SERIES L --- THE NATION DIVIDES --- LESSON 12

SOLOMON’S WEALTH

THE FAME OF KING SOLOMON

From 1 Kings 9:10-28; 10:22; 11:29-40; 2 Chronicles 8:1-18; 9:21

Twenty years passed since Solomon became king. During this time, he built the temple and his royal palace. King Hiram of Tyre gave Solomon cedar and cypress wood, as well as about three million dollars in gold, to be used in the temple and palace. Solomon paid King Hiram for all these things by giving him twenty cities in the land of Galilee. When King Hiram visited these cities, he was not pleased with them. [They’re like a desert,] he complained. [What is this that you have given me?] He called the area Cabul, which meant [Like a Desert] and it was called by that name for many years. King Solomon required the foreign people who lived in the land to work as forced labour in building his various projects. These foreign people, actually the original inhabitants of the land, such as the Hittites, Amorites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites, were remnants of the tribes which the people of Israel had not completely destroyed. The Israelites themselves were not forced to work as slaves on these projects, but they were enlisted as soldiers, officers and commanders of chariots and cavalry. About five hundred and fifty Israelites also served as foremen of the forced labour crews. In addition to the temple and Solomon’s palace, the king also used these labour crews to build the fortress of Millo, the wall of Jerusalem and the cities of Hazor, Megiddo and Gezer. Gezer had been a Canaanite city until Pharaoh, king of Egypt, conquered it, killing all its Canaanite inhabitants and burning the city. Later Pharaoh gave this city to his daughter when she married King Solomon. Solomon rebuilt Gezer, Lower Beth-horon, Baalath and a city in the desert called Tamar. He built cities where he could store grain, cities where he could base his fleet of chariots and cities where his cavalry officers and chariot drivers could live. He also built cities near Jerusalem, in Lebanon and in other places which he ruled. Just before King Solomon built the fortress of Millo, he moved Pharaoh’s daughter, whom he had married, from the City of David area of Jerusalem to the new palace he had built for her. He said, [She must not continue to live in the palace of my father, King David, for the Ark of the Covenant was there and thus it is a holy place.] Now that the temple was completed, King Solomon made daily offerings, burnt sacrifices on the altar of the temple. These varied from day to day, but they were all done according to the commandment which Moses had given, with certain offerings on the Shabbats, others on new moon feast days and still others on the three annual feasts; the Passover or Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks and the Feast of Tabernacles. The work of the priests followed the instructions of Solomon’s father, King David. The Levites were assigned to their work of praise and assisting the priests in their duties. Gatekeepers were assigned to certain tasks, as David had instructed. Solomon followed David’s instructions completely concerning the priests, Levites and the temple treasures. This was the work which Solomon did, completing the house of Adonai, the temple. He also set up a harbour at Ezion-geber and Eloth, in Edom, where he developed a fleet of ships under the direction of King Hiram and his shipbuilders. King Hiram supplied experienced sailors to work with King Solomon’s men. The fleet of ships went to Ophir regularly, returning every three years with about twelve or thirteen million dollars worth of gold.

COMMENTARY

GOLD AND IVORY TRADE IN SOLOMON’S TIME

During the years Solomon ruled, untold wealth flowed into Israel. Solomon sent out sea trading expeditions. He set up mines and smelters. He sold horses and chariots, making his land the chief trade route of the east. Also, the people who were subject to Israel paid yearly tribute. Palestine had neither gold or ivory and Solomon and the rulers before him had to import the precious substances from other countries. Mesopotamia lacked gold too and imported it from lands north of Assyria. Canaan and Phoenicia turned south for Egyptian gold. According to the Bible, most of Solomon’s huge quantities of gold and some of his ivory came from a place called Ophir. Once every three years, Israelite ships returned from trips to Ophir, laden with luxury goods and gold of the highest quality. But the location of Ophir is one of the great mysteries of history. No one knows where it was. Some think Ophir was in southern Arabia, others think Africa or India, but the exact location of King Solomon’s mines remains unknown. The sources for ivory are better known. The Egyptians brought theirs from the Sudan in Africa, but little made its way north. Most of the Middle Eastern countries acquired their ivory from the elephant herds in northern Syria. The demand for their tusks was so great that the elephants in the area became almost extinct by the eighth century B.C. Almost all Palestinian ivory was from Syria. The ivory work itself was done by Phoenician and Syrian artists, who produced ivory boxes, combs, figurines and ivory inlaid furniture of the highest quality.