{"id":61312,"date":"2018-07-09T17:44:13","date_gmt":"2018-07-09T14:44:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wall\/wall-296\/"},"modified":"2023-03-26T12:51:52","modified_gmt":"2023-03-26T09:51:52","slug":"wall-296","status":"publish","type":"wall","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wall\/wall-296\/","title":{"rendered":"chapter-Prophets-I Kings-9"},"parent":0,"template":"","acf":{"type":"chapter","wall_id":"296","date":"20261018","book":"I Kings","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"296","books_group":"Prophets","posts":[{"order":1,"id":"61262","color":"#f8ebe3","size":"1","name":"JPS Audio Bible - I Kings Chapter 9 ","post_title":"JPS Audio Bible - I Kings Chapter 9","slug":"jps-audio-bible-i-kings-chapter-9","old_id":"61262","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34686,"post_title":"Soundcloud","slug":"soundcloud","old_id":"34686","first_name":"","last_name":"","description":"","short_description":"","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34656,"alt":"","title":"491","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","width":300,"height":300,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","medium_large-width":300,"medium_large-height":300,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","large-width":300,"large-height":300,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","1536x1536-width":300,"1536x1536-height":300,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","2048x2048-width":300,"2048x2048-height":300,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","post_full_size-width":300,"post_full_size-height":300,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/491-2.jpg","home_baner-width":300,"home_baner-height":300}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"296","type_929":"4","show_author_image":true,"old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"","post_main_content_content":"","post_main_content_image":"","post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"JPS Audio Bible","tile_main_caption":"I Kings Chapter 9","tile_main_caption_size":"2","tile_sub_caption":"Hear the daily chapter","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":"","tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"https:\/\/soundcloud.com\/929-bible\/JPS_Audio_Bible_I_Kings_Chapter_9","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","old_create_date":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"296","date":"20261018","wall_id":"296"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":2,"id":"113745","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"God\u2019s Divine \u201cIf\u2026Then\u201d Logic ","post_title":"God\u2019s Divine \u201cIf\u2026Then\u201d Logic","slug":"gods-divine-ifthen-logic","old_id":"113745","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":62571,"post_title":"Yaakov Bieler","slug":"yaakov-bieler","old_id":"62571","first_name":"Yaakov ","last_name":"Bieler ","description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University in 1974. He has lectured and written extensively on Modern Orthodoxy, and blogs daily at https:\/\/yaakovbieler.wordpress.com ","short_description":"Rabbi Yaakov Bieler has been involved in Jewish education and the synagogue Rabbinate in New York, NY and Silver Spring, MD since being ordained by Yeshiva University. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":62572,"alt":"","title":"OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","width":141,"height":180,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler-141x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":141,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium-width":141,"medium-height":180,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","medium_large-width":141,"medium_large-height":180,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","large-width":141,"large-height":180,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","1536x1536-width":141,"1536x1536-height":180,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","2048x2048-width":141,"2048x2048-height":180,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","post_full_size-width":141,"post_full_size-height":180,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/yaakov-bieler.jpg","home_baner-width":141,"home_baner-height":180}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"296","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"You\u2019re only damned if you don\u2019t\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

