Solomon

peaceable; perfect; one who recompenses

Solomon

(peaceful). I. Early life and occasion to the throne . --Solomon was the child of David's old age, the last born of all his sons. (1 Chronicles 3:5) The yearnings of the "man of war" led him to give to the new-horn infant the name of Solomon (Shelomoth, the peaceful one). Nathan, with a marked reference to the meaning of the king's own name (David, the darling, the beloved one), calls the infant Jedidiah (Jedidyah), that is, the darling of the Lord. (2 Samuel 11:24,25) He was placed under the care of Nathan from his earliest infancy. At first, apparently, there was no distinct purpose to make him the heir. Absalom was still the king's favorite son, (2 Samuel 13:37; 18:33) and was looked on by the people as the destined successor. (2 Samuel 14:13; 15:1-6) The death of Absalom when Solomon was about ten years old left the place vacant, and David pledged his word in secret to Bath-sheba that he, and no other, should be the heir. (1 Kings 1:13) The words which were spoken somewhat later express, doubtless, the purpose which guided him throughout. (1 Chronicles 28:9; 20) His son's life should not he as his own had been, one of hardships and wars, dark crimes and passionate repentance, but, from first to last, be pure, blameless, peaceful, fulfilling the ideal of glory and of righteousness after which he himself had vainly striven. The glorious visions of (Psalms 72:1) ... may be looked on as the prophetic expansion of these hopes of his old age. So far,all was well. Apparently his influence over his son's character was one exclusively for good. Nothing that we know of Bath-sheba lends us to think of her as likely to mould her son's mind and heart to the higher forms of goodness. Under these influences the boy grew up. At the age of ten or eleven he must have passed through the revolt of Absalom, and shared his father's exile. (2 Samuel 15:16) He would be taught all that priests or Levites or prophets had to teach. When David was old and feeble, Adonijah, Solomon's older brother attempted to gain possession of the throne; but he was defeated, and Solomon went down to Gihon and was proclaimed and anointed king. A few months more and Solomon found himself, by his father's death, the sole occupant of the throne. The position to which he succeeded was unique. Never before, and never after, did the kingdom of Israel take its place among the great monarchies of the East. Large treasures, accumulated through many years, were at his disposal. II. Personal appearance . --Of Solomon's personal appearance we have no direct description, as we have of the earlier kings. There are, however, materials for filling up the gap. Whatever higher mystic meaning may be latent in (Psalms 45:1) ... or the Song of Songs, we are all but compelled to think of them us having had at least a historical starting-point. They tell of one who was, in the eyes of the men of his own time, "fairer than the children of men," the face "bright, and ruddy" as his father's, (Solomon 5:10; 1 Samuel 17:42) bushy locks, dark as the raven's wing, yet not without a golden glow, the eyes soft as "the eyes of cloves," the "countenance as Lebanon excellent as the cedars," "the chiefest among ten thousand, the altogether lovely." (Solomon 5:13-18) Add to this all gifts of a noble, far-reaching intellect large and ready sympathies, a playful and genial humor, the lips "full of grace," and the soul "anointed" as "with the oil of gladness," (Psalms 45:1) ... and we may form some notion of what the king was like in that dawn of his golden prime. III. Reign . --All the data for a continuous history that we have of Solomon's reign are-- (a) The duration of the reign, forty sears, B.C. 1015-975. (1 Kings 11:4) (b) The commencement of the temple in the fourth, its completion in the eleventh, year of his reign. (1 Kings 6:1,37,38) (c) The commencement of his own palace in the seventh, its completion in the twentieth, year. (1 Kings 7:1; 2 Chronicles 8:1) (d) The conquest of Hamath-zobah, and the consequent foundation of cities in the region of north Palestine after the twentieth year. (2 Chronicles 8:1-6) IV. Foreign policy . --

1. Egypt. The first act of the foreign policy of the new reign must have been to most Israelites a very startling one. He made affinity with Pharaoh, king of Egypt, by marrying his daughter (1 Kings 3:1) The immediate results were probably favorable enough. The new queen brought with her as a dowry the frontier city of Gezer. But the ultimate issue of alliance showed that it was hollow and impolitic.
2. Tyre. The alliance with the Phoenician king rested on a somewhat different footing. It had been a part of David's policy from the beginning of his reign. Hiram had been "ever a lover of David." As soon as he heard of Solomon's accession he sent ambassadors to salute him. A correspondence passed between the two kings, which ended in a treaty of commerce. The opening of Joppa as a port created a new coasting-trade, and the materials from Tyre were conveyed to that city on floats, and thence to Jerusalem. (2 Chronicles 2:16) In return for these exports, the Phoenicians were only too glad to receive the corn and oil of Solomon's territory. The results of the alliance did not end here. Now, for the first time in the history of the Jews, they entered on a career as a commercial people.
3. The foregoing were the two most important to Babylon alliances. The absence of any reference to Babylon and Assyria, and the fact that the Euphrates was recognized as the boundary of Solomon's kingdom, (2 Chronicles 9:26) suggests the inference that the Mesopotamian monarchies were at this time comparatively feeble. Other neighboring nations were content to pay annual tribute in the form of gifts. (2 Chronicles 9:28)
4. The survey of the influence exercised by Solomon on surrounding nations would be incomplete if we were to pass over that which was more directly personal the fame of his glory and his wisdom. Wherever the ships of Tarshish went, they carried with them the report, losing nothing in its passage, of what their crews had seen and heard. The journey of the queen of Sheba, though from its circumstances the most conspicuous, did not stand alone. V. Internal history .--
5. The first prominent scene in Solomon's reign is one which presents his character in its noblest aspect. God in a vision having offered him the choice of good things he would have, he chose wisdom in preference to riches or honor or long life. The wisdom asked for was given in large measure, and took a varied range. The wide world of nature, animate and inanimate, the lives and characters of men, lay before him, and he took cognizance of all but the highest wisdom was that wanted for the highest work, for governing and guiding, and the historian hastens to give an illustration of it. The pattern-instance is, in all its circumstances, thoroughly Oriental. (1 Kings 3:16-28)
6. In reference to the king's finances, the first impression of the facts given us is that of abounding plenty. Large quantities of the precious metals were imported from Ophir and Tarshish. (1 Kings 9:28) All the kings and princes of the subject provinces paid tribute in the form of gifts, in money and in kind, "at a fixed rate year by year." (1 Kings 10:25) Monopolies of trade contributed to the king's treasury. (1 Kings 10:28,29) The total amount thus brought into the treasury in gold, exclusive of all payments in kind, amounted to 666 talents. (1 Kings 10:14)
7. It was hardly possible, however, that any financial system could bear the strain of the king's passion for magnificence. The cost of the temple was, it is true, provided for by David's savings and the offerings of the people; but even while that was building, yet more when it was finished one structure followed on another with ruinous rapidity. All the equipment of his court, the "apparel" of his servants was on the same scale. A body-guard attended him, "threescore valiant men," tallest and handsomest of the sons of Israel. Forty thousand stalls of horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen made up the measure of his magnificence. (1 Kings 4:26) As the treasury became empty, taxes multiplied and monopolies became more irksome.
8. A description of the temple erected by Solomon is given elsewhere. After seven years and the work was completed and the day came to which all Israelites looked back as the culminating glory of their nation.
9. We cannot ignore the fact that even now there were some darker shades in the picture. He reduced the "strangers" in the land, the remnant of the Canaanite races, to the state of helots, and made their life "bitter with all hard bondage." One hundred and fifty-three thousand, with wives and children in proportion, were torn from their homes and sent off to the quarries and the forests of Lebanon. (1 Kings 5:15; 2 Chronicles 2:17,18) And the king soon fell from the loftiest height of his religious life to the lowest depth. Before long the priests and prophets had to grieve over rival temples to Molech, Chemosh, Ashtaroth and forms of ritual not idolatrous only, but cruel, dark, impure. This evil came as the penalty of another. (1 Kings 11:1-8) He gave himself to "strange women." He found himself involved in a fascination which led to the worship of strange gods. Something there was perhaps in his very "largeness of heart," so far in advance of the traditional knowledge of his age, rising to higher and wider thoughts of God, which predisposed him to it. In recognizing what was true in other forms of faith, he might lose his horror at what was false. With this there may have mingled political motives. He may have hoped, by a policy of toleration, to conciliate neighboring princes, to attract larger traffic. But probably also there was another influence less commonly taken into account. The widespread belief of the East in the magic arts of Solomon is not, it is believed, without its foundation of truth. Disasters followed before long as the natural consequence of what was politically a blunder as well as religiously a sin. VI. His literary works. --little remains out of the songs, proverbs, treatises, of which the historian speaks. (1 Kings 4:32,33) Excerpts only are given from the three thousand proverbs. Of the thousand and five songs we know absolutely nothing. His books represent the three stages of his life. The Song of Songs brings before us the brightness of his -youth. Then comes in the book of Proverbs, the stage of practical, prudential thought. The poet has become the philosopher, the mystic has passed into the moralist; but the man passed through both stages without being permanently the better for either. They were to him but phases of his life which he had known and exhausted, (Ecclesiastes 1:1; Ecclesiastes 2:1) ... and therefore there came, its in the confessions of the preacher, the great retribution.

