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Previous Story - INDEX - Next Story Solomon 1. Adonijah, David's Son, Thought He Should Be The Next King 2. Nathan The Prophet And Bathsheba Speak Up 3. David Takes Action 4. Adonijah Learns That David Has Made Solomon King 5. David Admonishes Solomon 6. David Dies And Adonijah Makes His Bid 7. Solomon Settles Accounts 8. Solomon Asks The Lord For Wisdom 9. Two Women Claim One Live Baby 10. Solomon's Alliance With King Hiram Of Tyre 11. Solomon Begins Gathering Material For The Temple 12. Solomon Builds The House Of The Lord 13. Solomon Dedicates The Lord's House 14. The Queen Of Sheba 15. Solomon Became Very Great 16. Solomon Has Trouble With Jeroboam 17. The Kingdom Under Rehoboam Is Divided 1. Adonijah, David's Son, Thought He Should Be The Next King - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 1:5-10 It was at this time that Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, "I will be king." So he prepared a chariot for himself and horsemen and fifty men to run before him. His father had never crossed him, asking, "Why have you done this?" He was a very handsome man and had been born after Absalom. He had conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah and Abiathar the priest, and they helped him. But Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, Nathan the prophet, Shimei, Rei, and the mighty men who belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. Adonijah sacrificed sheep, oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is by Enrogel, and called together all the king's sons, his brothers, and all the men of Judah, and the king's servants. He did not invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, the mighty men or Solomon his brother. 2. Nathan The Prophet And Bathsheba Speak Up - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 1:11-27 Then Nathan spoke to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother, saying "Have you heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith has become king, and that David our lord does not know of it? You can yet save your life and the life of Solomon your son. Go at once to the king and ask him if he did not swear to you that Solomon would surely be king after him and sit on his throne? Why then has Adonijah become king? While you are speaking with the king I will come in and confirm your words." So Bathsheba went in to the king in his bedroom. He was very old and Abishag was ministering to him. Bathsheba bowed and prostrated herself before the king. And the king said, "What do you wish?" She said to him, "My lord, you swore to your maidservant by the LORD your God that Solomon would surely be king after you and sit on your throne. But at this time Adonijah is king, and my lord, you are not aware of it. He has sacrificed oxen, fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited the kings sons, Abiathar the priest and Joab the commander of the army. But he has not invited your servant Solomon. So at this time the eyes of all Israel are on you, that you may tell them who shall sit on your throne after you. Otherwise, as soon as you sleep with your fathers, Solomon and I will be considered offenders." And while she was still speaking, Nathan the prophet came in. When his arrival had been announce, he came in before the king and prostrated himself with his face to the ground. Then Nathan said, "My lord the king, have you said that Adonijah is to be king after you and sit on your throne? For today he has sacrificed oxen, fatlings and sheep in abundance, and has invited all the king's sons and the commanders of the army as well as Abiathar the priest. And behold, they are eating and drinking before him, and saying 'Long live the king.' But he has not invited me, your servant, Zadok the priest, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada or your servant Solomon. Are you aware of this, and do you approve of him sitting on your throne?"
3. David Takes Action - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 1:28-40 Then King David said, "Call Bathsheba to me." and she came into the king's presence. The king vowed, saying, "As surely as the LORD lives, who has redeemed my life from all distress, as I vowed to you saying that your son Solomon shall be king after me, and sit on my throne in my place, I will indeed make this happen today." Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the ground, prostrating herself before him, saying, "May my lord the king live forever." Then King David called for Zadoc the priest, Nathan the prophet and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came into his presence. The king said to them, "Take my servants with you and have my son Solomon ride on my own mule, and bring him to Gihon. Let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there as king over Israel. Blow the trumpet and say, "Long live King Solomon! "Then you shall follow him to my throne, and he shall sit on it and be king in my place. For I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and Judah." Benaiah the son of Jehoiada said, "Amen! As the LORD has been with my lord the king, so may He be with Solomon, and make his throne even greater than the throne of my lord King David!" So Zadoc the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites and the Pelethites went down and had Solomon ride on King David's mule, and brought him to Gihon. Zadok the priest took the horn of oil from the tabernacle and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, "Long live the king!" And all the people came up after him and played on flutes, rejoicing greatly, so that the earth shook with their noise.