A central aspect of this biblical chapter is the \u201cTenai Kaful\u201d (lit. \u201cdouble condition:\u201d both compliance with and violation of the condition are spelled out) that God presents to Solomon regarding the the longevity of his reign and the Temple that was constructed under his supervision<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If you walk before Me as your father David walked before Me, wholeheartedly and with uprightness, doing all that I have commanded you [and] keeping My laws and My rules, Then I will establish your throne of kingship over Israel forever\u2026<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>(<\/span>But<\/span><\/i>) if you and your descendants turn away from Me and do not keep the commandments (<\/span>and<\/span><\/i>) the laws which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, Then I will sweep<\/span> the House which I have consecrated to My name\u2026 (I Kings 9:4-7).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The paradigm of \u201cTenai Kaful\u201d is formulated by Moses, when addressing the request of the tribes of Reuben and Gad to take up residence on the far-side of the Jordan River:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Moses said to them, \u2018\u2026If you go to battle as shock-troops, at the instance of God, And every shock-fighter among you crosses the Jordan, at the instance of God, until [God] has personally dispossessed the enemies<\/span>, <\/b>And the land has been subdued, at the instance of God, and then you return\u2014you shall be clear before God and before Israel; and this land shall be your holding under God.<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>But if you do not do so, you will have sinned against God; and know that your sin will overtake you (Numbers 32:20-3).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It could be claimed that the Rebuke at the end of Leviticus is in the form of \u201cTenai Kaful\u201d and therefore Moses was simply echoing God\u2019s example:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments, I will grant your rains in their season, so that the earth shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit\u2026<\/span>
\r\n<\/span>But if you do not obey Me and do not observe all these commandments, If you reject My laws and spurn My rules, so that you do not observe all My commandments and you break My covenant, I in turn will do this to you: I will wreak misery upon you\u2014consumption and fever\u00a0 which cause the eyes to pine and the body to languish; you shall sow your seed to no purpose, for your enemies shall eat it (Leviticus 26:3-4, 14-16).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u00a0A \u201dTenai Kaful\u201d leaves nothing to the imagination. It spells out positive and negative consequences, in order that both sides, the imposer of the agreement as well as the one upon whom the conditions are made, will be able to properly prepare themselves for what is being proposed. The fact that the annual calendar marks the destruction of the two Jerusalem Temples constitutes strong evidence that the conditions have not been met by the Jewish people.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":93908,"alt":"","title":"job9-foot punishment","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment.jpg","width":1920,"height":1086,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-300x170.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":170,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-768x434.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":434,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-1024x579.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":579,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":869,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1086,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-1200x679.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":679,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-743x420.jpg","home_baner-width":743,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"God\u2019s Divine \u201cIf\u2026Then\u201d Logic","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"You\u2019re only damned if you don\u2019t","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":93908,"alt":"","title":"job9-foot punishment","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment.jpg","width":1920,"height":1086,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-300x170.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":170,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-768x434.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":434,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-1024x579.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":579,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":869,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":1086,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-1200x679.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":679,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/job9-foot-punishment-743x420.jpg","home_baner-width":743,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_link_for_pay":"0","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"296","date":"20261018","wall_id":"296"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"531","name":"Reward","old_id":"931"},{"term_id":"547","name":"Punishment","old_id":"947"},{"term_id":"784","name":"Rebuke","old_id":"1184"},{"term_id":"838","name":"Solomon","old_id":"1238"}]},{"order":3,"id":"113743","color":"#f6edf6","size":"1","name":"The Past And Future Temple ","post_title":"The Past And Future Temple","slug":"the-past-and-future-temple","old_id":"113743","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":78133,"post_title":"Josh Blechner","slug":"josh-blechner","old_id":"78133","first_name":"Josh ","last_name":"Blechner ","description":"Josh first finished the Tanach during Yeshiva in Mevaseret Zion. He and his daughter studied the Tanach again for her bat mitzvah. Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group. When not studying for 929, Josh works as an in-house lawyer in New Jersey.","short_description":"Josh has taught many classes on Tanach throughout the years and currently in the New Rochelle 929 group, and is an in-house attorney in New Jersey. ","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":78134,"alt":"","title":"josh blechner","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","width":276,"height":351,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner-236x300.jpg","medium-width":236,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","medium_large-width":276,"medium_large-height":351,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","large-width":276,"large-height":351,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","1536x1536-width":276,"1536x1536-height":351,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","2048x2048-width":276,"2048x2048-height":351,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","post_full_size-width":276,"post_full_size-height":351,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/josh-blechner.jpg","home_baner-width":276,"home_baner-height":351}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"296","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The situation is tense\r\n\r\n","post_main_content_content":"

Chapter 9 is God\u2019s response to Solomon\u2019s prayer during the dedication ceremony. The structure is similar to the rebuke, blessings and curses in Leviticus and Deuteronomy. God begins by accepting Solomon\u2019s prayer and promising that the Temple will endure if the people follow God. However, if they begin worshiping idols, then the Temple will be destroyed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cAnd as for this House, it will be \/ it once was, exalted, everyone passing by it shall be appalled and shall whistle. And when they ask, \u2018Why did the LORD do thus to the land and to this House?\u2019\u201d (Verse 8).\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is a little ambiguity with the first part of the verse. In context, the verse seems to be talking about the destruction of the Temple and the aftermath. However, the Hebrew seems to be in future tense \u201cThis house it will be exalted.\u201d Rashi inserts a missing sentence in between the first phrase and the rest of the verse. He interprets the verse as \u201cThis house will be exalted (but if you do not follow my ways then this house will be destroyed) and everyone who walks by will be appalled and will whistle.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Metzudat David sees this as a classic Biblical \u2018flip tense\u2019 wherein the tense of the word is future, but should be read as past. In other words, according to him, the verse should be understood: \u201cThis house that was exalted, everyone who walks by will be appalled and will whistle\u2026\u201d\u00a0 This mirrors the Targum which adds the words \u201cwill be destroyed\u201d in their translation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Ralbag takes a third approach and reads this as a reference to the present holiness of the Temple. \u201cThis house that is currently exalted (will be destroyed) and everyone who walks by will whistle.\u201d In context, with verse 7, it would seem out of place for it to be future tense.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cThen I will sweep Israel off the land which I gave them; I will reject the House which I have consecrated to My name; and Israel shall become a proverb and a byword among all peoples\u201d (verse 7).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Also, the parallel verse in II Chronicles 7:21 is written in past tense:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

