It is not enough to know all the ways of justice, and understand the full mystery of human behavior in light of God's revelation. One must also do justice. Solomon failed to grasp this. Our primary passage in 1 Kings is paralleled in 2 Chronicles 8-9.
1 Kings 9:1-9 -- We note there was no hint of scandal in Solomon's reign, unlike his father David. He also completely failed to rise to his father's level of spirituality. God had appeared to Solomon once at Gibeon. When the Temple was complete, and Solomon had prayed, fire fell from Heaven to light the altar (2 Chronicles 7:1). The only time this had happened before, as far as we know, was at the dedication of Aaron as High Priest (Leviticus 9). After Solomon's dedication of the Temple, here the Lord appears to him again and speaks to him. There is a conditional offer, the same covenant offered to David. If Solomon could obey the Lord by staying clean of idolatry, his dynasty was secure. Upon departing from that standard, the scepter would depart his household. Further, if his sin caused the people to sin also, the Temple of God's own Presence would be destroyed.
9:10-14 -- The passage here is quite unclear, and assumes the reader knows far more than we do today. Scholars speculate that Solomon was unable to keep up the steady payments in grain and oil. After twenty years of building, the royal treasury had dwindled, and may have actually been in arrears. To settle this debt, Solomon offered some 20 cities in a region west and north of the what was then called Lake Chinnereth. Even then, this area of land was called Galilee. This would be a loss of land deeded to the Tribes of Asher and Naphthali, but apparently a part that had not been conquered, so it was still Gentile territory.
As far as we can tell, the area was rather swampy then. Hiram came up to see the cities, which would have been an extension of his eastern border. He was not impressed. His nickname for the place was Kabul, meaning worthless. That Hiram gave Solomon some gold may have been a symbol of suspending the payments, and instead extended a cash loan for the sake of development. Hiram gave the cities back, and Solomon sent Israelites to colonize the place, something they had failed to do since Joshua's days. In the process, Solomon invested in the area to improve the likelihood of paying his debt to Hiram. It's not out of the question to see in all this Hiram giving Solomon a lesson or two in making a royal profit. We know for certain Hiram was very wealthy in his island fortress from trade. From this low point, Solomon becomes steadily wealthier.
9:15-23 -- We need to note a distinction here between the labor tax Solomon laid on Israel and the full-time enslavement of the resident Canaanites. The labor tax continued periodically throughout Solomon's reign, but must have been drastically reduced after the initial twenty years of building. He used the slave labor almost exclusively for building.
Some of the projects included rebuilding the old Jebusite fortress and terrace, called the Millo, as a fortress to defend the main eastern gate in the Lower City of Jerusalem. It had been used as David's palace. He also built stables and a fortress at Megiddo, which guarded a pass from the south into the Jezreel Valley. The city of Gezer, out on the edge of old Philistia near the Valley of Aijalon, had remained a Canaanite fortress, never taken during the Conquest. As a wedding gift to his new son-in-law, Pharaoh brought up forces from Egypt and laid siege until it fell. Solomon rebuilt it under Israeli control. Just east of there, Solomon built up both Upper and Lower Beth Horon, another critical pass. Baalath is not currently identified.
Tadmor is the name of a city far to the north, in the territory captured by David. Half-way between Damascus and the Euphrates was an oasis out in the desert wastes. By building a city there, it enabled the more hardy traders to save time and expense by cutting off a long loop up to Charan to enter Assyria. The investment was known to bear high returns in tolls and services. (In texts that add "in Judah" to verse 18, we note that is not in the original.) Throughout the rest of his domain, Solomon placed granaries and stables.
The men of Israel released from the labor tax became soldiers and officers. There was a battalion of officers riding herd over the slave labor working on building projects up to the end of Solomon's reign.
9:24-25 -- A brief section is inserted to note that, early in his reign, Solomon was quite circumspect in ritual observance. He quickly moved his first wife into her new quarters up beyond the peak of Zion. No doubt the residents of the city, as well as any visitors, had taken offense at the presence of an unconverted pagan in the vicinity of holy ground. The old palace terrace of David had been the resting place of the Ark of Covenant, and it became known as Zion -- a holy landmark. The term eventually applied to that and the Temple grounds, too. Once she was moved from the old palace, Solomon then had it restored to its original purpose as fortress.
9:26-28 -- At the north end of the Gulf of Aqaba was a city belonging to Edom, named Elath. Solomon controlled Edom at the time, and built the Port of Ezion-geber there. He brought in Hiram on the business, in part because of the debt still owed, and in part because Israel knew little of sailing and shipping. Archaeology tells us that Solomon had copper smelters there, and it was this he traded in places far down the south of the Red Sea, trading with Sheba, known today as Yemen. He also traded on the coast of Africa, where perhaps was Ophir, though we do not know for sure. This was the turning point for Israel's treasury. Israel went from deeply in debt after 20 years of constant building around Jerusalem, to the wealthiest kingdom in the world at that time.
10:1-10 -- Yemeni scholars claim during this period women ruled the land, and it was called Sabah, so we have a tentative link with the biblical Sheba. An alternative spelling refers to the people as Sabeans. From Solomon's trade contacts there, the queen decided to come and see if the stories she heard were true. As typical of diplomatic and trade missions throughout history, she brought a huge retinue and rare trade goods, most likely from India and farther down the coast of Africa. We know from ancient records it was a sport of royalty to test each other on reputation. What she found was beyond her expectations, to the point she felt rather humble. Nothing she proposed to Solomon as judicial knots could he fail to resolve.
10:11-13 -- During her visit, Solomon arranged a trade deal between Sheba and Tyre. The almug or algum wood appears to have been red sandal wood from Ceylon, and would be rare indeed in Israel. Solomon used it to build steps in the Temple Court and in the palace. The queen left all her gifts, taking away even more in terms of Israeli pricing. She spread abroad the fame of Solomon to all her trade partners, and they in turn sought to visit him.
10:14-23 -- As the trade profits rolled in, Solomon pampered himself and built a lasting legacy of fabulous wealth and power. He had gold to waste on large shields to hang in the Lebanon Forest House. He had throne built of ivory. More than just a fancy chair, this included six steps up and a platform, carved to resemble lions. This was then overlaid with gold decorations. Solomon brought in so much silver, it became far less valuable than gold. All the royal dishes were made of gold, along with just about every decoration one could imagine. On the long voyages of those days, it would take Solomon's ships three years to make a trade circuit. His wealth went beyond accounting.
10:24-29 -- No less was Solomon's political and military power. Every visitor coming to hear his words of wisdom brought lavish gifts. All his tributaries brought annual gifts, which included animals and, armor and spices. Solomon amassed a huge army of chariots and horsemen. The royal city reeked of Lebanese cedar, and silver festooned common objects. While Egypt was not known as a horse-breeding center, most likely Pharaoh was simply the agent for them as part of their trade in chariots.
There is some dispute as to what the original texts said here. What's worth noting is that this was a specific violation of Mosaic Law (Deuteronomy 16:17) to buy horses from Egypt. It would appear the wealth and power was turning Solomon's heart from God.
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Ed Hurst
30 October 2004
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