4. Adonijah Learns That David Has Made Solomon King - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 1:41-53 Now Adonijah and all his guests heard the noise as they were finishing eating. When Joab heard the sound of the trumpet, he said, "Why is the city in such an uproar?" While he spoke, Jonathan the son of Abiathar the priest came. Adonijah said, "Come in, for you are a valiant man and bring good news." But Jonathan replied to him, "No! Our lord the king has made Solomon king. The king has sent with him Zadok the priest, Nathan the prophet, Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the Cherethites and the Pelethites. And they have made him ride on the king's mule. Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet have anointed him king in Gihon, and the city is in an uproar with much rejoicing. This is the noise you heard. Besides this, Solomon has taken his seat on the throne of the kingdom. Moreover, the king's servants came to bless our lord King David, saying, "May your God make the name of Solomon better than your name and his throne greater than yours!" And the king bowed himself on his bed. The king has said, 'Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who has granted that one sit on my throne while my eyes see it..'" Then all of Adonijah's guests were terrified. Each one rose up and went his own way. Adonijah was afraid of Solomon, and went and took hold of the horns of the altar. Solomon was told that Adonijah was afraid of him and had taken hold of the horns of the altar, asking that King Solomon swear that he will not put him to death with the sword. Solomon said, "If he is a worthy man, not a hair of his head will come to harm. But if wickedness is found in him, he will die." So King Solomon sent for him and he was brought down from the altar. He came and prostrated himself before King Solomon, who said to him, "Go to your house." 5. David Admonishes Solomon - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 2:1-9 As David's life was nearing its end, he charged Solomon his son, saying, "I am going the way of all the earth. Be strong, therefore, and show yourself a man. Keep the charge of the LORD your God, walk in His ways and keep His statutes, His commandments, His ordinances and His testimonies, according to what is written in the Law of Moses, that you may succeed in everything you do. By conducting yourself in this way, the LORD may carry out His promise to me, when He said, 'If your sons are careful to walk before Me in truth with all their heart and soul, you shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel.' Now you know what Joab the son of Zeruiah did to me, in killing the two commanders of the armies of Israel: Abner the son of Ner, and Amasa the son of Jether. He shed the blood of war during the time of peace. So act according to your wisdom, and do not let his gray hair go to the grave in peace. But show kindness to the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them eat at your table, for they assisted me when I fled from your brother Absalom." "And there is Shimei the son of Gera the Benjamite of Bahurim. He cursed me violently on the day I went to Mahanaim when I fled from Absalom. When he came to me at the Jordon, as I was returning to Jerusalem, I swore to him by the LORD that I would not put him to death with the sword. Do not let him go unpunished. You are a wise man and will know what to do to him. You will bring his gray hair down to the grave with blood."
6. David Dies And Adonijah Makes His Bid - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 2:10-25 Then David slept with his fathers and was buried in the city of David. David had reigned over Israel forty years: seven years in Hebron and thirty three years in Jerusalem. And Solomon sat on the throne of David his father, and his kingdom was firmly established. Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bathsheba, Solomon's mother. She said,"Do you come peacefully?" And he said,"Peacefully." Then he said,"I have something to say to you. And she said,"Speak. So he said,"You know that the kingdom was mine and that all Israel expected me to be king. However, it was turned over to my brother, for it was his from the LORD. I am making only one request. Please do not refuse me." And she said,"Speak." He said,"Please speak to Solomon the king, for he will not refuse you. Ask him to give me Abishag the Shunammite as a wife." Bathsheba agreed to speak to the king for him. She went to King Solomon to speak for Adonijah and the king arose to meet her, bowing to her. Then he sat on his throne and had another throne set to his right for his mother. She said to Solomon,"I am making one small request of you. Do not refuse me." And the king said to her,"Ask, my mother, for I will not refuse you." So she said,"Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah your brother as a wife." King Solomon asked his mother,"And why are you asking Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? Ask for him the kingdom as well, for he is my older brother. Ask for him, and for Abiathar the priest and for Joab the son of Zeruiah." Then King Solomon swore by the LORD, saying,"May God do to me and more so if Adonijah has not spoken thus against his own life. As surely as the LORD lives, who has established me on the throne of David my father and made me an house as He promised, just as surely shall Adonijah be put to death today." So King Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada and he fell upon Adonijah and killed him.
