of the seventh month of the holy
year, which was the first of the civil year, and answered to our
October. The ceremony of the dedication lasted seven days, at the end of
which began the feast of tabernacles, which continued seven days longer;
so that the people continued at Jerusalem fourteen or fifteen days, from
the eighth to the twenty-second of the seventh month. When the ark was
placed in the sanctuary, while the priests and Levites were celebrating
the praises of the Lord, the temple was filled with a miraculous cloud,
so that the priests could no longer stand to perform the functions of
their ministry. Then Solomon, being on his throne, prostrated himself
with his face to the ground; and rising up, and turning toward the
sanctuary, he addressed his prayer to God, and besought him that the
house which he had built might be acceptable to him, that he would bless
and sanctify it, and hear the prayers of those who should address him
from this holy place. He besought him also to fulfil the promises he had
made to David his servant in favour of his family, and of the kings his
successors. Then turning himself to the people, he solemnly blessed
them. Fire coming down from heaven consumed the victims and burnt
sacrifices on the altar, and the glory of the Lord filled the whole
temple. On this day the king caused to be sacrificed twenty-two thousand
oxen, and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep for peace-offerings. And
because the altar of burnt-offerings was not sufficient for all these
victims, the king consecrated the court of the people.
Solomon afterward built a palace for himself, and another for his queen,
the king of Egypt’s daughter. He was thirteen years in finishing these
buildings, and employed in them whatever the most exquisite art, or the
most profuse riches, could furnish. The palace in which he generally
resided was called the house of the forest of Lebanon; probably because
of the great quantity of cedar used in it. Solomon also built the walls
of Jerusalem, and the place called Millo in this city; he repaired and
fortified Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, the two Bethhorons, Upper and Lower,
Baalath, and Palmyra in the desert of Syria. He also fortified the
cities where he had magazines of corn, wine, and oil; and those where
his horses and chariots were kept. He brought under his government the
Hittites, the Hivites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, which remained
in the land of Israel. He made them tributaries, and compelled them to
work at the public works. He fitted out a fleet at Ezion-Geber, and at
Elath, on the Red Sea, to go to Ophir. Hiram, king of Tyre, furnished
him with mariners, who instructed the subjects of Solomon. They
performed this voyage in three years, and brought back gold, ivory,
ebony, precious wood, peacocks, apes, and other curiosities. In one
voyage they brought Solomon four hundred and fifty talents of gold, 2
Chron. ix, 21. About the same time, the queen of Sheba came to
Jerusalem, attracted by the great fame of the king. She brought rich
presents of gold, spices, and precious stones; and proposed several
enigmas and hard questions, to which Solomon gave her such satisfactory
answers, that she owned what had been told her of his wisdom and
magnificence was far short of what she had found. The king, on his part,
made her rich presents in return.
Solomon was one of the richest, if not the very richest, of all princes
that have ever lived; and the Scripture expressly tells us he exceeded
in riches and wisdom all the kings of the earth. His annual revenues
were six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, without reckoning
tributes from kings and nations, or paid by Israelites, or sums received
for customs. The bucklers of his guards, and the throne he sat on, were
overlaid with gold. All the vessels of his table, and the utensils of
his palaces, were of gold. From all parts he received presents, vessels
of gold and silver, precious stuffs, spices, arms, horses, and mules;
and the whole earth desired to see his face, and to hear the wisdom
which God had put into his heart. But the latter actions of his life
disgraced his character. Beside Pharaoh’s daughter, he married wives
from among the Moabites, Ammonites, Idumeans, Sidonians, and Hittites.
He had seven hundred wives, who were so many queens, beside three
hundred concubines. These women perverted his heart in his declining
age, so that he worshipped Ashtoreth, goddess of the Sidonians, Moloch,
idol of the Ammonites, and Chemosh, god of the Moabites. To these he
built temples on the Mount of Olives, over against and east of
Jerusalem, and thus insulted openly the Majesty he had adored.
