Story of the all-wise Solomon becomes a cautionary tale
Propelled by his lusts for wealth and women, he ended up living a life of excess
Hear a mention of the Biblical name of Solomon, and you’re likely to think of a man who was granted boundless wisdom.
But the story of Solomon is much more complicated than that.
The reality is that Solomon, who according to the Bible was the third and last ruler of the undivided kingdom of Israel, might just as easily be viewed as one of the least wise men who ever lived. Given everything he could possibly want, and certainly more than he asked for, the book of Ecclesiastes has him writing near the end of his days that life is meaningless: “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”1
He life was the classic morality tale: He let his wisdom, his riches, even his lusts, go to his head, causing him to lose his sense of what are the most important things in life, losing sight of the fact his blessings came from God.
It’s a cautionary tale for all of us.
The main part of Solomon’s story is told in the opening chapters of 1 Kings with a similar but shorter version appearing in the two books of Chronicles. He was the second son of King David and Bathsheba, the woman David had married after arranging for her husband to be killed in battle as a way of hiding David’s illicit (or worse) sexual encounter with her.
David appointed Solomon to the kingship in his final days, mostly because he had promised Bathsheba that he would, and Solomon began his reign in a state of humility. God appeared to Solomon in a dream and asked him what he wanted. Solomon responded:2
Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am just a little child. I don’t know how to go out or come in. Your servant is among your people which you have chosen, a great people, that can’t be numbered or counted for multitude. Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this great people of yours?
And God was so delighted with how Solomon didn’t ask for riches of the defeat of his enemies, that he gave Solomon what he asked for and more:3
Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have you asked for riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your word. Behold, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, and after you none will arise like you. I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you for all your days. If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.
The first test of Solomon’s newly found wisdom came when two brand-new mothers who were also prostitutes approached him after one of their baby boys had died.4 They each claimed that the living baby was hers and asked Solomon to resolve the dispute. Solomon ordered the living baby cut in half — and the genuine mother, the one who really loved the boy, made her maternity evident by refusing to accept the “solution” and insisting that the baby live, even if with the wrong mother. Solomon returned the baby to her.
Later, Solomon was responsible for the building of the First Temple, demonstrating his devotion to Yahweh. Through military and trade alliances brought about in part through multiple marriages, Solomon became known for both his wealth and his wisdom.
Eventually, we are told,5
King Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth in riches and in wisdom. All the earth sought the presence of Solomon to hear his wisdom which God had put in his heart. Year after year, every man brought his tribute, vessels of silver, vessels of gold, clothing, armor, spices, horses, and mules.
But Solomon wasn’t happy for things to end there. Whether the main problem was his lust for women or his lust for wealth is hard to say, but ultimately his life became one of excess. He ended up with more gold and horses than anyone, even a king, could have use for, and hundreds of wives and concubines. He started worshiping the gods of his foreign wives and listening to the counsel of the young and not-so-wise yes-men surrounding him. He took advantage of forced labor to live extravagantly. It didn’t take long for God to become displeased, and God ultimately became complicit with Solomon’s enemies in breaking up Solomon’s kingdom.
It didn’t have to be that way. While the Biblical text doesn’t tell us this explicitly, it suggests that if Solomon had remained humble as he was at the beginning of his reign, he could have died both content and powerful. Instead, he squandered all for temporal wealth and inconsequential relationships.
And readers of the tale well over 2,000 after it was written are forced to ponder: If Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, could not keep his priorities straight, will I allow the same thing to happen to me?
This commentary on 1 Kings 1-11 is part of our Bible for Modern-day Saints series, published to roughly coincide with the Come, Follow Me curriculum of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Views expressed are solely those of the author. Biblical quotations are adapted from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain.
See Ecclesiastes 1:2.
1 King 3:7-9.
1 King 3:11b-14.
See 1 Kings 3:16-28.
1 Kings 10:23.