7. Solomon Settles Accounts - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 2:26-46 Then to Abiathar the priest the king said,"Go to Anathoth to your own field, for you deserve to die. But I will not put you to death at this time, because you carried the ark of the LORD God before my father David, and because you shared my father's afflictions." So Solomon dismissed Abiathar from being priest to the LORD, thus fulfilling the word of the LORD which He had spoken concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. News of this came to Joab, for he had followed Adonijah, though he had not followed Absalom. Joab fled to the tabernacle of the LORD and took hold of the horns of the altar. Solomon was told of this and sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada to kill Joab. So Benaiah came to the tabernacle of the LORD and said to Joab,"The king has said to come out." Joab answered,"No, I will die here." Benaiah sent word of Joab's answer to the king. The king said,"Do as he has spoken. Fall on him and bury him, so that the blood which Joab shed without cause may be removed from my father's house. The LORD will return his blood on his own head, because he killed two men more righteous than he, Abner the son of Ner, commander of the army of Israel, and Amasa the son of Jether, commander of the army of Judah. So shall their blood return on the head of Joab and his descendants. May there be peace from the LORD forever." Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada put Joab to death and he was buried at his own house in the wilderness. The king appointed Benaiah the son of Jehoiada over the army in his place, and Zadoc the priest in the place of Abiathar. Then the king called for Shimei and said,"Build a house for yourself in Jerusalem. And do not go out of Jerusalem. For on the day you go out and cross the Kidron brook, you shall surely die. Your blood shall be on your own head." Then Shimei said,"What you have said is good and I will abide by your word." So Shimei lived in Jerusalem many days. After two years two of Shimei's servants ran away to Achish the son of Maacah, king of Gath, and Shimei was told that they had run away. Then he saddled his donkey, and went to Achish at Gath to look for his servants. Finding them he brought them back to Jerusalem. Solomon was told that Shimei had gone to Gath and returned. So the king sent for Shimei and said to him,"Didn't you promise not to leave Jerusalem lest you be put to death? Why have you not kept your oath of the LORD, and the command that I charged you with? You know all the wickedness of your heart which you did to my father David. Therefore the LORD will return your wickedness on your own head. By this king Solomon will be blessed and the throne of David shall be established before the LORD forever." So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada to fall on him and he died. Thus the kingdom was established in the hands of Solomon. 8. Solomon Asks The Lord For Wisdom - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 3:1-15 Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, taking Pharaoh's daughter and bringing her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house, the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem. The people were still sacrificing on the high places because there was no house built for the name of the LORD. Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was a great high place. He offered a thousand burnt offering on that altar. In Gibeon God appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. He said, "Ask what you wish for Me to give to you." Then Solomon said, "You have shown great lovingkindness to Your servant David my father, according as he walked before You in truth and righteousness. And you have given him a son to sit on his throne. Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am but a child. I do not know how to come in or go out. Your servant is in the midst of a great people, too many to count. So give your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people, that I may know the difference between good and evil. For who can judge this great people of Yours?" It pleased the LORD that Solomon asked for this. God said to him, "Because you have not asked for long life, riches, or the lives of your enemies, but for wisdom and discernment to understand justice, I will do as you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, like no one before you or any that will come after you. And I will also give you what you have not asked for, both riches and honor, so that there will be no king like you during all your days. If you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David did, then I will prolong your days." Then Solomon awoke, and realized it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. And he made a feast for all his servants.