And as for this House, once so exalted, everyone passing by it shall be appalled and say, \u2018Why did the LORD do thus to this land and to this House?\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Given all of this, why does Rashi interpret this as the future tense? Rashi must have looked at the parallel verse in Chronicles and wondered why the verse here is different. If the author meant it to be past tense here, then it should have matched Chronicles. The fact that it does not, may be to send the message that even in the context of this destruction there is still hope for the Temple to still be exalted in the future.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":68813,"alt":"","title":"is65-past-memory","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory.jpg","width":1920,"height":752,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-300x118.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":118,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-768x301.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":301,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-1024x401.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":401,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":602,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory.jpg","2048x2048-width":1920,"2048x2048-height":752,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-1200x470.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":470,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/is65-past-memory-1072x420.jpg","home_baner-width":1072,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The 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By The Bay","tile_main_caption":"I Kings 9: Religious Faith + Geopolitical Savvy","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"With Shira Hecht-Koller and Rabbi Dr. Jeffrey 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He taught at the Hebrew Union College (Jerusalem), The Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Schechter Institute for Judaic Studies in Jerusalem, and at the Ben-Gurion University in Beer Sheba, Israel. During 1993 he was Visiting Associate Professor at Yale University, and during 1996 he was the Stroum Professor of Jewish Studies and Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Washington in Seattle. During 2005, Bregman served as the Harry Starr Fellow in Judaica at Harvard University and was awarded a Teaching Fellowship at the Center for Advanced Judaic Studies at the University of Pennsylvania. He also has served as Forchheimer Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Humanities at The Hebrew University in Jerusalem. He is the author of The Tanhuma-Yelammedenu Literature: Studies in the Evolution of the Versions (Gorgias Press, 2003). In 2006, Bregman was appointed the Herman and Zelda Bernard Distinguished Professor of Jewish Studies at the University of North Carolina in Greensboro, where he also headed the program in Jewish Studies, until 2013. Bregman retired from UNCG as of July 31, 2017. 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Our chapter begins with an idyllic depiction of King Solomon\u2019s achievements: \u201cWhen Solomon had finished building the House of the Lord and the royal palace and everything that Solomon had set his heart on constructing\u2026\u201d (I Kings 9:1). Among Solomon\u2019s building projects are specifically mentioned \u201cchariot towns and cavalry towns\u201d (verse 19). Despite the heavy burden of taxation that Solomon imposed on those over whom he ruled (see verse 15), Scripture is careful to note that Solomon \u201cdid not reduce any Israelites to slavery. They served, rather, as warriors and as his attendants, officers and commanders, and as the officers of his chariotry and cavalry\u201d (verse 22).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cChariotry and cavalry\u201d are normally intended for military use. But a medieval midrash (Legends of the Jews [2003] V, pp. 970-971) gives a detailed account of how Solomon\u2019s chariots and horsemen also engaged in racing designed to impress and engage the public. We are told that each month, one of Solomon\u2019s twelve officials (see I Kings 4:7,19 and Talmud Bavli Sanhedrin 12a) was responsible for a chariot race in a specially constructed \u201c\u2019Ippodromin\u201d (Greek \u201cHippodromos\u201d). This race track is said to have covered three square parasangs (one \u201cparasang\u201d, i.e. \u201cleague\u201d was roughly the distance one can walk in one hour), within which was an inner square that measured one parasang on each side, around which the races were run. Within this inner circuit were cages with all sorts of animals. And from the mouths of four gold lions flowed perfume for the delectation of the audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The spectators were divided into four groups, distinguished by the color of their apparel. The king and his attendants, including scholars, their disciples, Priests and Levites wore light blue garments. Jerusalemites wore white. Visitors from the surrounding towns and villages wore red. And others who came from afar bearing tribute wore green.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This medieval Jewish description of King Solomon\u2019s public spectacles reflects the wildly popular chariot races that were a famous feature of Greco-Roman culture. Up to twelve \u201cQuadriga\u201d (four-horse chariots) raced around the Circus Maximus in ancient Rome, a race track 2,000 feet long, but only 150 feet wide, resulting in many fatal crashes \u2013 depicted cinematically in the famous Chariot Race scene in the 1959 remake of the originally silent film \u201cBen Hur.\u201d In the days of the Roman republic, the charioteer teams and their fanatical supporters were distinguished by the color of their garments: Reds, Whites, Greens and Blues \u2013 as reflected in our Midrash.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The legendary Hippodrome of Byzantium, adjacent to the Great Palace, could accommodate 100,000 spectators. The Byzantine supporters of the competing teams of charioteers were designated the \u201cBlues\u201d and the \u201cGreens\u201d. These two groups developed into warring political factions that also reflected opposing religious differences.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The ruins of specially constructed Hippodromes are found in archaeological sites in far-flung parts of the ancient Roman-Byzantine Empire, including at Caesarea Maritima in present-day Israel.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: The Chariot Race, attributed to Alexander von Wagner 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She has been sharing her passion for Jewish texts of all kinds for over 15 years, with students of all ages. Sarah\u2019s essays have been published in a variety of internet and print media, including Times of Israel, Kveller, Jewish Action, OU Life, The Lehrhaus, TorahMusings, and more. Sarah lives in Cleveland with her husband and four children, but is privileged to learn online with students all over the world through www.TorahTutors.org and www.WebYeshiva.org. \r\n\r\n","short_description":"Sarah Rudolph is a freelance Jewish educator, writer, and editor.","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":34251,"alt":"","title":"Sarah R","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","width":2824,"height":4246,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-200x300.jpg","medium-width":200,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":681,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-681x1024.jpg","large-width":681,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","1536x1536-width":1022,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R.jpg","2048x2048-width":1362,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-798x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":798,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Sarah-R-279x420.jpg","home_baner-width":279,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"296","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"A strong personal and political alliance between Solomon and Hiram shows the potential for close international ties","post_main_content_content":"