Solomon

Peaceful, the son and successor of David, born of Bathsheba, B. C. 1033. The prophet Nathan called him Jedidiah, "beloved of the Lord," 2 Samuel 12:25 and he was a child of promise, 1 Chronicles 22:9,10. At the age of eighteen he received from David the throne which his brother Adonijah had endeavored to usurp. Scripture records his earnest and pious petition for wisdom from above, that he might govern that great people well; and the bestowal of the wisdom, with numerous other blessings in its train, Matthew 6:33. His unequalled learning and sagacity soon became renowned throughout the East, and continue so even to this day. In every kind of temporal prosperity he was preeminently favored. His unquestioned dominion extended from the Euphrates to the "river of Egypt;" Palmyra in the desert and Eziongeber on the Red Sea were in his possession.

He accomplished David's purpose by erecting a temple for Jehovah with the utmost magnificence. Many other important public and private works were executed during his reign. He established a lucrative commerce with Tyre, Egypt, Arabia, India, and Babylon, by the fruits of which he himself first and chiefly, and indirectly the whole land, were greatly enriched. He was the wisest, wealthiest, most honored, and fortunate of men. But through the temptation connected with this flood of prosperity, he became luxurious, proud, and forgetful of God; plunged into every kind of self-indulgence; allowed his wives, and at length assisted them, in their abominable idolatries; and forfeited the favor of God. Yet divine grace did not forsake him; he was reclaimed, and has given us the proofs of his repentance and the fruits of his experience in his inspired writings.

His reign continued forty years, B. C. 1015-975, and was uniformly peaceful, and favorable to the people, if we except the evils of a corrupt example and an excessive taxation. His history is less fully recorded than David's is by the sacred historians, 1 Kings 1:11 1 Chronicles 1:19-31; but we may learn much respecting him from his writings, especially from the book of Ecclesiastes. Nothing could more emphatically teach us the weakness of human nature, even when accompanied with the utmost learning and sagacity, the perils of prosperity, or the insufficiency of all possible earthy good to satisfy the wants of man.

The writings of Solomon covered a wide range in the natural sciences as well as in philosophy and morals. "He spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five: and he spake of trees-of beasts, and of foul, and of creeping things, and of fishes," 1 Kings 4:32,33.

ACTS OF SOLOMON

"The book of the acts of Solomon" (1 Kings 11:41), probably a history based on the state documents kept by the official recorder. See 1 Kings 14:19, 29; 1 Kings 15:23, 31; 16:5, 14, 20, 27; 22:39, 45, etc.

POOLS OF SOLOMON

poolz.

See CISTERN; POOL.

PSALTER, (PSALMS), OF SOLOMON

sol'-ter.

See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, sec. III, 1; BETWEEN THE TESTAMENTS, sec. IV, 1, (1), (b).

SOLOMON

sol'-o-mun (shelomoh; New Testament Solomon):

I. EARLY LIFE

1. Name and Meaning

2. Sources

3. Birth and Upbringing

4. His Accession

5. Closing Days of David

II. REIGN OF SOLOMON

1. His Vision

2. His Policy

3. Its Results

4. Alliance with Tyre

5. Alliance with Egypt

6. Domestic Troubles

III. HIS BUILDINGS

1. The Temple

2. The Palace

3. Other Buildings

4. The Corvee

IV. HIS CHARACTER

1. Personal Qualities

2. His Wisdom

3. His Learning

4. Trade and Commerce

5. Officers of State

6. Wives

7. Revenues

8. Literary Works

LITERATURE

I. Early Life.

Solomon was the son of David and Bath-sheba, and became the 3rd king of Israel.

1. Name and Meaning:

He was so named by his mother (2 Samuel 12:24, Qere; see TEXT AND MANUSCRIPTS OF THE NEW TESTAMENT; TEXT OF THE OLD TESTAMENT), but by the prophet Nathan, or by his father (Vulgate), he was called Jedidiah-"loved of Yahweh." The name "Solomon" is derived from the root meaning "to be quiet" or "peaceful," and Solomon was certainly the least warlike of all the kings of Israel or Judah, and in that respect a remarkable contrast to his father (so 1 Chronicles 22:9). His name in Hebrew compares with Irenaeus in Greek, Friedrich in German, and Selim in Arabic; but it has been suggested that the name should be pronounced shillumah, from the word denoting "compensation," Bath-sheba's second son being given in compensation for the loss of the first (but see 3, below).

2. Sources:

The oldest sources for the biography of Solomon are doubtless the "Annals of Solomon" referred to in 1 Kings 11:41, the "history of Nathan the prophet," the "prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite" and the "visions of Iddo the seer," mentioned in 2 Chronicles 9:29, all which may be merely the relative sections of the great book of the "Annals of the Kings" from which our Books of Kings and Chronicles are both derived. These ancient works are, of course, lost to us save in so far as they have been embodied in the Old Testament narrative. There the life of South is contained in 2 Samuel 12:24; 1 Kings 1-11 1 Chronicles 22-2_chronicles 9. Of these sources 2 Samuel 12:24 and 1 Kings 1; 1 Kings 2 are much the oldest and in fact form part of one document, 2 Samuel 9-20 1 Kings 1; 1 Kings 2 dealing with the domestic affairs of David, which may well be contemporary with the events it describes. The date of the composition of the Books of Chronicles is about 300 B.C.-700 years after the time of Solomon-and the date of the Books of Kings, as a completed work, must, of course, be later than the exile. Nothing of importance is gained from citations from early historians in Josephus and later writers. Far and away the best source for, at least, the inner life of Solomon would be the writings ascribed to him in the Old Testament, could we be sure that these were genuine (see below).

3. Birth and Upbringing:

The children of David by Bath-sheba are given in 1 Chronicles 3:5 as Shimea, Shobab, Nathan and Solomon. Compare also 2 Samuel 5:14 1 Chronicles 14:4, where the same persons evidently are named. It would thus appear that Solomon was the 4th son of Bath-sheba, supposing Shimea to be the child that died. Otherwise Solomon would be the 5th son. There are therefore some events omitted in 2 Samuel 12:24, or else the names Shobab and Nathan are remains of some clause which has been lost, and not proper names. Like the heir apparent of a Turkish sultan, Solomon seems to have spent his best years in the seclusion of the harem. There he was doubtless more influenced by his mother than by his father, and in close intimacy with his mother was the prophet Nathan, who had given him his by-name of fortunate import (2 Samuel 12:25).

4. His Accession:

It was not until David lay on his deathbed that Solomon left the women's quarters and made his appearance in public. That he had been selected by David, as the son of the favorite wife, to succeed him, is pre-supposed in the instructions which he received from his father regarding the building of the Temple. But as soon as it appeared that the life of David was nearing its end, it became evident that Solomon was not to have a "walk over." He found a rival in Adonijah the son of Haggith, who was apparently the eldest surviving son of his father, and who had the support of Joab, by far the strongest man of all, of Abiathar, the leading, if not the favorite, priest (compare 2 Samuel 15:24;), and of the princes of the royal house. Solomon, on the other hand, had the support of his mother Bath-sheba, David s favorite wife, of Nathan the court prophet, of Zadok who had eclipsed Abiathar, of Benaiah, the son of a priest, but one of the three bravest of David's soldiers, and captain of the bodyguard of Cherethites and Pelethites, and of the principal soldiers. It is especially noted that Shimei and Hushai (so Josephus) took no active part at any rate with Adonijah (1 Kings 1:8). The conspiracy came to nothing, for, before it developed, Solomon was anointed at Gibeon (not Gihon, 1 Kings 1:33, 38, 45), and entered Jerusalem as king.

5. Closing Days of David:

The age of Solomon at his accession is unknown. The expression in 1 Kings 3:7 is not, of course, to be taken literally (otherwise Ant, VIII, vii, 8). His reign opened, like that of many an oriental monarch, with a settlement in blood of the accounts of the previous reign. Joab, David's nephew, who had brought the house within the bounds of blood revenge, was executed. Adonijah, as soon as his father had breathed his last, was on a nominal charge put to death. Abiathar was relegated to his home at Anathoth (1 Kings 2:26). Conditions were imposed on Shimei which he failed to keep and so forfeited his life (1 Kings 2:36). These steps having been taken, Solomon began his reign, as it were, with a clean slate.

II. Reign of Solomon.

1. His Vision:

It was apparently at the very beginning of his reign that Solomon made his famous choice of a "hearing heart," i.e. an obedient heart, in preference to riches or long life. The vision took place at Gibeon (2 Chronicles 1:7, but in 1 Kings 3:4 the ancient versions read "upon the altar that was in Gibeon. And the Lord appeared," etc.). The life of Solomon was a curious commentary on his early resolution. One of the first acts of his reign was apparently, in the style of the true oriental monarch, to build himself a new palace, that of his father being inadequate for his requirements. In regard to politics, however, the events of Solomon's reign may be regarded as an endorsement of his choice. Under him alone was the kingdom of Israel a great world-power, fit almost to rank beside Assyria and Egypt. Never again were the bounds of Israel so wide; never again were north and south united in one great nation. There is no doubt that the credit of this result is due to the wisdom of Solomon.

