Solomon

For other uses, see Solomon (disambiguation).
"King Solomon" redirects here. For the Ghanaian football team, see King Solomon F.C.
Solomon
שְׁלֹמֹה‎
King Solomon (1872) by Simeon Solomon
King of Israel
Reignc. 970–931 BCE (hypothesised)
PredecessorDavid
SuccessorRehoboam
Born11th–10th century BCE
Jerusalem, Kingdom of Israel and Judah
Spouse
700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines, including:[1][2]
Issue
3 (recorded):
DynastyHouse of David
FatherDavid
MotherBathsheba
ReligionYahwism

Solomon (/ˈsɒləmən/),[a] also called Jedidiah,[b] was the fourth monarch of the Kingdom of Israel and Judah, according to the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament.[4][5] The successor of his father David, he is described as having been the penultimate ruler of all Twelve Tribes of Israel under an amalgamated Israel and Judah. The hypothesized dates of Solomon's reign are from 970 to 931 BCE. According to the biblical narrative, after Solomon's death, his son and successor Rehoboam adopted harsh policies towards the northern Israelites, who then rejected the reign of the House of David and sought Jeroboam as their king. In the aftermath of Jeroboam's Revolt, the Israelites were split between the Kingdom of Israel in the north (Samaria) and the Kingdom of Judah in the south (Judea); the Bible depicts Rehoboam and the rest of Solomon's patrilineal descendants ruling over independent Judah alone.[6]

A Jewish prophet, Solomon is portrayed as wealthy, wise, powerful, and a dedicated follower of Yahweh (God),[7] as attested by the eponymous Solomon's Temple,[8] which was the first Temple in Jerusalem.[5] He is also the subject of many later references and legends, most notably in the Testament of Solomon, part of biblical apocrypha from the 1st century CE.

The historicity of Solomon is widely debated. Current scholarly consensus allows for a historical Solomon, but regards his reign as king over Israel and Judah in the 10th century BCE as uncertain and the biblical description of his apparent empire's lavishness as most probably a massive anachronistic exaggeration.[9][10][11]

Solomon is also revered in Christianity and Islam. In the New Testament, he is portrayed as a teacher of wisdom, though excelled by Jesus of Nazareth,[12] and as arrayed in glory, but excelled by "the lilies of the field".[13] In the Quran, he is considered to be a major Islamic prophet. In mostly non-biblical circles, Solomon also came to be known as a magician and an exorcist, with numerous amulets and medallion seals dating from the Hellenistic period invoking his name.[14]

  1. ^ "In Our Time With Melvyn Bragg: King Solomon". United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: BBC Radio 4. 7 June 2012. Retrieved 10 June 2012.
  2. ^ 1 Kings 11:1–3
  3. ^ Khan, Geoffrey (2020). The Tiberian Pronunciation Tradition of Biblical Hebrew. Vol. 1. Open Book Publishers. p. 305. ISBN 978-1-78374-676-7.
  4. ^ Book of Kings: 1  Kings 1–11; Books of Chronicles: 1 Chronicles 28–29, 2 Chronicles 1–9
  5. ^ a b Barton, George A. (1906). "Temple of Solomon". Jewish Encyclopedia. pp. 98–101. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  6. ^ Stefon, Matt (27 June 2023). "Solomon king of Israel". Britannica.
  7. ^ Rashi, to Megillah, 14a
  8. ^ 1 Kings 5:5; 8:20
  9. ^ Grabbe, Lester. The Dawn of Israel: A History of Canaan in the Second Millennium BCE. 2023. T&T Clark. p. 255-259. “It is essentially a folktale about an Eastern potentate – it is royal legend or Königsnovelle.” “Thus, it looks difficult to discover much in the Solomon story that strikes the critical reader as likely to be historical.” “[T]he temple story has been inflated into a legendary extravaganza.” “[T]he Solomon story is the most problematic of those relating to the early Israelite kings, providing the thickest cloud of obscurity over the history that lies behind it.”
  10. ^ Dever, William G. (2021). "Solomon, Scripture, and Science: The Rise of the Judahite State in the 10th Century BCE". Jerusalem Journal of Archaeology. 1: 102–125. doi:10.52486/01.00001.4. ISSN 2788-8819.
  11. ^ Finkelstein & Silberman 2006, p. 20.
  12. ^ Matthew 12:42; Luke 11:31
  13. ^ Matthew 6:28–29; Luke 12:27
  14. ^ "Archaeology, Culture, and other Religions". FMC terra santa. Retrieved 21 June 2013.


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