For twenty years, Solomon worked on God\u2019s Temple and his own palace, relying heavily on materials and workers provided by a friend of his father\u2019s, Hiram, king of Tyre. Finally, the time came to fulfill his part of the bargain, and so \u201cKing Solomon in turn gave Hiram twenty towns in the region of Galilee\u201d (9:11) \u2013 but alas, \u201cwhen Hiram came from Tyre to inspect the towns that Solomon had given him, he was not pleased with them\u201d (ibid. 12).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Uh oh. What happens when a powerful king doesn\u2019t satisfactorily fulfill his bargain with another?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Well, if they\u2019re friends, they talk about it with good cheer, and work something out.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201c\u2018My brother,\u2019 he said, \u2018what sort of towns are these you have given me?\u2019 So they<\/span> were named the land of Cabul\u201d (ibid. 13).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cMy brother\u201d \u2013 and then in the next verse, Hiram still sends Solomon more gold. Doesn\u2019t sound like much of a showdown over those disappointing cities, does it?<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Commentaries suggest, based on II Chronicles 8:2 and B. Talmud Shabbat 54a, that Hiram was displeased because the land didn\u2019t bear fruit easily \u2013 and he therefore simply returned the cities to Solomon, who got his own people working the land and repaid Hiram with other goods instead. An easy, friendly solution; \u201cand through this, the connection remained between them for the future\u201d (Malbim on 9:13).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

That sort of lasting, durable connection \u2013 a friendship that crossed lines of nationhood and religion \u2013 struck ancient scholars as so rare that when two examples were found, it was suggested that they were actually one and the same: One view in Genesis Rabbah 85:4 identifies Hiram as Hirah, Judah\u2019s friend mentioned in Genesis 38:1. (This midrashic view is presumably rooted as well in both the similar names and the fact that Hiram\u2019s friends, David and Solomon, descended from Judah.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There is another special relationship that might also come to mind when reading of Hiram. When Hiram first heard from Solomon back in I Kings 5:5, \u201che was overjoyed\u201d and praised God \u201cfor granting David a wise son to govern this great people.\u201d Hiram\u2019s joy is striking, a surprisingly personal and emotional reaction to the news that another nation has a new leader who looks like he will be good for them. What does the wisdom of another people\u2019s leader, his plans to build them and their God a Temple, have to do with Hiram? But joy on behalf of the Jewish people, from someone who may or may not ever have officially been a part of them, appears earlier in the Bible as well: \u201cAnd Jethro rejoiced over all the kindness that the LORD had shown Israel (Exodus 18:9).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It may be rare, but these individuals demonstrate that it\u2019s possible to maintain friendly ties, and not only that, to be genuinely happy for others\u2019 success despite all kinds of differences.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Image: Hiram shows the planes to Solomon. Engraving of J.J. Scheuchzer, \u00abPhysica Sacra Iconibus Illustrata\u00bb, Augsburg, 1731<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":62061,"alt":"","title":"1kings9-hiram-solomon","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","width":303,"height":273,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon-300x270.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":270,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","medium_large-width":303,"medium_large-height":273,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","large-width":303,"large-height":273,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","1536x1536-width":303,"1536x1536-height":273,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","2048x2048-width":303,"2048x2048-height":273,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","post_full_size-width":303,"post_full_size-height":273,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","home_baner-width":303,"home_baner-height":273}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"A Beautiful Friendship","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"A strong personal and political alliance between Solomon and Hiram shows the potential for close international ties","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":62061,"alt":"","title":"1kings9-hiram-solomon","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","width":303,"height":273,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon-300x270.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":270,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","medium_large-width":303,"medium_large-height":273,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","large-width":303,"large-height":273,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","1536x1536-width":303,"1536x1536-height":273,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","2048x2048-width":303,"2048x2048-height":273,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","post_full_size-width":303,"post_full_size-height":273,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-hiram-solomon.jpg","home_baner-width":303,"home_baner-height":273}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"296","date":"20261018","wall_id":"296"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"838","name":"Solomon","old_id":"1238"},{"term_id":"907","name":"Hiram","old_id":"1307"},{"term_id":"920","name":"Friendship","old_id":"1320"}]},{"order":7,"id":"62065","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"The Value Of A Conditional Promise ","post_title":"The Value Of A Conditional Promise","slug":"the-value-of-a-conditional-promise","old_id":"62065","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33992,"post_title":"Bradley Shavit Artson","slug":"rabbi-dr-bradley-shavit-artson","old_id":"33992","first_name":"Bradley Shavit ","last_name":"Artson","description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson holds the Abner and Roslyn Goldstine Dean's Chair of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles, and is professor of philosophy there. Artson is married to Elana Shavit Artson, and they are the parents of twins, Shira and Jacob.\r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","hide_writer":false,"short_description":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson is the Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies and is Vice President of American Jewish University in Los Angeles.","link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33993,"alt":"","title":"Rabbi Dr Bradley Shavit Artson","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/png","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","width":204,"height":199,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140-150x150.png","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-256x300.png","medium-width":256,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","medium_large-width":204,"medium_large-height":199,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","large-width":204,"large-height":199,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","1536x1536-width":204,"1536x1536-height":199,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","2048x2048-width":204,"2048x2048-height":199,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","post_full_size-width":204,"post_full_size-height":199,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/Rabbi-Dr-Bradley-Shavit-Artson-e1532029361140.png","home_baner-width":204,"home_baner-height":199}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"296","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"While God yearns mightily for our redemption, we must wrestle that happy condition into existence ourselves","post_main_content_content":"