2. His Policy:

Solomon was by nature an unwarlike person, and his whole policy was in the direction of peace. He disbanded the above-mentioned foreign legion, the Cherethites and Pelethites, who had done such good service as bodyguard to his father. All his officers seem to have been mediocre persons who would not be likely to force his hand, as Joab had done that of David (2 Samuel 3:39). Even the fortification of Jerusalem and of the frontier towns was undertaken with a view to repel attack, not for the purposes of offense. Solomon did, no doubt, strengthen the army, especially the cavalry arm (1 Kings 4:26; 1 Kings 10:26), but he never made any use of this, and perhaps it existed largely on paper. At any rate Solomon seems to have been rather a breeder of and dealer in horse-flesh than a soldier. He appears also to have had a fine collection of armor (1 Kings 10:25), but much of it was made of gold (1 Kings 10:16 f) and was intended for show, not for use. Both in his reputation for wisdom and in his aversion to war Solomon bears a striking resemblance to King James VI of Scotland and I of England, as depicted by the hand of Sir Walter Scott. It was fortunate for him that both the neighboring great powers were for the time in a decadent state, otherwise the history of the kingdom of Israel would have ended almost before it had begun. On the other hand, it has been remarked that if Solomon had had anything like the military genius of David and his enthusiasm for the religion of Yahweh, he might have extended the arms of Israel from the Nile to the Tigris and anticipated the advent of Islam. But his whole idea was to secure himself in peace, to amass wealth and indulge his love of grandeur with more than oriental splendor.

3. Its Results:

Solomon, in fact, was living on the achievements and reputation of his father, who laid the basis of security and peace on which the commercial genius of Solomon could raise the magnificent structure which he did. But he took the clay from the foundations in order to build the walls. The Hebrews were a military people and in that consisted their life. Solomon withdrew their energies from their natural bent and turned them to cornmerce, for which they were not yet ripe. Their soul rebelled under the irksome drudgery of an industry of which they did not reap the fruits. Solomon had in fact reduced a free people to slavery, and concentrated the wealth of the whole country in the capital. As soon as he was out of the way, his country subjects threw off the yoke and laid claim to their ancient freedom. His son found himself left with the city and a territory as small as an English county.

4. Alliance with Tyre:

Solomon's chief ally was Hiram, the king of Tyre, probably the friend and ally of David, who is to be distinguished from Hiram the artificer of 1 Kings 7:13;. Hiram the king entered into a treaty with Solomon which was to the advantage of both parties. Hiram supplied Solomon with cedar and pine wood from Lebanon, as well as with skilled artisans for his building. Tyrian sailors were also drafted into the ships of Solomon, the Hebrews not being used to the sea (1 Kings 9:26 f), besides which Phoenician ships sailed along with those of Solomon. The advantages which Hiram received in return were that the Red Sea was open to his merchantmen, and he also received large supplies of corn and oil from the land of Israel (1 Kings 5:11 corrected by Septuagint and 2 Chronicles 2:10). At the conclusion of the building of the palace and Temple, which occupied 20 years, Solomon presented Hiram with 20 villages (1 Kings 9:11; the converse, 2 Chronicles 8:2), and Hiram made Solomon a return present of gold (1 Kings 9:14; omitted in 2 Chronicles).

5. Alliance with Egypt:

Second to Hiram was the Pharaoh of Egypt, whose daughter Solomon married, receiving as her dower the town of Gezer (1 Kings 9:16). This Pharaoh is not named in the Old Testament. This alliance with Egypt led to the introduction of horses into Israel (1 Kings 10:28 f), though David had already made a beginning on a small scale (2 Samuel 8:4). Both these alliances lasted throughout the reign. There is no mention of an alliance with the eastern power, which was then in a decadent state.

6. Domestic Troubles:

It was probably nearer the beginning than the end of Solomon's reign that political trouble broke out within the realm. When David had annexed the territory of the Edomites at the cost of the butchery of the male population (compare 2 Samuel 8:14 Psalm 60, title) one of the young princes of the reigning house effected his escape, and sought and found an asylum in Egypt, where he rose to occupy a high station. No sooner had he heard of the death of David and Joab than he returned to his native country and there stirred up disaffections against Solomon (1 Kings 11:14;; see HADAD), without, however, restoring independence to Edom (1 Kings 9:26). A second occasion of disaffection arose through a prophet having foretold that the successor of Solomon would have one of the Israelite tribes only and that the other ten clans would be under Solomon's master of works whom he had set over them. This officer also took refuge in Egypt and was protected by Shishak. He remained there until the death of Solomon (1 Kings 11:26). A third adversary was Rezon who had fled from his master the king of Zobah (1 Kings 11:23), and who established himself at Damascus and rounded a dynasty which was long a thorn in the side of Israel. These domestic troubles are regarded as a consequence of the falling away of Solomon from the path of rectitude, but this seems to be but a kind of anticipative consequence, that is, if it was not till the end of his reign that Solomon fell into idolatry and polytheism (1 Kings 11:4).

III. His Buildings.

1. The Temple:

The great undertaking of the reign of Solomon was, of course, The TEMPLE (which see), which was at first probably considered as the Chapel Royal and an adjunct of the palace. The Temple was begun in the 4th year of the reign and finished in the 11th, the work of the building occupying 7" years (1 Kings 6; 1 Kings 7:13). The delay in beginning is remarkable, if the material were all ready to hand (1 Chronicles 22). Worship there was inaugurated with fitting ceremony and prayers (1 Kings 8).

2. The Palace:

To Solomon, however, his own palace was perhaps a more interesting undertaking. It at any rate occupied more time, in fact 13 years (1 Kings 7:1-12; 1 Kings 9:10 2 Chronicles 8:1), the time of building both palace and Temple being 20 years. Possibly the building of the palace occupied the first four years of the reign and was then intermitted and resumed after the completion of the Temple; but of this there is no indication in the text. It was called the House of the Forest of Lebanon from the fact that it was lined with cedar wood (1 Kings 7:2). A description of it is given in 1 Kings 7:1-12.

3. Other Buildings:

Solomon also rebuilt the wall of the city and the citadel (see JERUSALEM; MILLO). He likewise erected castles at the vulnerable points of the frontiers-Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer (1 Kings 9:15), lower Beth-horon and BAALATH (which see). According to the Qere of 1 Kings 9:18 and the ancient versions as well as 2 Chronicles 8:4, he was the founder of Tadmor (Palmyra); but the Kethibh of 1 Kings 9:18 reads Tamar (compare Ezekiel 47:19). Some of the remains of buildings recently discovered at Megiddo and Gezer may go back to the time of Solomon.

4. The Corvee:

Solomon could not have built on the scale he did with the resources ordinarily at the command of a free ruler. Accordingly we find that one of the institutions fostered by him was the corvee, or forced labor. No doubt something of the kind always had existed (Joshua 9:21) and still exists in all despotic governments. Thus the people of a village will be called on to repair the neighboring roads, especially when the Pasha is making a progress in the neighborhood. But Solomon made the thing permanent and national (1 Kings 5:13-15; 1 Kings 9:15). The immediate purpose of the levy was to supply laborers for work in the Lebanon in connection with his building operations. Thus 30,000 men were raised and drafted, 10,000 at a time, to the Lebanon, where they remained for a month, thus having two months out of every three at home. But even when the immediate cause had ceased, the practice once introduced was kept up and it became one of the chief grievances which levi to the dismemberment of the kingdom (1 Kings 12:18, Adoram = Adoniram; compare 2 Samuel 20:24), for hitherto the corvee had been confined to foreign slaves taken in war (1 Kings 9:21). It is said the higher posts were reserved for Israelites, the laborers being foreigners (1 Kings 9:22), that is, the Israelites acted as foremen. Some of the foreign slaves seem to have formed a guild in connection with the Temple which lasted down to the time of the exile (Ezra 2:55-57 Nehemiah 7:57-59).

SeeNETHINIM.

IV. His Character.

1. Personal Qualities:

In Solomon we have the type of a Turkish sultan, rather than a king of Israel. The Hebrew kings, whether of Israel or Judah, were, in theory at least, elective monarchs like the kings of Poland. If one happened to be a strong ruler, he managed to establish his family it might be, for three or even four generations. In the case of the Judean dynasty the personality of the first king made such a deep impression upon the heart of the people that the question of a change of dynasty there never became pressing. But Solomon would probably have usurped the crown if he had not inherited it, and once on the throne he became a thoroughgoing despot. All political power was taken out of the hands of the sheiks, although outward respect was still paid to them (1 Kings 8:1), and placed in the hands of officers who were simply creatures of Solomon. The resources of the nation were expended, not on works of public utility, but on the personal aggrandizement of the monarch (1 Kings 10:18). In the means he took to gratify his passions he showed himself to be little better than a savage and if he did not commit such great crimes as David, it was perhaps because he had no occasion, or because he employed greater cunning in working out his ends.

2. His Wisdom:

The wisdom for which Solomon is so celebrated was not of a very high order; it was nothing more than practical shrewdness, or knowledge of the world and of human nature. The common example of it is that given in 1 Kings 3:16;, to which there are innumerable parallels in Indian, Greek and other literatures. The same worldly wisdom lies at the back of the Book of Proverbs, and there is no reason why a collection of these should not have been made by Solomon just as it is more likely that he was a composer of verses than that he was not (1 Kings 4:32). The statement that he had breadth of heart (1 Kings 4:29) indicates that there was nothing known which did not come within his ken.

