A Not-so Wise Guy

A Character Study of Solomon

The story of Solomon in 1 Kings begins with his brother Adonijah deciding to be king of Israel (1Kin 1:5). In Eli-like manner, King David never criticizes Adonijah which must have affirmed and intensified his craving for the throne. He had the king’s general, Joab, on his side. To seal his bid for power, he made sacrifices outside the city, perhaps a kind of royal picnic with himself at the head table. His brother Solomon was not invited (1Kin 1:10)—nor of course, were David and the prophet Nathan. In this section of the story, Solomon is shown as a pup, whose mother must look after his affairs. One is reminded of Rebekah looking after helpless Jacob.

David is painted in no warmer light as Bathsheba told him to let the people know their son, Solomon, will be king instead of letting his sons decide. Nonetheless, David quickly devised a plan whereby his other sons are left out of a royal pronouncement inside the city. Solomon was named king and all of his brothers were not invited to the “picnic,” which effectively became their own sacrifice. David’s pronouncement inside the city brought Adonijah back from outside the city to face reality (and David). He seized the horns of the altar, ironically akin to a sacrifice. Because Adonijah now feared Solomon (He must have feared him even earlier since he did not invite him to his king making.) he had Solomon swear his safety and set up the first of supposedly many wise judgments by the new king (the text informs us that he was wise but the examples are few). Solomon’s simple response was that if Adonijah behaves himself all will be well. Adonijah is taken down from the altar horns and knelt before Solomon, to which Solomon told him, in effect, Go home. Your place is not in the palace. Adonijah was no king; the king said so. But Adonijah could not keep away and it cost him his life (1Kin 2:23).

Solomon continued to clean up his father’s poor decisions (e.g.: Joab, another sacrifice on the horns of the altar), acting with wisdom and decisive strength. These judgments, followed through with decisive action, “firmly established” Solomon’s kingdom (1Kin 2:12). Soon, Solomon’s own decisions began to go off course. Instead of marrying within the Faith, he made a political bond with Egypt. Nevertheless, Solomon is said to have loved the Lord—even though he carried on the pagan practices of sacrificing on the high places (1Kin 3:3).

God spoke to him even in such a place at Gibeon, perhaps because Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings there (1Kin 3:4). God told him in a dream to ask for whatever he desired. Again Solomon showed wisdom. Instead of asking to win the lottery or an equally selfish request, Solomon asked to govern the people well, knowing the difference between good and evil (1Kin 3:9). His prayer is seen granted by how he dealt with the two prostitutes (1Kin 3:16-28). Such wisdom was essential for the ruler of all the lands between the Euphrates to the Mediterranean and down to Egypt. The citizens of Judah and Israel were “happy” (1Kin 4:20). Has this been said before or since his reign? At very least, Solomon was a great administrator and a wise judge. The king of Tyre also thought so (1Kin 5:7) and was enlisted to help in the building of the Temple. Yet, in order to pull off this building project he conscripted forced labor. The formerly mentioned happiness of Judah and Israel is not likely to last. Still, he was able to finish a house for the Lord (1Kin 6:14).

Once this concern of his father’s was accomplished, Solomon expanded his power as well as his love for all things shiny and beautiful. A king was commanded to “not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, nor…acquire for himself excessive silver and gold (Deut 17:16). Yet Solomon surrounded himself with exclusively golden goblets and many wives—many foreign wives, expressly forbidden by God (1Kin 11:2) since they would “turn away [his] heart after their gods.” Over a thousand wives and concubines led him away from an understanding that there was only one God in the land (Deut 6:4). For all his insight into the affairs of others, in the end Solomon had little wisdom left to apply to himself.