Gathering at the foot of Sinai, the Jewish people reported a degree of clarity and intimacy with the Divine never to be surpassed in their experience. Seeing thunder and hearing lightning, they intuited the words by which the narratives and practices that molded us as a covenanted people could etch themselves into our hearts. The promises we heard were unconditional: you be my people; I will be your God. The promise of Sinai is an eternal promise.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Not so the promise of Zion. What God offers at this hill in Jerusalem is a sacred site where David yearned for, and Solomon built, a Temple as unique as the God it brought to mind. We pushed beyond our expectations to build a building of surpassing beauty and meaning, but in the end, the promise Solomon receives is a conditional promise: \u201cIf \u2026, then \u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cIf you walk before Me \u2026 wholeheartedly and with uprightness \u2026 then I will establish\u2026 But if you and your descendants turn away from Me \u2026 then I will sweep Israel off the land which I gave them.\u201d The gift, it seems, is very much dependent on our showing faithfulness to the way we have been offered. If we build a society around the fair application of law (mishpat) and the equitable worth of each human being (tzedek), then we will retain the reciprocal affection of the Holy One.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

God\u2019s choice of us is irrevocable. God\u2019s showering us with favor must be earned anew by each person, each generation.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

What that means is that our story is always being written. It\u2019s conclusion is far from foreordained. While God yearns mightily for our redemption, we must wrestle that happy condition into existence ourselves. God will work through us, but we must provide the effort, the hands, the heart.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

So, here\u2019s to a conditional promise. Earn the land! Merit Jerusalem! Do so not by falling into the Assyrian\/ Babylonian\/ Roman trap of faith in weapons and brute force. Lift up our vision to a higher standard of righteousness, compassion, and love that can infuse the world with the spirit of God and bring us all into a place of promise.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If you walk, then I will establish.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Anyone up for a hike?<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":62066,"alt":"","title":"1kings9-forever","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"","tile_main_caption":"The Value Of A Conditional Promise","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"While God yearns mightily for our redemption, we must wrestle that happy condition into existence ourselves","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":62066,"alt":"","title":"1kings9-forever","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever.jpg","width":1280,"height":720,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-300x169.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":169,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-768x432.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":432,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-1024x576.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":576,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever.jpg","1536x1536-width":1280,"1536x1536-height":720,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever.jpg","2048x2048-width":1280,"2048x2048-height":720,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-1200x675.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":675,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/1kings9-forever-747x420.jpg","home_baner-width":747,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"296","date":"20261018","wall_id":"296"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"370","name":"Divine\/human","old_id":"770"},{"term_id":"608","name":"Promise","old_id":"1008"}]},{"order":8,"id":"62050","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Darker Strands: The Beginning of the Fall ","post_title":"Darker Strands: The Beginning of the Fall","slug":"darker-strands-the-beginning-of-the-fall","old_id":"62050","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":33692,"post_title":"Alex Israel","slug":"33692-2","old_id":"33692","first_name":"Alex","last_name":"Israel","description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem. His first book \"I Kings - Torn in Two\" was published in 2013. See his website www.alexisrael.org, and his podcasts at https:\/\/elmad.pardes.org\/ and https:\/\/tanachstudy.com\/ \r\n","credit":"","image_url":"","short_description":"Alex Israel teaches Tanakh at the Pardes Institute, Yeshivat Eretz Hatzvi and Matan, Jerusalem.","hide_writer":false,"link_for_pay":false,"image":{"id":33693,"alt":"","title":"alex israel","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","width":1657,"height":2500,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-199x300.jpg","medium-width":199,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","medium_large-width":679,"medium_large-height":1024,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-679x1024.jpg","large-width":679,"large-height":1024,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","1536x1536-width":1018,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel.jpg","2048x2048-width":1357,"2048x2048-height":2048,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-795x1200.jpg","post_full_size-width":795,"post_full_size-height":1200,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/alex-israel-278x420.jpg","home_baner-width":278,"home_baner-height":420}},"tags":false},"related_cahpter":"296","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content_description":"The biblical text increasingly accentuates the negative aspects of Solomon's reign: greed, over-indulgence and a national trade deficit","post_main_content_content":"

