{"id":61772,"date":"2019-08-23T00:56:47","date_gmt":"2019-08-22T21:56:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=61772"},"modified":"2023-03-19T23:42:00","modified_gmt":"2023-03-19T21:42:00","slug":"should-we-be-troubled-by-solomons-opulence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/should-we-be-troubled-by-solomons-opulence\/","title":{"rendered":"Should We Be Troubled By Solomon\u2019s Opulence?"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[476,838,491,440],"acf":{"old_id":"61772","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":36277,"related_cahpter":"292","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"He may have had uncommon concern for his laborers, but there must have been unspeakable waste, human and otherwise","content":"

In this chapter we learn about the gargantuan scale of King Solomon\u2019s enterprises. Should we be wholly impressed, when we read of the huge quantities of his daily food provisions, of his 40,000 stalls of horses, and the vast armies of laborers who brought cedar and cypress wood from Lebanon, the raw materials of the Temple? Who hasn\u2019t wondered, standing before ancient miracles such as the Acropolis or the Coliseum, or early modern marvels like Versailles, about the cost to the anonymous, forgotten workers who built them? Should we feel similarly about Solomon\u2019s glorious achievements?<\/span><\/p>\n

To be sure, we learn that the workers who traveled to Lebanon were treated with far greater consideration that most construction laborers in the ancient world. Each shift spent a month in Lebanon, and two months at home. (v.28) The Talmud (<\/span>Ketubot<\/span><\/i> 62a) cites this verse in relation to the maximum length of time one who works away from home can be apart from his wife. The Temple was not built on the ruins of the family life and dignity of the thousands of men who toiled to create it. This is a powerful testament to Solomon\u2019s compassion.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet there are undercurrents of disquiet in the midrashim and commentators about the human implications of these colossal endeavors. Rashi (v.30) for example is concerned to show that those who did the hardest work of quarrying and dragging the stones were not native-born Jews but proselytes who had been attracted to join Israel by the greatness of Solomon\u2019s kingdom (the implication being that they would have been satisfied to fulfill even menial roles.) Abarbanel, who as royal treasurer in Spain, knew about the logistics of supplying kings, details the immense apparatus of workers and overseers required to exact and transport Solomon\u2019s daily tribute of food.<\/span><\/p>\n

A poignant questioning of the cost of all this grandeur appears in the Talmud (Bava Metzia, 86a) where the rabbis find ways to infer that Solomon\u2019s provisions (thirty kors of fine flour, ten fat oxen, a hundred sheep etc.) were many times greater than even the amounts detailed in the Bible. Rabbi Yitzhak argues that each of Solomon\u2019s 1000 wives made him a feast of these proportions in her house each night, because every wife thought to herself, \u201cPerhaps he will dine with me tonight.\u201d I don\u2019t think that this is merely a hyperbolic statement about Solomon\u2019s wealth. To me it evokes a tragic image of 999 lonely women gazing upon 999 untouched banquets every night of Solomon\u2019s reign, and the unspeakable waste involved in maintaining his opulent lifestyle.<\/span><\/p>\n

Should we then be troubled? Yes, somewhat. Our chapter and its commentaries show Solomon\u2019s uncommon concern for many of those who enabled his grand achievements, while also hinting at their inevitable human toll.<\/span><\/p>\n

Image: Rubens, Peter Paul – King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba \u2013 1620 \/ wikimedia<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":61773,"id":61773,"title":"1kings5-Rubens,_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba","filename":"1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/should-we-be-troubled-by-solomons-opulence\/1kings5-rubens_peter_paul_-_king_solomon_and_the_queen_of_sheba\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"1kings5-rubens_peter_paul_-_king_solomon_and_the_queen_of_sheba","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61772,"date":"2019-08-22 21:56:35","modified":"2019-08-22 21:56:44","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":800,"height":723,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba-300x271.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":271,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba-768x694.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":694,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":723,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":723,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":723,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":723,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba-465x420.jpg","home_baner-width":465,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"Should We Be Troubled By Solomon\u2019s Opulence?","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"He may have had uncommon concern for his laborers, but there must have been unspeakable waste, human and otherwise","preview_embedded":"","preview_image":{"ID":61773,"id":61773,"title":"1kings5-Rubens,_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba","filename":"1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/should-we-be-troubled-by-solomons-opulence\/1kings5-rubens_peter_paul_-_king_solomon_and_the_queen_of_sheba\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"1kings5-rubens_peter_paul_-_king_solomon_and_the_queen_of_sheba","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61772,"date":"2019-08-22 21:56:35","modified":"2019-08-22 21:56:44","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":800,"height":723,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba-300x271.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":271,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba-768x694.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":694,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","large-width":800,"large-height":723,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","1536x1536-width":800,"1536x1536-height":723,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","2048x2048-width":800,"2048x2048-height":723,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba.jpg","post_full_size-width":800,"post_full_size-height":723,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/1kings5-Rubens_Peter_Paul_-_King_Solomon_and_the_Queen_of_Sheba-465x420.jpg","home_baner-width":465,"home_baner-height":420}},"preview_video":"","external_link":"","link_for_pay":false,"tile_gallery_items":false,"credits":""},"alternate_tile":{"top_caption":"","main_caption":"","main_caption_size":"1","sub_caption":"","hide_media":false},"tile_group":{"preview_image_url":false,"main_caption":"","sub_caption":"","":null,"popup_package_extra_content":"","read_time":""},"home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo":{"seo_title":"","seo_description":"","seo_default_title":"","seo_default_description":""},"links":false,"send_noty":false},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61772"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61772"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61772\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":113642,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61772\/revisions\/113642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61772"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61772"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61772"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}