• Jacob Chanikuzhy

Abundance of wisdom, wealth, wives, power, peace, and prosperity! What more does a king need? The biblical portrait of King Solomon fills one with awe and admiration for King Solomon. According to the biblical narrative, “King Solomon excelled all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom” (1 Kings 10,23). Solomon had 40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. Each year, Solomon received about 25 tons of gold as tribute, making him immensely wealthy. He had 700 wives and 300 concubines; he was famous everywhere that rulers from distant countries visited him and presented valuable gifts to him; as his name indicates, he enjoyed peace in his family and the kingdom. Nevertheless, several critical scholars doubt the authenticity of the florid biblical narrative of Solomon and consider the depiction a sheer exaggeration. Although many biblical scholars allow for the historicity of King Solomon, some of them believe that the biblical picture of Solomon as the wealthy and powerful king of such a vast empire is anachronistic.
The end of King David is dotted with some tragic events. The king became old and weak. The king, who once had a penchant for beautiful women, is now physically unable to respond to Abishag, the most beautiful woman in the land of Israel, who was brought to the chamber of David to make him warm. David had faced heartbreaking ordeals in his family: his first son Amnon raped David’s daughter Tamar; David’s son Absalom killed Amnon; Absalom revolted against his own father David; Absalom was killed by David’s commander Joab. To cap it all, Adonijah, David’s fourth son, in an attempt to usurp power, proclaimed himself king of Israel while his father, King David was still alive. Aggravating the situation, David’s commander Joab, High Priest Abiathar, and others are already on the side of Adonijah. Joab was a loyalist of King David. The reason he supported Adonijah may be because he considered Adonijah the legitimate heir to the throne of David. David’s first son, Amnon was killed. There are no details about his second son Daniel. Maybe, he died early. Third son Absalom was also killed. Naturally, Adonijah the fourth son, considered himself the heir to the throne.
At this juncture, Prophet Nathan intervenes. He tells Bathsheba, mother of Solomon, to tell King David that he had already sworn to her that her son Solomon would be the next king. Bathsheba tells David of his promise. The interesting fact is that nowhere in the Bible do we see David making such a promise to Bathsheba. We do not know whether he secretly made such a promise to her. Anyhow, David agrees to her request, perhaps thinking that he might have made such a promise. Was she manipulating the weak memory of a senile king? If so, the very enthronement of Solomon is cast in dark shades.
After purging the kingdom of his enemies, Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh. Solomon may have had political reasons to establish strong family bonds with the Egyptian ruling dynasty. However, his marrying a gentile woman was a direct violation of divine command. What Solomon did to consolidate his power was order a series of ruthless murders. He orchestrated the cold-blooded murder of his half-brother and rival to the throne, prince Adonijah, David’s loyalist and army commander Joab, and Shimei, the one who cursed David in his exile.
Solomon is exalted for building the Jerusalem temple. However, some point out that he was very slow in building the temple. King Solomon was more interested in building a palace for himself. Only after the completion of his own palace, did he start the temple project. In the opinion of some scholars, the Solomonic temple need not be considered an expression of Solomon’s devotion and commitment to Yahweh, because Solomon built sanctuaries for pagan gods as well. One is surprised to see that King Solomon offers sacrifices and incense at the high places, even when the ark of the covenant is in Jerusalem.
In spite of all these, we see God appearing to Solomon and answering his prayers by showering upon him his wisdom and other blessings. We need not be surprised, because that is the way God works in the lives of most of us. He fills us with his graces and gifts, not to reward us for our righteousness but to lead us to righteousness by making us humble and grateful enough to love and obey him.