Solomon died after he had reigned forty years, A. M. 3029. He might be
about fifty-eight years of age; for he was about eighteen when he began
to reign. Josephus makes him to have reigned eighty years and to have
lived ninety-four years; but this is a manifest error. The history of
this prince was written by the prophets Nathan, Ahijah, and Iddo. He was
buried in the city of David; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
Of all the ingenious works composed by Solomon, we have nothing
remaining but his Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Canticles; that is,
every literary monument respecting him has perished, except those
written under inspiration--the inspired history which registers his
apostasy, and his own inspired works, which, in all the principles they
contain, condemn his vices. Some have ascribed to him the book of
Wisdom, and Ecclesiasticus; but these were written by Hellenistic Jews.
The Lord loved him, and sent Nathan to David to give Solomon the name of
Jedidiah, or, “beloved of the Lord,” 2 Sam. xii, 24, 25. This was
probably when Nathan assured David that his son should succeed him, and
that he should inherit those promises which had been made to him some
years before, when he had conceived the design of building a temple to
the Lord; for then God declared, by the prophet Nathan, that the honour
of building a temple should be reserved for his son, 2 Sam. vii, 5, &c.
Solomon, being confirmed in his kingdom, contracted an alliance with
Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and married his daughter, A.M. 2291. He brought
her to Jerusalem, and had apartments for her in the city of David, till
he should build her a palace, which he did some years afterward, when he
had finished the temple. It is thought that on occasion of this
marriage, Solomon composed the Canticles, which are a kind of
epithalamium. The Scripture speaks of the daughter of Pharaoh, as
contributing to pervert Solomon, 1 Kings xi, 1, 2; Neh. xiii, 26; and it
is very likely, that if at first this princess might seem converted to
the Lord, she afterward might retain her private disposition to
idolatry, and might engage her husband in it.
Solomon, accompanied by his troops and all Israel, went up to Gibeon,
where was then the brazen altar, upon which he offered a thousand
burnt-offerings. The night following, God appeared to him in a dream,
and said, “Ask of me what thou wilt.” Solomon begged of God a wise and
understanding heart, and such qualities as were necessary for the
government of the people committed to him. This request pleased the
Lord, and was fully granted by him. Solomon returned to Jerusalem, where
he offered a great number of sacrifices on the altar before the ark of
the Lord, and made a great feast for his servants. He enjoyed a profound
peace throughout his dominions; Judah and Israel lived in security; and
his neighbours either paid him tribute, or were his allies; he ruled
over all the countries and kingdoms from the Euphrates to the Nile, and
his dominions extended even beyond the former; he had abundance of
horses and chariots of war; he exceeded the orientals, and all the
Egyptians, in wisdom and prudence; he was the wisest of mankind, and his
reputation was spread through all nations. He composed or collected,
three thousand proverbs, and one thousand and five canticles. He knew
the nature of plants and trees, from the cedar on Libanus to the hyssop
on the wall; also of beasts, of birds, of reptiles, of fishes. There was
a concourse of strangers from all countries to hear his wisdom, and
ambassadors from the most remote princes.
When Hiram, king of Tyre, knew that Solomon was made king of Israel, he
sent ambassadors to congratulate him on his accession to the crown. Some
time afterward, Solomon desired him to supply wood and workmen, to
assist in building a temple to the Lord. Hiram gladly undertook this
service, and Solomon, on his part, obliged himself to give twenty
thousand measures of wheat, and twenty thousand measures of oil. The
Hebrew and the Vulgate have only twenty measures of oil; but the reading
ought no doubt to be twenty thousand. Solomon began to build the temple
in the fourth year of his reign, and the second after the death of
David; four hundred and eighty years after the exodus from Egypt. He
employed in this great work seventy thousand proselytes, descendants of
the ancient Canaanites, in carrying burdens, fourscore thousand in
cutting stones out of the quarries, and three thousand six hundred
overseers of the works; beside thirty thousand Israelites in the
quarries of Libanus.
