Solomon's wives on the map
SOLOMON MARRIES IDOL-LOVING WOMEN
Putting Solomon's wives on the map: King Solomon loved women. He loved his Egyptian wife, the daughter of Pharaoh. But he loved hundreds of other women, too. He married many women who weren’t Israelites. He married women from the nations of Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, as well as Hittites. These are the same nations the LORD told people in Israel to avoid. He said, “Don’t marry them. If you do, they’ll convince you to worship their gods.” But Solomon loved who he loved.Solomon's harem
Solomon married 700 princesses and 300 concubines. Dramatically outnumbered, Solomon lost the battle of the gods to his foreign wives. They turned him away from the LORD. By the time Solomon grew into an old man, his wives had completely eroded his devotion to the LORD. Solomon’s father, David, had stayed true to God. Solomon did not. He worshiped other gods. Solomon worshiped Astarte, goddess of Sidon. And he worshiped Milcom, the disgusting filth of a god that the people of Ammon worship. Solomon got it wrong. His father David got it right; he obeyed the LORD. But Solomon decided not to obey God.Pagan gods in Israel's hills
Solomon built a hilltop shrine for worshiping Chemosh, god of Moab. And on the Mount of Olives, the ridge of hills east of Jerusalem, he built a shrine to worship Molech, another repulsive god of Ammon. He built similar places of worship for all his foreign wives, so they could continue worshiping their own gods by burning incense and offering sacrifices. The LORD was furious with Solomon. The LORD had already appeared to Solomon twice and talked with him. Yet the king still decided to reject his own God, the God of Israel. Solomon did that even though God had personally told him not to worship other gods. (1 Kings 11:1-10, Casual English Bible) For features about the Bible Stephen M. Miller's website & YouTube channelSolomon’s portfolio
Solomon's portfolio
Solomon's portfolio
Solomon's portfolio grew and made him wealthy for at two important reasons. First, he takes the risk of building a fleet of ships to send abroad with Israel's products, to trade for exotic products he can't buy in Israel: jewels, African animals and ivory, horses from what is not Turkey, and chariots from Egypt. The ships return every three years, loaded with gold, silver, and other goodies for the king. It was a risk, though. Another king built a fleet for the Red Sea and somehow lost them all at Ezion-geber, in or near the port of origin"Jehoshaphat had a fleet built in the style of Tarshish [7] ships. He wanted to send them to Ophir [8] to bring back some gold. But the ships didn’t make it far. They wrecked in Ezion-geber" (1 Kings 22:48).Solomon also made a bundle off of caravans and locals traveling through his land, which was the only good land bridge between Egypt and other Africa nations in the south with nations in the north and the east, including what are now Turkey, and Greece, Iraq, and Iran.
Queen of Sheba on a shopping spree
Some scholars say the Queen of Sheba came for more than curiosity and a desire to test Solomon's wisdom, as the Bible reports."The queen gave Solomon two and a half tons (4,000 kg) of gold and jewels. And she gave him more spices than Solomon or any other king of Israel ever got or would ever get again in one huge shipment" (1 Kings 10:10).It probably wasn't just a gift. In those times, gifts were reciprocated.
"King Solomon gave the queen of Sheba everything she said she wanted, with royal gifts on top of it. Then he sent her on her way back home" (1 Kings 10:13).For feature articles about the Bible
Stephen M. Miller's blog and YouTube channel
Solomon's international portfolio
Solomon’s Jerusalem add-on
Solomon's Jerusalem add-on
SOLOMON’S JERUSALEM
King Solomon's Jerusalem sat on ridge and stretched about one kilometer (3/4 miles) from the Temple Mount on the top of the ridge, down to Lower Jerusalem called the City of David. King David's Jerusalem was about half as big. Solomon added the Temple and surrounding area later.Kings after Solomon began extending Jerusalem to the west. The Jerusalem of Jesus, during the Roman occupation of Israel, was much larger...until Rome crushed a Jewish revolt and destroyed the city in AD 70. That was the last Temple the Jews ever had. Arab invaders conquered the land and 1400 years ago built a Muslim shrine on the Temple Mount.
It's now Jerusalem's most famous landmark: the Dome of the Rock. For another angle on Jerusalem, see the map with Nehemiah 7.
Here's a sampling of King Solomon's unusual writing, which many scholars say was written centuries later by a writer borrowing Solomon's name.
WHATEVER WE DO, IT’S A WASTE OF TIME
1David’s son, the Scholar and King of Jerusalem, offers these observations2It’s a pitiful waste of time, the Scholar says. It’s all worthless and meaningless.
3What do people get for all their hard work, For spilling their sweat under the sun?
4A generation dies and another is born, But it makes no difference to the everlasting earth.
5The sun rises. The sun sets. Then it races all night to rise again.
6The wind blows north. The wind blows south. The wind blows round and round. It follows its route, comes back home, Then it starts all over again.
7Rivers and streams flow into the sea But the sea always has room for more. So, water returns to the streams where it came from And the streams flow back to the sea.
8Everything is exhausting, Too exhausting for words. What we see isn’t satisfying. What we hear isn’t good enough. Ecclesiastes 1:1-8, Casual English Bible
King Solomon's Jerusalem
Solomon's Jerusalem
Solomon’s Jerusalem
Solomon's Jerusalem
Solomon's Jerusalem
King Solomon's Jerusalem sat on ridge and stretched about one kilometer (3/4 miles) from the Temple Mount on the top of the ridge, down to Lower Jerusalem called the City of David. King David's Jerusalem was about half as big. Solomon added the Temple and surrounding area later. Kings after Solomon began extending Jerusalem to the west. The Jerusalem of Jesus, during the Roman occupation of Israel, was much larger...until Rome crushed a Jewish revolt and destroyed the city in AD 70. That was the last Temple the Jews ever had. Arab invaders conquered the land and 1400 years ago built a Muslim shrine on the Temple Mount. It's now Jerusalem's most famous landmark: the Dome of the Rock. For another angle on Jerusalem, see the map with Nehemiah 7. Here's a sampling of King Solomon's unusual writing, which many scholars say was written centuries later by a writer borrowing Solomon's name.WHATEVER WE DO, IT’S A WASTE OF TIME
1David’s son, the Scholar and King of Jerusalem, offers these observations 2It’s a pitiful waste of time, the Scholar says. It’s all worthless and meaningless. 3What do people get for all their hard work, For spilling their sweat under the sun? 4A generation dies and another is born, But it makes no difference to the everlasting earth. 5The sun rises. The sun sets. Then it races all night to rise again. 6The wind blows north. The wind blows south. The wind blows round and round. It follows its route, comes back home, Then it starts all over again. 7Rivers and streams flow into the sea But the sea always has room for more. So, water returns to the streams where it came from And the streams flow back to the sea. 8Everything is exhausting, Too exhausting for words. What we see isn’t satisfying. What we hear isn’t good enough. Ecclesiastes 1:1-8, Casual English BibleKing Solomon's Jerusalem