3. His Learning:

The word "wisdom," however, is used also in another connection, namely, in the sense of theoretical knowledge or book leaning, especially in the department of natural history. It is not to be supposed that Solomon had any scientific knowledge of botany or zoology, but he may have collected the facts of observation, a task in which the Oriental, who cannot generalize, excels. The wisdom and understanding (1 Kings 4:29) for which Solomon was famous would consist largely in stories about beasts and trees like the well-known Fables of Pilpai. They included also the "wisdom" for which Egypt was famous (1 Kings 4:30), that is, occult science. It results from this last statement that Solomon appears in post-Biblical and Arabian literature as a magician.

4. Trade and Commerce:

Solomon was very literally a merchant prince. He not only encouraged and protected commerce, but engaged in it himself. He was in fact the predominant, if not sole, partner in a great trading concern, which was nothing less than the Israelite nation. One of his enterprises was the horse trade with Egypt. His agents bought up horses which were again sold to the kings of the Hittites and the Arameans. The prices paid are mentioned (1 Kings 10:29). The best of these Solomon no doubt retained for his own cavalry (1 Kings 10:26). Another commodity imported from that country was linen yarn (1 Kings 10:28 the King James Version). The navy which Solomon built at the head of the Gulf of Akaba was not at all for military, but purely commercial ends. They were ships of Tarshish, that is, merchant ships, not ships to Tarshish, as 2 Chronicles 9:21. They traded to OPHIR (which see), from which they brought gold; silver, ivory, apes and peacocks, the round voyage lasting 3 years (1 Kings 9:26; 10:22). Special mention is made of "almug" (1 Kings 10:11) or "algum" (2 Chronicles 9:10 f) trees (which see). The visit of the Queen of Sheba would point to the overland caravan routes from the Yemen being then open (1 Kings 10:15). What with direct imports and the result of sales, silver and cedar wood became very plentiful in the capital (1 Kings 10:27).

5. Officers of State:

The list of Solomon's officers of state is given in 1 Kings 4:2;. These included a priest, two secretaries, a recorder, a commander-in-chief, a chief commissariat officer, a chief shepherd (if we may read ro`eh for re'eh), a master of the household, and the head of the corvee. The list should be compared with those of David's officers (2 Samuel 8:16; 20:23). There is much resemblance, but we can see that the machine of state was becoming more complicated. The bodyguard of foreign mercenaries was abolished and the captain Benaiah promoted to be commander-in-chief. Two scribes were required instead of one. Twelve commissariat officers were appointed whose duty it was to forward from their districts the supplies for the royal household and stables. The list of these officials, a very curious one, is given in 1 Kings 4:7;. It is to be noted that the 12 districts into which the country was divided did not coincide with the territories of the 12 tribes. It may be remarked that Solomon seems as far as possible to have retained the old servants of his father. It will be noticed also that in all the lists there is mention of more than one priest. These "priests" retained some of their original functions, since they acted as prognosticators and diviners.

6. Wives:

Solomon's principal wife was naturally the daughter of Pharaoh; it was for her that his palace was built (1 Kings 3:1; 1 Kings 7:8; 1 Kings 9:16, 24). But in addition to her he established marriage relations with the neighboring peoples. In some cases the object was no doubt to cement an alliance, as with the Zidonians and Hittites and the other nationalities (1 Kings 11:1), some of which were forbidden to Israelites (Deuteronomy 7:3). It may be that the daughter of Pharaoh was childless or died a considerable time before Solomon, but his favorite wife was latterly a grand-daughter of Nahash, the Ammonite king (1 Kings 14:21 Septuagint), and it was her son who succeeded to the throne. Many of Solomon's wives were no doubt daughters of wealthy or powerful citizens who wished by an alliance with the king to strengthen their own positions. Yet we do not read of his marrying an Israelite wife. According to the Arabian story Bilqis, the Queen of Sheba who visited Solomon (1 Kings 10:1),. was also married to him. He appears to have had only one son; we are not told of any other than Rehoboam. His daughters were married to his own officers (1 Kings 4:11, 15).

7. Revenues:

Solomon is said to have started his reign with a capital sum of 100,000 talents of gold and a million talents of silver, a sum greater than the national debt of Great Britain. Even so, this huge sum was ear-marked for the building of the Temple (1 Chronicles 22:14). His income was, for one year, at any rate, 666 talents of gold (1 Kings 10:14), or about twenty million dollars. This seems an immense sum, but it probably was not so much as it looks. The great mass of the people were too poor to have any commodities which they could exchange for gold. Its principal use was for the decoration of buildings. Its purchasing power was probably small, because so few could afford to buy it. It was in the same category as the precious stones which are of great rarity, but which are of no value unless there is a demand for them. In the time of Solomon there was no useful purpose to which gold could be put in preference to any other metal.

8. Literary Works:

It is not easy to believe that the age of Solomon, so glorious in other respects, had not a literature to correspond. Yet the reign of the sultan Ismail in Morocco, whom Solomon much resembles, might be cited in favor of such a supposition. Solomon himself is stated to have composed 3,000 animal stories and 1,005 songs (1 Kings 4:32). In the Old Testament the following are ascribed to him: three collections of Proverbs, 1:1;; 10:1;; 25:1;; The So of Songs; Psalms 72 and 127; Ecclesiastes (although Solomon is not named). In Proverbs 25:1 the men of Hezekiah are said to have copied out the following proverbs.

LITERATURE.

The relative portions of the histories by Ewald, Stanley (who follows Ewald), Renan, Wellhausen and Kittel; also H. Winckler, Alttestamentliche Untersuchungen; and the commentaries on the Books of Kings and Chronicles.

Thomas Hunter Weir

WISDOM OF SOLOMON, THE

" I. NAME

II. CANONICITY

III. CONTENTS

1. The Wisdom Section, The Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-11:14

2. The Historical Section, The Wisdom of Solomon 11:5-19:22

IV. LITERARY FORM

V. UNITY AND INTEGRITY

VI. TEACHING

1. Theology

2. Anthropology

3. Deontology

4. Hamartiology

5. Soteriology

6. Eschatology

VII. AIM

VIII. AUTHOR

IX. DATE

1. Literary

2. Historical

3. Philosophical

X. ORIGINAL LANGUAGE

XI. USE OF WISDOM BY CHRISTIAN WRITERS

XII. TEXT AND VERSIONS

1. Latin

2. Syriac

LITERATURE

I. Name.

In the Greek manuscripts (Codex Vaticanus, Codex Alexandrinus, Codex Sinaiticus, etc.) the book is called "The Wisdom of Solomon" Sophia Salomonos, the form of the latter word varying in the best manuscripts). In the Syriac (Peshitta) its title is "The Book of the Great Wisdom of Solomon." Solomon was among the Jews and the early Christians the patron of didactic, as David was of lyrical, and Moses of religious-legal, literature, and their names came to be associated with literary compositions with which they had nothing to do. We read in the Old Testament of the wisdom of Solomon (1 Kings 3:7-14; compare Sirach 47:12-18 (14-19)), and the whole of the Book of Proverbs is called by his name, though he is at most the author of but a part. Solomon speaks in the first person in this book (The Wisdom of Solomon 6-9), as he does in Ecclesiastes 1:12;, for that he is made the speaker until the close of The Wisdom of Solomon 9 is made certain by 7:1;; 9:2;. As long as he was thought to be the composer of this book it continued to be called "The Wisdom of Solomon" among the Jews and the early Christians.

Influenced by the Greek thought and style of the book, Jerome came to the conclusion that Solomon was not its author and he accordingly altered its title to "The Book of Wisdom" (Liber sapientiae), and it is this designation that the book bears in the Vulgate (Jerome's Latin Bible, 390-405 A.D.) and the versions made from it, though in the Protestant translations (German, English, Welsh, etc.) the title "The Wisdom of Solomon" is continued, as these, follow the Greek version and not the Latin Luther's title is The Wisdom of Solomon to Tyrants". (Die Weisheit Salamos an die Tyrannen). Epiphanius and Athanasius quote the book under the name "All-Virtuous Wisdom" (Panaretos Sophia), a title by which Proverbs and Sirach are also known in the writings of some of the Fathers.

II. Canonicity.

In the manuscripts and odd of the Greek Bible and in the Vulgate, English Versions of the Bible, etc., Wisdom follows Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Canticles, and is followed by Sirach. Some of the Fathers, believing the book to be by Solomon, thought it divinely-inspired and therefore canonical; so Hippolytus, Cyprian, Ambrose, etc. Other Fathers, though denying the Solomonian authorship of the book, yet accorded it canonical rank; so Origen, Eusebius, Augustine, etc. On the other hand there were some in the early church who refused to acknowledge the book as in any way authoritative in matters of doctrine. The Council of Trent included it with the rest of the Protestant Apocrypha (except 1 and 2 Esdras and Pr Man) in the Canon, so that the Romanist Bible includes it, but the Protestant Bible excludes it.

III. Contents.

The book is made up of two main parts so different as to suggest difference of authorship.

(1) The wisdom section (The Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-11:4): In this part the writer describes and commends Wisdom, warning his readers against neglecting it.