9. Two Women Claim One Live Baby - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 3:16-28 Two women who were harlots came to request the king's judgment between them. The first woman said, "O, my lord, this woman and I live together in the same house. I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. It happened that on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth, and we were together. No one else lived with us. This woman's son died in the night after she lay on it. She then got up while it was yet night and exchanged her baby for mine. I was asleep when she laid her dead son in my bosom. When I woke up to nurse my son, he was dead. But after looking at him carefully, I knew he was not my son." Then the other woman said, "That is not true! The living one is my son, and the dead one is her son." But the first woman immediately said, "No! The dead one is your son, and the living one is mine." Thus they argued before the king. Then the king said, "They each claim the dead one is not their son." And he said, "Get me a sword." So they brought him a sword. Then the king said, "Divide the living child between them, giving half to each woman." Then the woman who was the mother of the living child was deeply distressed and said to the king, "O, my lord, give her the living child and do not kill him." But the other woman said, "Dividing him between us seems fair." Then the king said, "Give the living child to the woman who does not want him to die. She is his mother." When all Israel heard of the king's judgment in the matter, they feared him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice. 10. Solomon's Alliance With King Hiram Of Tyre - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 5:1-12 When Hiram king of Tyre heard that Solomon had been anointed king in place of his father, he sent his servants to him. Then Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, "You know that David my father was not able to build a house for the name of the LORD his God because he had been a man of war and shed much blood while putting his enemies under his feet. But now the LORD my God has given me rest on every side. I have no adversaries and nothing to stop me. So I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God. The LORD told David my father that his son who would sit on his throne and he would build a house for the LORD. Now therefore, command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me, and my servants will work with your servants. I will give you wages for your servants as determined by you. I know that no one cuts timbers like the Sidonians." When Hiram heard Solomon's words, he rejoiced greatly and blessed the LORD for giving David's throne to a wise son to be king over a great people. So Hiram sent word to Solomon saying that he would provide whatever Solomon needed in cedar and cypress timber. He said, "My servants will raft them down by sea from Lebanon to wherever you direct me and you can take the rafts apart and carry them away. Then you can accomplish my desire in giving me food for my household." So Hiram gave Solomon all the cedar and cypress he wanted. And year by year Solomon gave Hiram 20,000 measures of wheat for his household and twenty measures of pure oil. The LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as He had promised. There was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a covenant.
11. Solomon Begins Gathering Material For The Temple - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 5:13-18 King Solomon levied forced labor throughout Israel. They numbered 30,000 men. He sent them to Lebanon in relays of 10,000 each month with two months at home. He placed Adoniram over the forced labor. Solomon had 70,000 transporters, and 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountains. He also had 3,300 officers over the people doing the work. At the king's command they quarried great and costly stones for the foundation. Both Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders, as well as the Gebalites, cut stones and prepared the timbers to build the house. 12. Solomon Builds The House Of The Lord - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 6:1-14  In the four hundred and eightieth year after the children of Israel came out of Egypt, and in the fourth year of Solomon's reign over Israel, in the month of Zif, the second month of the year, he began to build the house of God. The house which Solomon built for the LORD was sixty cubits long, twenty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. The porch in front of the temple was twenty cubits long, the same width as the house, and its depth was ten cubits. He had windows made for the house with artistic frames. He made side chambers all around the walls of the temple. The lowest story was five cubits wide, the second was six cubits wide and the third was seven cubits wide. He made offsets in the wall of the house so that the beams were not inserted in the walls of the house. While the house was being built the stones were prepared in the quarry, so that there was no sound of a hammer, axe or any iron tool in the house while it was being built. The doorway for the lowest chamber was on the right side of the house. A winding stairway went up to the middle story and from there on up to the third story. After building the house he covered it with cedar beams and planks. He also built the chambers against the house five cubits high. They rested on the house with timbers of cedar. Now the word of the LORD came to Solomon, saying, "Concerning this house which you are building, if you will walk in My statutes and execute My ordinances, and keep all My commandments by walking in them, then I will keep My promise to you which I made to David your father. I will dwell among the children of Israel and I will not forsake My people." So Solomon finished building the house. 