Solomon was a son of David and Bathsheba. David named him Solomon, and God sent the prophet Nathan to give him the additional name Jedidiah. Scripture says little about his childhood. When David grew old, Solomon’s older brother Adonijah declared himself king and gathered chariots, horsemen, and supporters. Nathan alerted Bathsheba, and together they reminded David of his promise that Solomon would succeed him. David sent Zadok the priest and Nathan to place Solomon on the royal mule, take him to Gihon, and anoint him. When the people shouted, “Long live King Solomon,” Adonijah’s feast broke apart.
Once Solomon sat on the throne, David charged him to remain faithful to God and keep the law, and also gave instructions about unresolved political enemies and allies. After David died, Adonijah asked Bathsheba to obtain Abishag, David’s former attendant, as his wife. Solomon treated the request as a claim to the throne and ordered Adonijah killed. He expelled the priest Abiathar, and the military commander Joab was executed after grasping the horns of the altar. Shimei was killed after violating an order not to leave Jerusalem. Solomon’s power was thus secured through a bloody purge. He also married Pharaoh’s daughter to form an alliance with Egypt.
At Gibeon, Solomon offered many burnt offerings. God appeared in a dream and invited him to ask for what he wanted. Solomon admitted that he did not know how to lead the people and requested a listening heart able to discern good from evil and render justice. God was pleased that he had not asked for long life, wealth, or the death of his enemies, and promised wisdom along with riches and honor. Soon two women who shared a house asked him to decide which was the mother of a living baby. Solomon ordered the child divided with a sword, exposing their different responses, then gave the baby to the woman who pleaded for its life. All Israel stood in awe of the king because they saw that God’s wisdom was in him to administer justice.
Solomon’s reign became known for an extensive administration and a richly supplied court. Twelve district governors provided food for the royal household month by month, while the king accumulated chariots and horses. Scripture says his wisdom surpassed that of surrounding peoples, that he spoke three thousand proverbs and composed 1,005 songs, and that he discussed plants and animals. People came from many nations to hear him. The prosperity also required heavy labor. Solomon conscripted thirty thousand Israelites for rotating work in Lebanon, while seventy thousand carried loads and eighty thousand quarried stone. These labor forces supported construction of the temple.
In the fourth year of his reign, Solomon began building the temple in Jerusalem. He obtained cedar and skilled workers from King Hiram of Tyre and decorated the structure with dressed stone, wood, and gold. The temple took seven years, while Solomon’s palace complex took thirteen. When the priests brought the covenant ark into the inner sanctuary, a cloud filled the temple. Solomon blessed the people and prayed that even heaven and the highest heaven could not contain God, much less the house he had built. He asked God to hear prayers offered toward this place by Israelites and foreigners, acknowledging that there is no one who does not sin.
After the dedication, God appeared to Solomon again. If the king walked uprightly, his dynasty would be established; if he and his descendants turned to other gods, Israel would be cut from the land and the temple rejected. Solomon continued his construction projects and imposed forced labor on the remaining Canaanite peoples, while Israelites served as soldiers, officials, and commanders. He built ships, imported gold, and gathered immense wealth from trade and tribute. Silver was described as common as stone in Jerusalem. He also multiplied chariots and horses and traded horses from Egypt and other regions.
The queen of Sheba came to Jerusalem after hearing Solomon’s fame and tested him with difficult questions. He answered them all. She was overwhelmed by his wisdom, the order of his court, and the worship connected with the temple. The queen blessed Solomon’s God and presented spices, gold, and precious stones. Solomon in turn gave her what she desired before she returned home. The scene displays how far his reputation had spread. First Kings then lists gold shields, an ivory throne, costly vessels, trading ships, and chariots. Yet this expanding wealth and royal power stand immediately beside the account of Solomon’s disobedience.
Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, Solomon loved many women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and the Hittites. He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines. God had warned that these peoples would turn Solomon’s heart toward other gods if he joined himself to them, but Solomon held fast to them. In his old age his wives turned his heart away. He followed Ashtoreth and Milcom. He built high places east of Jerusalem for Chemosh and Molech and did the same for his other foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods. Solomon’s heart was not wholly faithful to God as the heart of his father David had been.
God became angry because Solomon had not kept the covenant and commands despite two appearances. The kingdom would be torn from his son, although one tribe would remain for the sake of David and Jerusalem. Hadad the Edomite and Rezon son of Eliada became Solomon’s adversaries. Jeroboam, one of Solomon’s officials, also rebelled. The prophet Ahijah tore a new garment into twelve pieces and gave ten to Jeroboam, declaring that ten tribes would come under him because of Solomon’s disobedience. When Solomon sought to kill Jeroboam, he fled to Egypt and remained there until Solomon’s death.
Solomon ruled all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years. First Kings says that another record contained his deeds and wisdom, but it does not narrate a final repentance. He died, was buried in the city of his father David, and his son Rehoboam succeeded him. The division God had announced remained for the reign of Solomon’s son Rehoboam. Solomon’s life therefore includes not only a listening heart, the temple, and international renown, but also the consequences that forced labor, concentrated royal power, and worship that departed from the covenant left for the next generation.