Upon first acquaintance with these chapters, the reader is impressed by the accomplishments of this king. But as one revisits them, especially with the awareness of Solomon's failures at the end of his reign, one appreciates that he did not fail overnight; darker strands are revealed, indicating the deep flaws that threatened the impressive national enterprise. Chapters 9 and 10 of I Kings exemplify this literary ambivalence, as the biblical text increasingly accentuates the negative aspects of Solomon's reign.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Chapter 9, verses 10-14 presents a tense conversation, as King Hiram of Tyre expresses his dissatisfaction with Kabul, the land he has received from Solomon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Twenty years earlier, Solomon had a positive relationship with Hiram, and the country produced excess wheat and oil, financing the imports of cedar and cypress timber (5:24-25) . Now, Solomon is in such financial deficit that he has to trade away segments of the land of Israel! What has changed? In place of timber, Hiram now supplies Solomon with \"gold according to all his desire,\" the price of which the national agriculture surplus cannot cover.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

It seems that the increased demand for gold is representative of a wider shift in national lifestyle and priorities. The Talmud explains that in Kabul the people were \u201cwere wealthy and spoiled, they did not engage in manual labor [so the land deteriorated]\u201d (Shabbat 54a).\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

When Solomon rose to power, the nation was made up primarily of farmers, earning their living from the land. The gross national product was enormous and consumption was relatively modest, resulting in a huge national surplus. Now the people have become affluent, with no desire to get their hands dirty in the field.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

If this Talmudic passage is correct, the problem is not so much the import of gold, but the fact that Israel has abandoned agriculture for \"higher\" pursuits, such as commerce and national planning and administration (see 9:22-23). With declining national production and increasing domestic consumption, the country suffers from a deficit, and Solomon eventually has to surrender land in order to pay off the national debt!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\r\n

This is just one example of a significant transformation in the lifestyle of the kingdom. Chapters 9 and 10 revisit most of the topics already addressed in chapters 3-5 and by a method of \"compare and contrast,\" the reader can take note of the national transitions.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The word \"gold,\" appears seventeen times in chapters 9-10; chapters 3-5 fail to refer to gold even once. Thus we discern a palpable emphasis upon material extravagance and overindulgence. Something is wrong in Solomon's kingdom.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Alex Israel, 1 Kings: Torn in Two<\/em>, Maggid Books, 2013, Wealth and Opulence\u00a0<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":61437,"alt":"","title":"alex israel - kings 1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","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}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"Excerpts from: 1 Kings - Torn in Two","tile_main_caption":"Darker Strands: The Beginning of the Fall","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"The biblical text increasingly accentuates the negative aspects of Solomon's reign: greed, over-indulgence and a national trade deficit","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":61437,"alt":"","title":"alex israel - kings 1","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/alex-israel-kings-1.jpg","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}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"296","date":"20261018","wall_id":"296"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":[{"term_id":"440","name":"Wealth\/money","old_id":"840"},{"term_id":"838","name":"Solomon","old_id":"1238"},{"term_id":"884","name":"Corruption","old_id":"1284"}]},{"order":9,"id":"62068","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"Solomon and the \u201cLand for Peace\u201d Option ","post_title":"Solomon and the \u201cLand for Peace\u201d Option","slug":"solomon-and-the-land-for-peace-option","old_id":"62068","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":34243,"post_title":"Moshe Sokolow","slug":"moshe-sokolow","old_id":"34243","first_name":"Moshe","last_name":"Sokolow","description":"Dr. Moshe Sokolow is Associate Dean of the Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration, Yeshiva University, and teaches a weekly class in parashat hashavu`a at Lincoln Square Synagogue. 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Incredibly, King Solomon, who ruled approximately 3,000 years ago, got himself involved in a highly contested contemporary issue: whether land that is under Jewish sovereignty can be ceded to another jurisdiction. Just as incredible is that several of our traditional exegetes were exercised over it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

