Solomon the Fool
It’s sometimes easy, when we read the more historical parts of the Bible, to forget that the authors are employing a whole heap of writing techniques. They are creative, artistic, and clever with their use of words. They don’t just want to report facts and events, they want to move and shape the way that we think about them. One of my favourite examples of this is the way that the author of 1 Kings writes about Solomon. If we look closely at his use of artistic flair, an interesting picture begins to emerge; one that changes the way that we think about Solomon entirely…
Solomon was wise, the wisest man whoever lives. So we learn in 1 Kings 4:
“God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore. Solomon’s wisdom was greater than the wisdom of all the people of the East, and greater than all the wisdom of Egypt. He was wiser than anyone else… From all nations people came to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, sent by all the kings of the world, who had heard of his wisdom.”
(1Kgs 4:29-34)
And that’s all there is to say about it… right? Well actually no.
The more I’ve read these chapters the more I’ve begun to notice that this description involves a lot more light and shade than we might first think; its laced with irony and even a little sarcasm. But we can miss this if we don’t slow down to appreciate the rest of the facts we’re given about Solomon and if we don’t have a background knowledge of the laws governing Israel’s Kings.
Let’s look at what happens when God first gives Solomon his so-called wisdom. We’re told that God is pleased that Solomon asked for wisdom over long-life, wealth, vengeance or honour (1Kgs 3:10-11) and promises him these things all the same (1Kgs 3:13). Solomon is also promised a long-life, reign and dynasty, but only if he walks in obedience and keeps God commands. This proves to be a big IF.
Because the very next thing Solomon does is go and stand before the ark in the Holy of Holies and make sacrifices.
‘Well.. what’s the problem!?’ I hear you cry. ‘Sounds like a good thing to do!’ Except, isn’t this the same thing that got King Saul into trouble? Saul made sacrifices himself, instead of waiting for the priest or God’s appointed prophet (Samuel) to do so (1Sam 13:8-12; cf 10:8, Num 18:7) and immediately lost his anointing (1Sam 13:14). Samuel tells him explicitly, ‘you have done a foolish thing’ and have not kept the command of the Lord (1Sam 13:13).
The first thing Solomon the wise does after receiving his wisdom is something we know to be foolish. The first thing Solomon the wise does after being told to keep God’s commands is break them.
But the writer chooses not to make a big deal of this, they just present it as a fact. It’s only when we look more closely that we realise its one cast in shade and laced with cruel irony.
To be sure, Solomon wasn’t all bad… he is painted, at times in a positive light. There’s that wonderful story about him settling an argument between two women. There’s also this deeply affirming description of the early part of his rule:
“The people of Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand on the seashore; they ate, they drank and they were happy… During Solomon’s lifetime Judah and Israel, from Dan to Beersheba, lived in safety, everyone under their own vine and under their own fig tree.” (1Kgs 4:20, 25)
This was the covenant dream! The promise to Abraham fulfilled! A numerous people living in a prosperous and peaceful land. All the classic images of shalom are employed here to make it clear that things were good.
But this positive portrayal is immediately followed by another, seemingly banal but actually hugely ominous statement: “Solomon had four thousand stalls for chariot horses, and twelve thousand horses” (1Kgs 4:26). What’s the problem here… for that we need to turn to Deuteronomy.
God had given Israel very specific laws about its kings, and one of the key ones was this: “The king… must not acquire great numbers of horses for himself” (Deut 17:16a). A large army would equal self-reliance, rather than dependance on God for peace. So perhaps the description of the peace and prosperity of Solomon’s reign is slightly cast as tainted or counterfeit. We learn later that Solmon’s horses and chariots had been imported from Egypt (1Kgs 10:28-29) which was also specifically forbidden (Deut 17:16b).