(2) The historical section (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:5-19:22).

1. The Wisdom Section, The Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-11:14:

(1) Righteousness:

Righteousness (i.e. Wisdom in operation) leads to immortality, unrighteousness to death (The Wisdom of Solomon 1).

(2) Contrasted Fortunes of the Wise (Righteous) and Unwise (Ungodly) (The Wisdom of Solomon 2:1-6:21).

(a) Sensual pleasures issue in death while God intended all men to live spiritually (The Wisdom of Solomon 2);

(b) the lot of the wise (righteous) is a happy one. Their sufferings are disciplinary and remedial; they shall live forever and reign hereafter over the nations (Gentiles) (The Wisdom of Solomon 3:1-9);

(c) but the lot of the wicked and of their children is a miserable one; the wise (righteous) shall be happy though childless (The Wisdom of Solomon 3:10-19);

(d) virtuous childlessness secures immortality before guilty parenthood (The Wisdom of Solomon 4:1-6);

(e) though the wise (righteous) die early, yet they have rest in their death, and accomplish their life mission in the allotted time (of Enoch) (The Wisdom of Solomon 4:7-14);

(f) the ungodly (unwise) shall come to a wretched end: then they shall see and envy the prosperity of the righteous. Though they shall pass tracelessly away, the righteous shall rejoice in a life that is endless (The Wisdom of Solomon 4:15-5:23);

(g) kings ought therefore to rule according to Wisdom and thus attain to immortality (The Wisdom of Solomon 6:1-21).

(3) Wisdom.

Speaking in the name of Solomon, the writer praises Wisdom and commends it to kings ("judges"= "rulers" in The Wisdom of Solomon 6:1, is but a synonym) (The Wisdom of Solomon 6:1-11:4).

(a) All men come into the world with the same universal need of Wisdom which leads to true kingship and immortality (The Wisdom of Solomon 6:1-25);

(b) I (Solomon) sought Wisdom as the main thing and in obtaining it had along with it every good thing, including knowledge of every kind (The Wisdom of Solomon 7:1-8:21);

(c) the prayer which Solomon offered for Wisdom (The Wisdom of Solomon 9:1-18);

(d) how Wisdom defended the heroes of Hebrew history, from the first man, Adam, to the Israelites at the Red Sea and in the wilderness (The Wisdom of Solomon 10:1-11:4).

2. The Historical Section, The Wisdom of Solomon 11:5-19:22:

In this second part of the book Solomon no longer speaks in the first person (as in The Wisdom of Solomon 6-9), nor is Wisdom once mentioned or for certain referred to, though most writers see in this part the attempt of the author of The Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-11:4 to exemplify in concrete instances the working of that Wisdom of which in the first part he describes the nature and issues.

(1) Contrasted treatment by God (not Wisdom) of the Israelites and their foes (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:5-12). By what things their foes were punished they were benefited (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:5).

(a) The Egyptians (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:5-12:2): Water a boon to Israel, a bane to Egypt (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:6-14). The Egyptians punished by the animals they worshipped (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:15-20), though there was a relenting on God's part that sinners might repent (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:21-12:2).

(b) The Canaanites (The Wisdom of Solomon 12:3-27): The abominations of the worship and the divine punishment with the lessons this last teaches.

(2) Idolatry described and condemned (The Wisdom of Solomon 13-15). These chapters form a unity in themselves, a digression from the historical survey closed with The Wisdom of Solomon 12:27 and continued in 16:1-19. The digression may of course be due to the allusion in 11:5-12 to the sins of the Egyptians and Canaanites. Kinds of idolatry:

(a) Nature-worship (fire, wind, air, water, heavenly bodies), due often to sincere desire to find out God (13:1-9);

(b) worship of idols in animal form, a much grosset sin (13:10-19);

(c) God's indignation against all forms of idolatry (14:1-11);

(d) origin of image-worship (14:15-21); the father mourning for his deceased son makes an image of him and then worships it (14:15); rulers are often flattered and then deified (14:16); artists often make images so attractive as to tempt men to regard them as gods (14:18-21);

(e) immoral results of idolatry: "The worship of idols.... a beginning and cause and end of every evil" (14:27) (14:22-31);

(f) Israel was free from idolatry and in consequence enjoyed the divine favor (15:1-5);

(g) the folly of idolatry: the image man made less capable than man its maker and worshipper; the Egyptians the worst offenders (15:6-19).

(3) In five different respects the fortunes of Egypt and Israel in the past are contrasted, Nature using similar means to punish the Egyptians and to reward the Israelites (The Wisdom of Solomon 16-19:22), namely, in respect of the following:

(a) animals, quail (The Wisdom of Solomon 16:1-4) and fiery serpents (The Wisdom of Solomon 16:5-14) (The Wisdom of Solomon 16:1-14);

(b) fire and water, heat and cold (The Wisdom of Solomon 16:15-29);

(c) light and darkness (The Wisdom of Solomon 17:1-18:4);

(d) death (The Wisdom of Solomon 18:5-25);

(e) passage of the Red Sea (The Wisdom of Solomon 19:1-22).

IV. Literary Form.

There is not so much manifest poetry in this book as in Sirach, though there is large amount of genuine poetry characterized by parallelism, but not by meter in the ordinary sense of the term. In parts of the book, which must be pronounced prose, parallelism is nevertheless often found (see The Wisdom of Solomon 10:1;). There are far fewer epigrammatic sentences in Wisdom than in Sirach, but on the other hand there is a far greater number of other rhetorical devices, assonances (The Wisdom of Solomon 1:10; 4:02; 5:15; 7:13), alliterations (The Wisdom of Solomon 2:23; 5:12, 18; 6:11; 12:15), antitheses (The Wisdom of Solomon 13:18), etc. Seefor details Speaker's Apocrypha (Farrar), I, 404;.

V. Unity and Integrity.

Nearly all writers on the book believe it to be one homogeneous whole, the work of one mind. They point for proof to the fact that the whole book is a consistent whole directed against the two evils, apostasy and idolatry; that the language is from beginning to end uniform, such as one writer would be likely to employ.

For a statement of contrary views and a reply to them see the Commentary of Grimm, pp. 9-15. Until about the middle of the 18th century no doubt had been expressed as regards the unity of the book.

(1) Houbigant (Notae criticae in universos New Testament libros, 1777, 169) divided the book into two parts: The Wisdom of Solomon 1-9 written by Solomon in Hebrew, The Wisdom of Solomon 10-19 composed in Greek at a later time, perhaps by the translation into Greek of chapters 1-9. Against the Solomonian authorship see VIII, below, and against a Hebrew original see X, below. Doederlein adopted Houbigant's division of the book, denying, however, the authorship by Solomon.

(2) Eichhorn (Einleitung in das New Testament, 142;) divided the book also into two parts: The Wisdom of Solomon 1-11 and 11:2-19. He held that the whole was composed in Greek by two different writers or by the same writer at different times.

(3) Nachtigal (Das Buch der Welshelf, 1799) went much farther, holding that the book is nothing more than anthology, but he has had no followers in this.

(4) Bretschneider (De lib. Sap., 1804) ascribes the book to three principal authors and to a final editor.

The Wisdom of Solomon 1-6:8 was composed in Hebrew in the time of Antiochus Epiphanes (died 164 B.C.) by a Palestinian Jew, though it is an excerpt from a larger work; 6:9-10 is the work of an Alexandrian Jew, a contemporary of our Lord; The Wisdom of Solomon 11 was inserted by the final editor as seemingly necessary to connect parts 2 and 3; The Wisdom of Solomon 12-19 were written about the same time by a Jewish partisan of slender education and narrow sympathies.

Summary.

Perhaps, on the whole, the arguments in favor of the unity of the book outweigh those against it. But the evidence is by no means decisive. The Wisdom section (The Wisdom of Solomon 1:1-11:4) is a much finer bit of writing than the rest of the book, and it bears the general characteristics of the Wisdom literature. Yet even within this larger unity The Wisdom of Solomon 6-9 stand out from the rest, since only in them is Solomon made to speak in the first person (compare Ecclesiastes 1:12;); but these four chapters agree with the rest of the Wisdom section in other respects. Within the historical section (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:5-19:22) The Wisdom of Solomon 13-15 stand together as if a separate treatise on idolatry (see III, above), though if originally independent an editor has logically joined chapter 15 to chapter 12; compare "for" (gar), "etc." (13:1). Indeed the book in its present form is made at least externally one, though it is not absolutely certain whether or not this external unity is due to editorial revision. Some scholars have maintained that the book as it stands is a torso (so Eichhorn, etc.). Calmer infers this from the fact that the historical sketch closes with the entrance of the Israelites into Canaan. Others say that the writer's sketch was cut short by some unforeseen event (Grotius, Eichhorn), or that the remainder of the once complete work has been lost in transmission (Heydenreich). But on the other hand it must be remembered that the writer's record is limited by his purpose, and that the history of the Egyptians supplies an admirable and adequate illustration of the wickedness and calamitous results of unfaithfulness to God and His law.

VI. Teaching.

In the treatment of this section it is assumed with some hesitation that the book is throughout the work of one man. The following is a brief statement of the teaching of this book concerning theology, anthropology, deontology, martiology, soteriology, and eschatology.