At the end of twenty years during which Solomon constructed the two buildings, the LORD\u2019s house and the royal palace\u2014Since King Hiram of Tyre had supplied Solomon with all the cedar and cypress timber and gold that he required\u2014King Solomon in turn gave Hiram twenty towns in the region of Galilee (10-11).<\/span><\/p>\r\n

On the surface, this appears to be a benign transaction. Hiram was very helpful in securing material and specialized labor for the Temple and for the palace, and Solomon gave him the towns as a token of his gratitude. However, the question, as formulated by Malbim (19<\/span>th<\/span> century) is: \u201cIs it conceivable that Solomon would give Hiram Israelite towns, thereby nullifying their sanctity, which is against Torah law?\u201d This question was anticipated long before Malbim; indeed, Radak, Ralbag (Gersonides), and Abrabanel also dealt with it.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

All three treatments of this question revolved around the observation that in 2 Chronicles 8:1-2 the roles are reversed:<\/span><\/p>\r\n

\u201cAt the end of twenty years during which Solomon constructed the house of the LORD and his palace\u2014Solomon also rebuilt the cities that Huram [Hiram] had given to him, and settled Israelites in them.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

The medievals\u2019 resolution of the dilemma was captured succinctly by Ralbag: \u201cIt is already recorded in the Book of Chronicles that Hiram, too, gave towns to Solomon in which [Solomon] settled Israelites. That was entirely proper, because it is inconceivable that a king should diminish the Land of Israel.\u201d In contemporary terms, it was a land swap. Malbim seems to suggest that the actual sequence places Kings before Chronicles and that Hiram rejected the gift and returned to Solomon the same twenty towns he had received from him so\u2014ultimately\u2014no harm , no 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Solomon is the most pharaonic monarch the Israelites ever had. The stability and prosperity of his reign makes his Israel the closest to an Egypt-level power that the Israelites ever achieved. Solomon also loved building and making other states his vassals. He builds the Temple, and the royal palace, and accomplishes these tasks on the back of ethnicity-based discrimination. The ethnic groups (Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites, and Jebusites) that we did not wipe away from the land were used as slave labor and\/or were specially taxed by Solomon for the purpose of finishing construction projects according to verse 21 of chapter 9.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

There are tremendous parallels between this model of statehood and the Egyptian model. Solomon is king in a time when Egypt is only beginning to recover from the late Bronze Age collapse. Solomon\u2019s governance was a Judaizing of what was and would continue to be the ideal government of civilizations for hundreds of years to come. A monarchy with disenfranchised ethnic populations could still be progressive in the 10<\/span>th<\/span> century BCE by focusing on the divinity of God rather than claiming the king is God, by not practicing human sacrifice, etc. Still, in this situation something irritates many modern observers. A community whose origin story is based on liberation from state-sponsored slavery does not look wise when they engage in similar practice.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

To quote a truism made popular by Jewish comic writer and actor Mel Brooks, \u201cIt\u2019s good to be the king.\u201d But kings are limited and anachronistic in the 21<\/span>st<\/span> century. For those of our Jewish communities who do not seek the restoration of monarchy, what would the Judaizing of modern governments look like? If our people went to a prophet today, what would they say rather than \u2018set a king over us\u2019? Would it look like the parliamentary system in Israel, or a president, or some other model? Maybe to solve this conundrum, we need a leader with the wisdom of Solomon.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

image: Israel in Egypt (Edward Poynter, 1867) - 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He has written over twenty books, focusing on such topics as the European novel from the 18th century to the present, contemporary American fiction, and modern Hebrew literature. He has also written extensively on the literary aspects of the Bible. His most recent work is his monumental three volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019 - from which the selections in 929 are taken. ","short_description":"Robert Alter is the Class of 1937 Professor of Hebrew and Comparative Literature at the University of California at Berkeley, and author of the three-volume translation of the entire Hebrew Bible - The Hebrew Bible, W. W. 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9:2 \u201c...the Lord appeared to Solomon a second time as He had appeared to him in Gibeon.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\r\n

Solomon\u2019s royal enterprise is framed by two revelations. Early in his reign, God appears to him at Gibeon and grants him the gift of wisdom (3:5-14). The wisdom is first manifested in the episode of the Judgement of Solomon and in his composing proverbs. His great building projects, now completed, may reflect another kind of wisdom because they consolidate his rule. Now God comes to him to tell him that the sanctity of the temple is divinely ratified.<\/span><\/p>\r\n

