{"id":62080,"date":"2019-09-01T09:56:03","date_gmt":"2019-09-01T06:56:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=62080"},"modified":"2023-03-26T16:33:33","modified_gmt":"2023-03-26T13:33:33","slug":"solomon-the-decline-and-fall","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/solomon-the-decline-and-fall\/","title":{"rendered":"Solomon: The Decline And Fall"},"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":[838,440],"acf":{"old_id":"62080","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":33692,"related_cahpter":"297","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"Solomon ignores the warnings of the Torah, miscalculating his personal resilience","content":"

The earlier chapters presented God’s gift of wisdom with the noble objective articulated by Solomon, “to judge Your people, to distinguish between good and bad” (3:9). In these later chapters, however, which present the latter years of Solomon\u2019s reign, Solomon’s wisdom functions merely a source of revenue:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

All the world came to pay homage to Solomon and listen to the wisdom with which God had endowed him. And each one would bring his tribute \u2014 silver and gold objects, robes, weapons, spices, horses and mules…. (10:24-25)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This eclipsing of the spiritual power of Solomon’s wisdom is expressed using another literary feature as well. God has informed Solomon that his wisdom will be unprecedented and never superseded \u2014 “There has never been anyone like you before, nor will anyone like you arise again” (3:12).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This designation of historic uniqueness is now applied to other contexts:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Queen of Sheba: “Never again did such a vast quantity of spices arrive….” (10:11) <\/span>
\n<\/span>Almog wood: “Such a quantity of almog wood has never arrived or been seen again to this day.” (10:12) <\/span>
\n<\/span>Solomon’s throne: “Never again was such throne ever made for any other kingdom.” (10:20)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By this simple technique, we gain a vivid sense of Solomon’s spiritual decline, as luxury woods and elegant spices make more of an impression than the king’s capacity to bring justice to the nation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Reading about Solomon’s horses and the heightened focus upon gold reminds us of the series of restrictions that are incumbent upon the Jewish king:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He may not amass horses for himself and send the people back to Egypt to add to his horses, since the Lord has warned you, “You must not go back that way again.” And he may not amass wives for himself, lest his heart go astray; nor may he amass silver and gold to excess for himself. (Deut. 17:16-17)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Solomon ignores the warnings of the Torah, miscalculating his personal resilience. He considers himself immune to temptation, insisting that he can control his impulses and instincts \u2014 but the wisdom of the Torah exceeds his own. The Bible actively contrasts the early Solomon with the Solomon of the later years. His modest beginnings give way to an empire with a very different tone. The wealth, the horses, the rise in the standard of living, and the trappings of grandeur become an end in and of themselves, rather than a means to higher things. Solomon has gone astray from his original orientation and goals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Alex Israel, 1 Kings: Torn in Two, Maggid Books, 2013, Solomon\u2019s Sins<\/span><\/p>\n","image":{"ID":61437,"id":61437,"title":"alex israel - kings 1","filename":"alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","filesize":0,"url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/adonijahs-scheme-to-ascend-the-throne\/alex-israel-kings-1\/","alt":"","author":"7","description":"","caption":"","name":"alex-israel-kings-1","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":61414,"date":"2019-08-19 12:13:44","modified":"2019-08-19 12:13:53","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1020,"height":1304,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-235x300.jpg","medium-width":235,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-768x982.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":982,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-801x1024.jpg","large-width":801,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","1536x1536-width":1020,"1536x1536-height":1304,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","2048x2048-width":1020,"2048x2048-height":1304,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-939x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":939,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1-329x420.jpg","home_baner-width":329,"home_baner-height":420}},"embedded_video":"","video_duration":"","show_fb_comments":true,"credit_media":""},"tile":{"top_caption":"Excerpts from: 1 Kings - 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