1. Theology:

Theology in the strict sense, i.e. the doctrine about God: God is incomparably powerful (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:21), omni-present (The Wisdom of Solomon 1:7; 12:1) and all-loving (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:24). He made the world out of formless matter (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:17, the doctrine of the Alexandrian Judaism). He did not create the world out of nothing as the Old Testament (Genesis 1:1) and even Sirach teach (see SIRACH, BOOK OF, IV, 1). The author's highest conception of creation is the conversion of chaos into cosmos. It is the order and beauty of the universe that amaze the writer, not the stupendous power required to make such a universe out of nothing (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:20; 13:3). Though God is said to be just (The Wisdom of Solomon 12:15), kind (The Wisdom of Solomon 1:13; 11:17-26; 12:13-16; 15:01; 16:7), and is even addressed as Father (The Wisdom of Solomon 14:3), yet He is in a unique sense the Favorer and Protector of Israel (The Wisdom of Solomon 16:2; 18:08; 19:22); yet according to The Wisdom of Solomon 12:2-20 even the calamities He heaps up upon the foes of Israel were designed to lead them to repentance (12:2-20), though in The Wisdom of Solomon 11 we are clearly taught that while the sufferings of the Israelites were remedial, those of their enemies were purely penal. The conception of God in Wisdom agrees on the whole with that of Alexandrian Judaism (circa 100 B.C.); i.e. it lays principal stress on His transcendence, His infinite aloofness from man and the material world. We have therefore in this book the beginning of the doctrine of intermediaries which issued in Philo's Powers, the media through which the Absolute One comes into definite relation with men.

(1) Spirit of the Lord.

In Wisdom as in the later books of the Old Testament (exilic and post-exilic), the expression "the Spirit of the Lord" denotes the person of God. What God does is done by the Spirit. Thus, it is His Spirit that fills and sustains the world, that observes all human actions (The Wisdom of Solomon 1:7), that is present everywhere (The Wisdom of Solomon 12:1). Wisdom does not hypostatize "the Spirit of the Lord," making it an intermediary between God and His creatures, but the way is prepared for this step.

(2) Wisdom.

Much that is said of the Spirit of the Lord in this book is said of Wisdom, but much more, and there is a much closer approach to hypostatization in the case of Wisdom. At the creation of the world Wisdom was with God (compare Proverbs 8:22-31), sat by His throne, knew His thoughts and was His associate (The Wisdom of Solomon 8:3; 9:4, 9), made all things, taught Solomon the Wisdom for which he prayed (The Wisdom of Solomon 7:22); all powerful, seeing all things (The Wisdom of Solomon 7:23), pervading all things (The Wisdom of Solomon 7:24), an effluence of the glory of the Almighty (The Wisdom of Solomon 7:25); she teaches sobriety, understanding, righteousness and courage (The Wisdom of Solomon 8:7, the four cardinal virtues of the Stoic philosophy). For detailed account of the conception of Wisdom in this book see WISDOM.

(3) The Logos.

In Philo the Logos is the intermediary power next to Deity, but in Wisdom the term keeps to the Old Testament sense, "word," that by which God addresses men. It never means more, though some hold (Gfrorer, Philo, etc., I 225;) that in The Wisdom of Solomon 9:1; 12:09; 16:12; 18:22, Logos has the technical sense which it bears in Philo; but a careful examination of the passages shows that nothing more than "word" is meant (see LOGOS). The only other superhuman beings mentioned in the book are the gods of the Gentiles which are distinctly declared to be nonentities, the product of man's folly (14:13), and the Devil who is, however, but once referred to as identical with the serpent of Genesis 3. The book does not once speak of a Canon of Scripture or of any divine revelation to man in written form, though it often quotes from the Pentateuch and occasionally from Isaiah and Psalms, never, however, naming them. Wisdom is thus much more universalistic and in harmony with Wisdom literature than Sirach, which identifies Wisdom with the Law and the Prophets and has other distinctly Jewish features.

2. Anthropology:

In its psychology Wisdom follows the dichotomy of Platonism. Man has but two parts, soul and body (The Wisdom of Solomon 1:4; 8:19; 9:15), the word soul (psuche) including the reason (nous) and the spirit (pneuma). The Wisdom of Solomon 15:11 is the only passage which seems to teach the doctrine of the trichotomy of man, but in reality it does nothing of the kind, for the parallelism shows that by "soul" and "spirit" the same thing is meant. Philo teaches the same doctrine (see Drummond, Philo, etc., I, 316;). Man's soul is breathed into the body (15:11; compare Genesis 2:7) and taken back again by God (15:8). The writer adopts the Platonic theory of the pre-existence of souls (8:20; compare 15:8, 11, 16), which involves the belief in a kind of predestination, for the previous doings of the soul determine the kind of body into which it enters. Solomon's soul, being good, entered an undefiled body (8:20). R. H. Charles (Eschatology, etc., 254) is hardly correct when he says that according to Wisdom (1:4; 9:15, etc.) matter is inherently sinful. This doctrine was definitely taught by Philo, who accepted Heraclitus' epigram, soma sema, "The body is a tomb." So it is said (12:10; 13:1) that man is by nature evil, his wickedness being inborn. But if he sins it is his own affair, for he is free (1:16; 5:6, 13). The writer borrows two words from Greek poetry and philosophy which appear to involve a negation of human freedom, namely, anake, "necessity" and dike "justice" "avenging justice". The first blinds the eyes of the ungodly (17:17), but the blindness is judicial, the result of a course of evil (see 19:1-5). The second term is used in Greek philosophy in the sense of nemesis, and it has that sense in The Wisdom of Solomon 1:8, etc. But throughout this book it is assumed that punishment for sin is deserved, since man is free. The author of Wisdom believes in a twofold division into good (wise) and bad (ungodly), and, unlike the writers of the later parts of the Old Testament, he holds it possible for a person to pass from one class into another. But does not God, according to parts of Wisdom, as of the Old Testament, appear to show undue favoritism to Israel and neglect of other people? Thus Israel is "God's Son" (18:13), His children (sons, 12:19, 21; 16:10, 26), His sons and daughters (9:7). They are His holy and elect ones (3:9; 4:15; and especially 10:17; 18:1, 5). But the Israelites were treated as they were, not because they were Israelites, but because they were morally better than the nations around (see Drummond, op. cit., II, 207;).

3. Deontology:

Under the term "deontology" here, religious and ethical practice is included.

(1) As might be expected in a Wisdom book, little importance is attached to the Law of Moses and its requirements. Though historical allusions are made to the offering of sacrifices, the singing of psalms and the taking upon themselves of the obligation of the covenant of the Law (The Wisdom of Solomon 18:9); though, moreover, reference is made to the offering of incense by Aaron (The Wisdom of Solomon 18:21), and Solomon is made to utter the words "temple," "altar," "tabernacle" (The Wisdom of Solomon 9:8), yet in other respects nothing is said of the temple and its feasts, of the priesthood, of sacrifice, or of the laws of clean and unclean. Yet the duty of worshipping the one true God and Him only and the evil results of worshipping idols are strongly and constantly insisted upon, especially in the second or historical part of the book (The Wisdom of Solomon 11:5 to end).

(2) The cardinal virtues inculcated are those of the Stoic philosophy, namely, prudence (sophrosune), common-sense (phronesis), justice dikaiosune) and courage (andreia), showing that the writer was influenced by the philosophy of the Greeks.

4. Hamartiology:

As a historical fact, the writer adopts the account in Genesis 3 of the entrance of sin into the world. "By the envy of the Devil, death (i.e. as the connection proves, spiritual death) entered into the world" (The Wisdom of Solomon 2:24). In The Wisdom of Solomon 14:27, however, sin is made to have its root in idolatry, meaning perhaps that all sin consists in not giving-proper heed to the one true God, and that the moral monstrosities of his time were outgrowths of idolatrous worship. The freedom of the will is taught explicitly or implicitly throughout the book (see above VI, 2).

5. Soteriology:

The book is silent as to a Messiah who shall deliver his people. It is Wisdom that saves man: "Because of her I shall have immortality" (The Wisdom of Solomon 8:13); immortality lies in kinship to Wisdom (The Wisdom of Solomon 8:17); all who give heed to the commands of Wisdom have the assurance of incorruption, and incorruption brings men near to God (The Wisdom of Solomon 6:18). The knowledge of God's power is the root of immortality (The Wisdom of Solomon 15:2).

6. Eschatology:

The doctrine of individual immortality is explicitly taught in this book. Man (= all men) was created for incorruption (The Wisdom of Solomon 2:23; 6:19; 12:1). The righteous have the full hope of immortality (The Wisdom of Solomon 3:4) and shall live forever (The Wisdom of Solomon 5:15). When the wicked die they have no hope (The Wisdom of Solomon 3:18), since they suffer for their sins in this present world as well as in that which is to come (The Wisdom of Solomon 3:16, 18). The doctrine of a resurrection of the body is not taught. If the author accepted Philo's doctrine of the inherent sinfulness of matter (see above VI, 2), as R. H. Charles holds, he could not believe in a bodily resurrection. After death there is to be a day of decision (diagnosis, the word used in Acts 25:21; see The Wisdom of Solomon 3:18); there will be an examination (exetasis) into the counsels of the ungodly. The sins of the wicked shall be reckoned up (The Wisdom of Solomon 4:20), but the righteous man shall stand in great boldness before the face of them that afflicted him (The Wisdom of Solomon 5:1). The teaching of the book as to the future of the righteous does not seem to be consistent. According to The Wisdom of Solomon 3:1;, the righteous pass at death immediately into the bliss of God; but the teaching of 4:20 is that the wicked and the righteous shall be assembled in one place to receive their sentence.