From: Robert Alter, The Hebrew Bible<\/em>, vol. 2: Prophets, W. W. Norton & Co., 2019, ad loc. By permission of the author.<\/span><\/p>","post_main_content_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"From Robert Alter's Bible Translation and Commentary","tile_main_caption":"Revelatory Bookends","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"And with this one, the sanctity of the temple is divinely ratified","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":54890,"alt":"","title":"Alter-Cover","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","width":1200,"height":693,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-300x173.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":173,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-768x444.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":444,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1024x591.jpg","large-width":1024,"large-height":591,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","1536x1536-width":1200,"1536x1536-height":693,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover.jpg","2048x2048-width":1200,"2048x2048-height":693,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-1200x693.jpg","post_full_size-width":1200,"post_full_size-height":693,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Alter-Cover-727x420.jpg","home_baner-width":727,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"296","date":"20261018","wall_id":"296"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false},{"order":14,"id":"61409","color":"#e2f4fa","size":"1","name":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- I Kings 9 ","post_title":"A Lesson on the Daily Chapter- I Kings 9","slug":"a-lesson-on-the-daily-chapter-i-kings-9","old_id":"61409","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":{"id":40936,"post_title":"David Silber","slug":"david-silber-2","old_id":"40936","first_name":"David ","last_name":"Silber ","description":"Rabbi David Silber is the Founder and Dean of Drisha Institute for Jewish Education. 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    \r\n\t
  1. Spot the differences<\/em>. During the building of the Temple, Solomon was granted a revelation with a similar message to that in this chapter. What\u2019s the difference? In chapter 6, the message is positive emphasizing only the reward if \"you follow My laws and observe My rules and faithfully keep My commandments...\" (6:12). But here. God also lays out the negative repercussions if \u201c\"you and your descendants turn away from Me and do not keep the commandments [and] the laws which I have set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them\u2026\" (9:6).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  2. Well-endowed matrimony<\/em>. Pharaoh\u2019s daughter does not come empty-handed. She brings as her dowry the city of Gezer that Pharaoh had conquered (verse 16). Solomon, for his part, responds lavishly with an entire palace for her (verse 24).<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  3. International maritime trade<\/em>. The home port: Eilat (Ezion-Geber). The merchant marine: shared by Solomon and Hiram. The destination: Ophir. And the desired cargo? Gold (verses 26-28). Later on (10:22), we\u2019ll also read of silver, ivory, apes and peacocks...\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\r\n\t
  4. Cracks in the facade<\/em>\u2026 The sensitive reader, or just the one who knows what\u2019s in store in coming chapters, can already sense the cracks in the otherwise neutral or even positive descriptions in this chapter. The dire warning given in the divine revelation, and the painful description of the expected disaster, and the failed trade agreement with Hiram that granted him 20 cities in the Galilee, the increasing desire for, and preoccupation with, gold in this and the next chapter: all show hints at failure and the beginnings of decay.<\/span><\/li>\r\n<\/ol>","post_main_content_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"post_main_content_embedded_video":"","post_main_content_video_duration":"","post_main_content_show_fb_comments":"1","post_main_content_credit_media":"","tile_top_caption":"I Kings 9","tile_main_caption":"Points to Ponder","tile_main_caption_size":"1","tile_sub_caption":"Insights and questions for personal reflection and group discussion","tile_preview_embedded":"","tile_preview_image":{"id":86314,"alt":"","title":"Points to ponder","caption":"","description":"","mime_type":"image\/jpeg","url":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","width":1000,"height":1000,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-150x150.jpg","thumbnail-width":150,"thumbnail-height":150,"medium":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-300x300.jpg","medium-width":300,"medium-height":300,"medium_large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-768x768.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":768,"large":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","large-width":1000,"large-height":1000,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","1536x1536-width":1000,"1536x1536-height":1000,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","2048x2048-width":1000,"2048x2048-height":1000,"post_full_size":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder.jpg","post_full_size-width":1000,"post_full_size-height":1000,"home_baner":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Points-to-ponder-420x420.jpg","home_baner-width":420,"home_baner-height":420}},"tile_preview_video":"","tile_external_link":"","tile_tile_gallery_items":"","tile_credits":"","alternate_tile_top_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption":"","alternate_tile_main_caption_size":"1","alternate_tile_sub_caption":"","alternate_tile_hide_media":"0","tile_group_preview_image_url":"","tile_group_main_caption":"","tile_group_sub_caption":"","tile_group_popup_package_extra_content":"","tile_group_read_time":"","home_color":"","home_gallery_top":"","home_gallery_middle":"","home_gallery_book":"","home_gallery_bottom":"","seo_seo_title":"","seo_seo_description":"","seo_seo_default_title":"","seo_seo_default_description":"","links":false,"tile_link_for_pay":"0","send_noty":false,"chapter_info":{"books_group":"Prophets","book":"I Kings","chapter":"9","chapter_main_number":"296","date":"20261018","wall_id":"296"},"link_for_pay":false,"tags":false}],"hide_acf":true,"home_image":false,"home_posts":false,"home_posts_title":"","posts_home":[],"static_cube_title":"","static_cube_brief":"","static_cube_color":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall\/61312"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wall"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/wall"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}