The temple was completed in the eleventh year of Solomon, so that he was
but seven years in performing this vast work. The dedication was made
the year following, A. M. 3001. To make this ceremony the more august,
Solomon chose for it the eighth day of the seventh month of the holy
year, which was the first of the civil year, and answered to our
October. The ceremony of the dedication lasted seven days, at the end of
which began the feast of tabernacles, which continued seven days longer;
so that the people continued at Jerusalem fourteen or fifteen days, from
the eighth to the twenty-second of the seventh month. When the ark was
placed in the sanctuary, while the priests and Levites were celebrating
the praises of the Lord, the temple was filled with a miraculous cloud,
so that the priests could no longer stand to perform the functions of
their ministry. Then Solomon, being on his throne, prostrated himself
with his face to the ground; and rising up, and turning toward the
sanctuary, he addressed his prayer to God, and besought him that the
house which he had built might be acceptable to him, that he would bless
and sanctify it, and hear the prayers of those who should address him
from this holy place. He besought him also to fulfil the promises he had
made to David his servant in favour of his family, and of the kings his
successors. Then turning himself to the people, he solemnly blessed
them. Fire coming down from heaven consumed the victims and burnt
sacrifices on the altar, and the glory of the Lord filled the whole
temple. On this day the king caused to be sacrificed twenty-two thousand
oxen, and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep for peace-offerings. And
because the altar of burnt-offerings was not sufficient for all these
victims, the king consecrated the court of the people.
Solomon afterward built a palace for himself, and another for his queen,
the king of Egypt’s daughter. He was thirteen years in finishing these
buildings, and employed in them whatever the most exquisite art, or the
most profuse riches, could furnish. The palace in which he generally
resided was called the house of the forest of Lebanon; probably because
of the great quantity of cedar used in it. Solomon also built the walls
of Jerusalem, and the place called Millo in this city; he repaired and
fortified Hazor, Megiddo, Gezer, the two Bethhorons, Upper and Lower,
Baalath, and Palmyra in the desert of Syria. He also fortified the
cities where he had magazines of corn, wine, and oil; and those where
his horses and chariots were kept. He brought under his government the
Hittites, the Hivites, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, which remained
in the land of Israel. He made them tributaries, and compelled them to
work at the public works. He fitted out a fleet at Ezion-Geber, and at
Elath, on the Red Sea, to go to Ophir. Hiram, king of Tyre, furnished
him with mariners, who instructed the subjects of Solomon. They
performed this voyage in three years, and brought back gold, ivory,
ebony, precious wood, peacocks, apes, and other curiosities. In one
voyage they brought Solomon four hundred and fifty talents of gold, 2
Chron. ix, 21. About the same time, the queen of Sheba came to
Jerusalem, attracted by the great fame of the king. She brought rich
presents of gold, spices, and precious stones; and proposed several
enigmas and hard questions, to which Solomon gave her such satisfactory
answers, that she owned what had been told her of his wisdom and
magnificence was far short of what she had found. The king, on his part,
made her rich presents in return.
Solomon was one of the richest, if not the very richest, of all princes
that have ever lived; and the Scripture expressly tells us he exceeded
in riches and wisdom all the kings of the earth. His annual revenues
were six hundred and sixty-six talents of gold, without reckoning
tributes from kings and nations, or paid by Israelites, or sums received
for customs. The bucklers of his guards, and the throne he sat on, were
overlaid with gold. All the vessels of his table, and the utensils of
his palaces, were of gold. From all parts he received presents, vessels
of gold and silver, precious stuffs, spices, arms, horses, and mules;
and the whole earth desired to see his face, and to hear the wisdom
which God had put into his heart. But the latter actions of his life
disgraced his character. Beside Pharaoh’s daughter, he married wives
from among the Moabites, Ammonites, Idumeans, Sidonians, and Hittites.
He had seven hundred wives, who were so many queens, beside three
hundred concubines. These women perverted his heart in his declining
age, so that he worshipped Ashtoreth, goddess of the Sidonians, Moloch,
idol of the Ammonites, and Chemosh, god of the Moabites. To these he
built temples on the Mount of Olives, over against and east of
Jerusalem, and thus insulted openly the Majesty he had adored.
Solomon died after he had reigned forty years, A. M. 3029. He might be
about fifty-eight years of age; for he was about eighteen when he began
to reign. Josephus makes him to have reigned eighty years and to have
lived ninety-four years; but this is a manifest error. The history of
this prince was written by the prophets Nathan, Ahijah, and Iddo. He was
buried in the city of David; and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.
Of all the ingenious works composed by Solomon, we have nothing
remaining but his Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Canticles; that is,
every literary monument respecting him has perished, except those
written under inspiration--the inspired history which registers his
apostasy, and his own inspired works, which, in all the principles they
contain, condemn his vices. Some have ascribed to him the book of
Wisdom, and Ecclesiasticus; but these were written by Hellenistic Jews.