VII. Aim.

The writer's purpose appears to have been to recommend to his fellow-countrymen in Alexandria the claims of religion under the names of Wisdom, Righteousness, etc., and to warn them against falling into the idolatry of the Egyptians. In addition to glorifying Wisdom, he gives an ironical account of the rise of idolatry, and he uses strong language in pointing out the disastrous consequences in this world and the next of a life away from the true God (see above, III). The book is ostensibly addressed to rulers, but they are mentioned only in The Wisdom of Solomon 6:1-11, 20-25, and the appeal of the book is to men as such. In addressing rulers the author uses a rhetorical device. It might be argued that if rulers with their superior advantages need such exhortations and warnings, how much more ordinary men!

Plumptre (Ecclesiastes, 70) and Siegfried (HDB, iV, 928) contend that the Solomon of this book is made to answer the Solomon of Ecclesiastes. But the author does not show any acquaintance with Ecclesiastes, and it is hardly likely that this last book was known at the time in Alexandria, for though composed about 200 B.C., it was not put into Greek for a long time afterward. Besides, there is nothing about idolatry in Ecclesiastes. The conclusion reached in the genuine parts of this last book is a counsel of despair: "All is vanity." A reply to that book would seek to show that life is worth living for the sake of the present and the future. The Book of Wisdom denounces idolatry in the most scathing language: how can this and the like be a polemic against Ecclesiastes?

VIII. Author.

The author was an Alexandrian Jew, well read in the Septuagint whose phrases he often uses, fairly acquainted with Greek philosophy as taught at Alexandria and also with physical science as known at the time (see The Wisdom of Solomon 7:17-20; 8:8). He was beyond all doubt a Jew, for the views he advocates are those of an enlightened but strong Judaism; his interests are even narrowly Jewish (note the fiercely anti-Gentile sentiments of The Wisdom of Solomon 11:10-13, 17-23), and his style is largely tinged by the vocabulary and the phraseology of the Greek version of the Hebrew Scriptures. That he was an Alexandrian or at least an Egyptian Jew is equally probable. No Palestinian could have written the language of this work with its rhetorical devices (see above, IV), or have displayed the acquaintance which the book reveals with Greek philosophy as modified by Jewish-Alexandrian thought.

Other Views.

These include: (1) that Solomon is the author: see above, II. No modern scholar takes this view seriously, though singularly enough it has been revived by D. S. Margoliouth;

(2) that Zerubbabel is the author (J. M. Faber);

(3) that the author was one of the translators of the Septuagint;

(4) that the author belonged to the Therapeutae: so Gfrorer (Philo, II, 265), Dahne (Philo, II, 270); compare Jost (Geschichte des Judaismus, I, 378). This has been inferred from The Wisdom of Solomon 16:28, the Therapeutae being, it is said, a Jewish sect which, like the Zarathustrians, worshipped toward the rising sun. But we know very little about this sect, and there is no decisive evidence that it ever existed. If, however, Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica, II, 17) is right in saying that Philo's Therapeutae were Christians (the earliest Christian sect of Alexandria), it is clear that no member of this sect wrote Wisdom, for the book is wholly free from Christian influence;

(5) that Ben Sira is the author (Augustine);

(6) that Apollos is the author: so Noack (Der Ursprung des Christenthums, I, 222); Plumptre (Expositor, I, 329;, 409;); see summary of grounds in Speaker's Apocrypha (Farrar), I, 413;; but the author must have been a Jew and he wrote too early to allow of this hypothesis;

(7) that Philo is the author: thus Jerome writes (Praef. in lib. Sol.): Nonnulli scriptorum hunt ease Judaei Philonis affirmant. This view was supported by Luther and other scholars; compare the Muratorian Fragment (in Zahn's text) in XI, below. But the teaching of this book represents an earlier stage of Alexandrian Jewish speculation than that found in Philo's works, and the allegorical method of interpretation so rampant in the latter is almost wholly absent from Wisdom.

(8) It has been held by some (Kirschbaum, Weisse, etc.) that whoever the author was he must have been a Christian, but the whole trend and spirit of the book prove the contrary.

IX. Date.

1. Literary:

The book was probably composed about 120-100 B.C. The evidence is literary, historical and philosophical. The book must have been written after the Septuagint version of the Pentateuch and Isaiah had been made, since the author has evidently used this version of both books and perhaps of the Psalms as well (compare The Wisdom of Solomon 3:1 and Psalm 31:5 (6); and also The Wisdom of Solomon 15:15 and Psalm 115:4-7 (= Psalm 135:15-18)). Now we know from Sirach (Prolegomena) that the Septuagint of the Pentateuch, the Prophets and of at least a portion of the Writings (Hagiographa) was completed by 132 B.C., when the younger Siracide finished his translation of Sirach (see SIRACH, BOOK OF, VIII). It may therefore be inferred that Wisdom was written after 132 B.C. Moreover, in The Wisdom of Solomon 4:1 the author shows an acquaintance with Sirach 16:1-4 in Greek, for the pseudo-Solomon does not seem to have known Hebrew, or he would sometimes at least have quoted from the Hebrew text. This confirms the conclusion drawn from the use of the Septuagint that this book is at least as late as, say, 130 B.C., and almost certainly later. The book was composed earlier than any of the New Testament writings, or some of the latter would have been quoted or referred to. Moreover, it may be assumed that the Greek Canon was complete in the time of our Lord, and thus included Wisdom as well as the rest of the Old Testament Apocrypha. But see International Journal of Apocrypha, October, 1913, p. 77, article by the present writer. It must have taken a long time after writing for the book to gain the respect which secured its canonization. A date 100 B.C. agrees with all the facts.

2. Historical:

The Wisdom of Solomon 3:1; 5:01; 6:5-9 imply that at the time of writing the Jews addressed were suffering under the lash of persecution, and we have the resulting feeling of, animosity against the Egyptians, the persecuting power, expressed in 11:16-19. Now we know that the early Ptolemies treated the Jews with consideration, and Ptolemy VII (Physcon, 145-117 B.C.) was the first to adopt a contrary policy toward the Jews of Egypt, owing to the support they had given to Cleopatra. Josephus (Apion, II, 5) gives an account of the vengeance which this king wreaked upon the Jews of Alexandria at this time. Nevertheless, the literary manner and the restrained spirit with which these matters are referred to show that the writer is describing a state of things which belongs to the past, though to a recent past. A date about 100 B.C. would admirably suit the situation of the author at the time of composition.

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ODES OF SOLOMON

odz.

See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE.

SOLOMON, ODES OF

See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, sec. B, III, 2.

SOLOMON, POOLS OF

See POOLS OF SOLOMON.

SOLOMON, PSALMS (PSALTER) OF

See APOCALYPTIC LITERATURE, sec. B, III, 1.

SOLOMON, SONG OF

See SONG OF SONGS.

SOLOMON, WISDOM OF

See WISDOM OF SOLOMON.

Peaceful, (Hebrews Shelomoh), David's second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Samuel 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chronicles 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father on the throne in early manhood, probably about sixteen or eighteen years of age. Nathan, to whom his education was intrusted, called him Jedidiah, i.e., "beloved of the Lord" (2 Samuel 12:24, 25). He was the first king of Israel "born in the purple." His father chose him as his successor, passing over the claims of his elder sons: "Assuredly Solomon my son shall reign after me." His history is recorded in 1 Kings 1-11 and 2 Chronicles 1-9. His elevation to the throne took place before his father's death, and was hastened on mainly by Nathan and Bathsheba, in consequence of the rebellion of Adonijah (1 Kings 1:5-40). During his long reign of forty years the Hebrew monarchy gained its highest splendour. This period has well been called the "Augustan age" of the Jewish annals. The first half of his reign was, however, by far the brighter and more prosperous; the latter half was clouded by the idolatries into which he fell, mainly from his heathen intermarriages (1 Kings 11:1-8; 14:21, 31).

Before his death David gave parting instructions to his son (1 Kings 2:1-9; 1 Chronicles 22:7-16; 28). As soon as he had settled himself in his kingdom, and arranged the affairs of his extensive empire, he entered into an alliance with Egypt by the marriage of the daughter of Pharaoh (1 Kings 3:1), of whom, however, nothing further is recorded. He surrounded himself with all the luxuries and the external grandeur of an Eastern monarch, and his government prospered. He entered into an alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre, who in many ways greatly assisted him in his numerous undertakings. (see HIRAM.)

For some years before his death David was engaged in the active work of collecting materials (1 Chronicles 29:6-9; 2 Chronicles 2:3-7) for building a temple in Jerusalem as a permanent abode for the ark of the covenant. He was not permitted to build the house of God (1 Chronicles 22:8); that honour was reserved to his son Solomon. (see TEMPLE.)