Incidentally, the king was also not to acquire many wives (Deut 17:17) which sort of casts some shade on Solomon’s 700! The first of Solomon’s wives was even an Egyptian (1Kgs 3:1). Again, a simply stated fact but one that should set off our alarm bells… Talk about sleeping with the enemy! Israelite kings also weren’t to acquire great amounts of wealth for themselves which sort of puts a dampener on Solomon’s annual salary of 23 metric tonnes of gold - other revenues not included (1Kgs 10:14-15 cf Deut 17:17b). Neither were they meant to ‘consider themselves better than their fellow Israelites’ which suggests God probably wasn’t blessed by his giant, elevated, gold clad, ivory statuette throne (1Kgs 10:18-20 cf Deut 17:20a).
As well as being famous for his great ‘wisdom’, many wives and tremendous splendour, Solomon is most well known for having built the temple. But perhaps even this isn’t as great a brag as one might think. For a start, there’s the question of how this got built. He built it using slave labour (1Kgs (9:15-21). That’s right, the God who frees people from slavery has their temple built by those who have been enslaved. A horrific irony.
It’s also instructive to note how much work and effort Solomon puts into the temple verses what he puts into his palace. The temple took seven years to finish (1Kgs 6:38), but he spent 13 years constructing the palace (1Kgs 7:1). That’s probably because his palace was twice the size! The temple was 60 cubits long and 20 cubits wide (1Kgs 6:2). Which was dwarfed by the 100 cubit length and 50 cubit width of the palace (1Kgs 7:2). Solomon even built a matching palace for Pharaoh’s daughter… she got a mansion, whilst God only got an annex (1Kgs 7:8)!
There’s even a question of whether God really wanted a temple - small or not. God seemed perfectly happy with a simple tent, and told David as much (1Chr 17:4-6). This suggests there’s a level of arrogance, ego, or simply misguided fervour that has gone into the whole endeavour.
As we begin to focus in on the details the writer gives us we begin to uncover a much more mixed impression of Solomon. We begin to see a man who, for all his wisdom lacks faithfulness. And for all his splendour lacks obedience. Perhaps this is why God keeps showing up to remind him to be better.
God promises to bless Solomon at the start of his reign, as long as he is obedient (1Kgs 3:14). Solomon is then reminded of this conditional promise as he begins to build the temple (1Kgs 6:11-13). By the time the temple and palace have been finished the conditional promise is repeated a third time, but now more as a warning outlining what will happen if Solomon fails to obey (1Kgs 9:4-9). Ultimately, this warning is not heeded and Solomon’s reign ends in idolatry. God turns against Solomon, Israel falls into civil war, the kingdom divides in two and eventually all the people are carried off into exile.
By the time we get to Chapter 11, it seems the writer of Kings is no longer interested in veiling their critique of the supposed great wise ruler. Instead they plainly explain the ways in which Solomon sinned by marrying foreign woman and building alters to foreign gods: “Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done” (1Kgs 11:6). This isn’t a sudden shift into criticism though. We haven’t jumped from an entirely rosy portrayal to an entirely negative one. Rather, for those of us who care to dwell a while on the earlier chapters, we can see the foreshadowing of this demise from the very beginning. And perhaps in seeing that, we are caused to reflect on where light and shade feature in our own selves. After all, are we not all like Solomon? A bit messy and dichotomous? Wanting to serve the Lord and yet finding ourselves caught up with our own desires? Perhaps, maybe, the threefold warning to Solomon is really intended as a threefold warning to us… perhaps that’s the whole point…?
The Bible is a brilliant book. Brilliantly written, by brilliant authors. They craft their words and accounts carefully and to great affect. At times they want to move us, at times confront us and at other times even tease us. The story of Solomon is a wonderful example of this. A masterful piece of art, filled with playful subtlety, delightful shading and clever moments of irony building to a crescendo of damning yet comedic sarcasm. I encourage you to read it, and dwell a while. As you grow accustomed to the genius in front of you, you might just find yourself starting to notice it elsewhere too. And you may even find yourself reflecting inwards, in the very way the writer may have intended.