13. Solomon Dedicates The Lord's House - Back to Page Index 1 Kings 8:1-30 Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of tribes to Jerusalem, to bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the city of David, which is Zion. He assembled them for a feast in the seventh month, Ethanim. When all the elders had come, the priests took up the ark. They brought the ark up, the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy utensils which were in the tabernacle. King Solomon and all of the congregation assembled and sacrificed sheep and oxen without number. Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place in the inner sanctuary, the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim. The cherubim spread their wings making a covering over the ark and its poles. The poles were long enough so that they could be seen from the holy place, but not from outside. They are there to this day. There was nothing in the ark except the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel after they came out of Egypt. When the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the LORD. Because of the cloud the priests could not stand to minister, for the glory of the LORD filled the house of the LORD. Then Solomon said, "The LORD has said that He would dwell in the thick cloud. I have surely built You a lofty house, a place for Your dwelling forever." Then the king turned and faced the congregation of Israel and they stood as he blessed them. He said, "Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David, fulfilling His word when He said, since the day that I brought Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build my house. But I did choose David to be over My people Israel. It was in his heart to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. But the LORD told my father David, 'It is good that you want to build a house for My name..' Nevertheless, you shall not build the house. Your son will build the house for My name." "Now the LORD has fulfilled His word, for I have become king in my father's place, and as the LORD promised, I have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. I have made a place for the ark, which contains the covenant of the LORD, which He made with our fathers when He brought them out of the land of Egypt." Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, spreading his hands toward heaven. And he said, "O LORD, the God of Israel, there is no God like You in heaven above or on the earth beneath, keeping His covenant and showing mercy to His servants who walk before Him with all their heart, having kept Your servant, my father David, just as you promised him. You have kept your promise up to this day just as You gave it. Now, O LORD God of Israel, keep Your promise to Your servant David that one of his sons will sit on the throne of Israel as long as they walk in Your ways. O God of Israel, let Your word be confirmed just as You spoke it to my father David." "But will God actually dwell on earth? The highest heaven cannot contain You, and neither can this house which I have built contain You. Please have regard for Your servant's prayer today. May Your eyes be open toward this house night and day, to listen when Your servant prays toward this place. Hear from heaven when Your servant and Your people Israel pray toward this place. Hear and forgive." 1 Kings 8:54-61
She gave the king a hundred and twenty talents of gold, as well as many spices and precious stones. No one ever again provided such an abundance of spices as those the queen of Sheba gave to Solomon.
The king made silver in Jerusalem as common as stones. Cedar was as plentiful as sycamore trees in the lowland. He imported horses from Egypt. A chariot imported from Egypt cost six hundred shekels of silver and a horse cost one hundred and fifty. These were then exported to all the kings of the Hittites and the Arameans.
1 Kings 11:41-43 Then Jeroboam and all the people came to Rehoboam on the third day as they had been directed. The king answered the people harshly and did not speak according to the advice of the elders who had served his father. Instead he spoke the advice given by the young men, saying."My father made your yoke heavy but I will add to it. My father disciplined you with whips. I will do it with scorpions." This was a turn of events from the LORD, that His word might be establish which He had spoken through Ahijah the Shilonite to Jeroboam the son of Nebat. When all Israel saw that the king did not listen to them, they said to him, "What portion do we have in David? To your tents, O Israel. David can look after his own house. And they left for their tents." But those living in the cities of Judah chose to have Rehoboam reign over them. King Rehoboam sent Adoram who was over the forced labor and all Israel stoned him to death. So king Rehoboam mounted his chariot and fled to Jerusalem. And Israel has been in rebellion against the house of David ever since. When all Israel had heard that Jeroboam had come back from Egypt, they had an assembly and made him king over Israel. Only the tribe of Judah did not follow him.
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