After the completion of the temple, Solomon engaged in the erection of many other buildings of importance in Jerusalem and in other parts of his kingdom. For the long space of thirteen years he was engaged in the erection of a royal palace on Ophel (1 Kings 7:1-12). It was 100 cubits long, 50 broad, and 30 high. Its lofty roof was supported by forty-five cedar pillars, so that the hall was like a forest of cedar wood, and hence probably it received the name of "The House of the Forest of Lebanon." In front of this "house" was another building, which was called the Porch of Pillars, and in front of this again was the "Hall of Judgment," or Throne-room (1 Kings 7:7; 10:18-20; 2 Chronicles 9:17-19), "the King's Gate," where he administered justice and gave audience to his people. This palace was a building of great magnificence and beauty. A portion of it was set apart as the residence of the queen consort, the daughter of Pharaoh. From the palace there was a private staircase of red and scented sandal wood which led up to the temple.

Solomon also constructed great works for the purpose of securing a plentiful supply of water for the city (Ecclesiastes 2:4-6). He then built Millo (LXX., "Acra") for the defence of the city, completing a line of ramparts around it (1 Kings 9:15, 24; 11:27). He erected also many other fortifications for the defence of his kingdom at various points where it was exposed to the assault of enemies (1 Kings 9:15-19; 2 Chronicles 8:2-6). Among his great undertakings must also be mentioned the building of Tadmor (q.v.) in the wilderness as a commercial depot, as well as a military outpost.

During his reign Palestine enjoyed great commercial prosperity. Extensive traffic was carried on by land with Tyre and Egypt and Arabia, and by sea with Spain and India and the coasts of Africa, by which Solomon accumulated vast stores of wealth and of the produce of all nations (1 Kings 9:26-28; 10:11, 12; 2 Chronicles 8:17, 18; 9:21). This was the "golden age" of Israel. The royal magnificence and splendour of Solomon's court were unrivalled. He had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, an evidence at once of his pride, his wealth, and his sensuality. The maintenance of his household involved immense expenditure. The provision required for one day was "thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal, ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and an hundred sheep, beside harts, and roebucks, and fallow-deer, and fatted fowl" (1 Kings 4:22, 23).

Solomon's reign was not only a period of great material prosperity, but was equally remarkable for its intellectual activity. He was the leader of his people also in this uprising amongst them of new intellectual life. "He spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall: he spake also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes" (1 Kings 4:32, 33).

His fame was spread abroad through all lands, and men came from far and near "to hear the wisdom of Solomon." Among others thus attracted to Jerusalem was "the queen of the south" (Matthew 12:42), the queen of Sheba, a country in Arabia Felix. "Deep, indeed, must have been her yearning, and great his fame, which induced a secluded Arabian queen to break through the immemorial custom of her dreamy land, and to put forth the energy required for braving the burdens and perils of so long a journey across a wilderness. Yet this she undertook, and carried it out with safety." (1 Kings 10:1-13; 2 Chronicles 9:1-12.) She was filled with amazement by all she saw and heard: "there was no more spirit in her." After an interchange of presents she returned to her native land.

But that golden age of Jewish history passed away. The bright day of Solomon's glory ended in clouds and darkness. His decline and fall from his high estate is a sad record. Chief among the causes of his decline were his polygamy and his great wealth. "As he grew older he spent more of his time among his favourites. The idle king living among these idle women, for 1,000 women, with all their idle and mischievous attendants, filled the palaces and pleasure-houses which he had built (1 Kings 11:3), learned first to tolerate and then to imitate their heathenish ways. He did not, indeed, cease to believe in the God of Israel with his mind. He did not cease to offer the usual sacrifices in the temple at the great feasts. But his heart was not right with God; his worship became merely formal; his soul, left empty by the dying out of true religious fervour, sought to be filled with any religious excitement which offered itself. Now for the first time a worship was publicly set up amongst the people of the Lord which was not simply irregular or forbidden, like that of Gideon (Judges 8:27), or the Danites (Judges 18:30, 31), but was downright idolatrous." (1 Kings 11:7; 2 Kings 23:13.)

This brought upon him the divine displeasure. His enemies prevailed against him (1 Kings 11:14-22, 23-25, 26-40), and one judgment after another fell upon the land. And now the end of all came, and he died, after a reign of forty years, and was buried in the city of David, and "with him was buried the short-lived glory and unity of Israel." "He leaves behind him but one weak and worthless son, to dismember his kingdom and disgrace his name."

"The kingdom of Solomon," says Rawlinson, "is one of the most striking facts in the Biblical history. A petty nation, which for hundreds of years has with difficulty maintained a separate existence in the midst of warlike tribes, each of which has in turn exercised dominion over it and oppressed it, is suddenly raised by the genius of a soldier-monarch to glory and greatness. An empire is established which extends from the Euphrates to the borders of Egypt, a distance of 450 miles; and this empire, rapidly constructed, enters almost immediately on a period of peace which lasts for half a century. Wealth, grandeur, architectural magnificence, artistic excellence, commercial enterprise, a position of dignity among the great nations of the earth, are enjoyed during this space, at the end of which there is a sudden collapse. The ruling nation is split in twain, the subject-races fall off, the pre-eminence lately gained being wholly lost, the scene of struggle, strife, oppression, recovery, inglorious submission, and desperate effort, re-commences.", Historical Illustrations.

Solomon, Song of

Called also, after the Vulgate, the "Canticles." It is the "song of songs" (1:1), as being the finest and most precious of its kind; the noblest song, "das Hohelied," as Luther calls it. The Solomonic authorship of this book has been called in question, but evidences, both internal and external, fairly establish the traditional view that it is the product of Solomon's pen. It is an allegorical poem setting forth the mutual love of Christ and the Church, under the emblem of the bridegroom and the bride. (Compare Matthew 9:15; John 3:29; Ephesians 5:23, 27, 29; Revelation 19:7-9; 21:2, 9; 22:17. Compare also Psalm 45; Isaiah 54:4-6; 62:4, 5; Jeremiah 2:2; 3:1, 20; Ezek. 16; Hosea 2:16, 19, 20.)

(n.) One of the kings of Israel, noted for his superior wisdom and magnificent reign; hence, a very wise man.1315. Basemath -- "perfume," a wife of Esau (or perhaps two wives ...
... << 1314, 1315. Basemath. 1316 >>. "perfume," a wife of Esau (or perhaps two wives
with the same name), also a daughter of Solomon. Transliteration ...
/hebrew/1315.htm - 6k

3041. Yedideyah -- "beloved of Yah," a name of Solomon
... << 3040, 3041. Yedideyah. 3042 >>. "beloved of Yah," a name of Solomon. Transliteration:
Yedideyah Phonetic Spelling: (yed-ee-deh-yaw') Short Definition: Jedidiah ...
/hebrew/3041.htm - 6k

7759. Shulammith -- heroine of the Song of Solomon
... << 7758, 7759. Shulammith. 7760 >>. heroine of the Song of Solomon. Transliteration:
Shulammith Phonetic Spelling: (shoo-lam-meeth') Short Definition: Shulammite ...
/hebrew/7759.htm - 6k

1435. Giddel -- "very great," one of the Nethinim, also one of ...
... "very great," one of the Nethinim, also one of Solomon's servants. Transliteration:
Giddel Phonetic Spelling: (ghid-dale') Short Definition: Giddel. ...
/hebrew/1435.htm - 6k

1339. Bath-sheba -- perhaps "daughter of oath," the mother of ...
... perhaps "daughter of oath," the mother of Solomon. Transliteration: Bath-sheba
Phonetic Spelling: (bath-sheh'-bah) Short Definition: Bathsheba. ...
/hebrew/1339.htm - 6k

1125. Ben-abinadab -- "son of Abinadab," one of Solomon's leaders
... "son of Abinadab," one of Solomon's leaders. Transliteration: Ben-abinadab Phonetic
Spelling: (ben-ab-ee''-naw-dawb') Short Definition: Ben-abinadab. ...
/hebrew/1125.htm - 6k

8412. Tadmor -- a city built by Solomon
... << 8411, 8412. Tadmor or Tammor. 8413 >>. a city built by Solomon. Transliteration:
Tadmor or Tammor Phonetic Spelling: (tad-more') Short Definition: Tadmor. ...
/hebrew/8412.htm - 6k

292. Achinadab -- "my brother is noble," an official of Solomon
... Achinadab. 293 >>. "my brother is noble," an official of Solomon. Transliteration:
Achinadab Phonetic Spelling: (akh-ee-naw-dawb') Short Definition: Ahinadab. ...
/hebrew/292.htm - 6k

1127. Ben-geber -- "son of a man," one of Solomon's leaders
... Ben-geber. 1128 >>. "son of a man," one of Solomon's leaders. Transliteration:
Ben-geber Phonetic Spelling: (ben-gheh'-ber) Short Definition: Ben-geber. ...
/hebrew/1127.htm - 6k

1136. Ben-chesed -- "son of mercy," one of Solomon's leaders
... Ben-chesed. 1137 >>. "son of mercy," one of Solomon's leaders. Transliteration:
Ben-chesed Phonetic Spelling: (ben-kheh'-sed) Short Definition: Ben-hesed. ...
/hebrew/1136.htm - 6k