Term Paper on "King David and Solomon"

Term Paper 5 pages (1708 words) Sources: 3

[EXCERPT] . . . .

David and Solomon

King David and King Solomon of Israel were two of the most prominent Kings in the Old Testament. Each influenced his people in different and important ways during his rule. Even today, centuries later, many still talk about these two kings, make films about them, and speculate on their place in biblical history. One important element particularly in David's case, is the fact that he forms part of the Messianic line. According to Christians, Jesus, the Messiah, is a descendant of David, whereas Jews still pray for the coming of the Messiah to be born from this line.

King David

According to Shira Schoenberg, King David had many and diverse skills, along with his courage and efficiency as a king. He was also an excellent warrior, and poet. Most of the Psalms in the Bible are in fact ascribed to him. David's 40 years of rule rang from approximately 1010 to 970 BCE. His most important legacy to his son, Solomon, was the way he paved for the latter to build the Holy Temple.

David grew up as the youngest of eight sons, whose father was Jesse from the tribe of Judah. The Bible reader first meets him in his capacity as a shepherd in Bethlehem, from where Samuel called him to be anointed as king. The next significant episode in his life is when the current king, Saul, makes use of David's musical talent as the king's personal musician. After this, David shows that his talents lie not only in music, but also in battlefield prowess by killing the Philistine giant, Goliath of Gath with only a slingshot and God's name. Saul was duly impressed and appointed the young man as commander of his army. Things appeared to be going well until David began to accumulate an overwhelming amount of success in battle against the Philistines. Saul became jealous and tried to kill him.

David's courage would not let him leave Saul's side, and he continued with his duties both as musician and soldier. Saul was somewhat unstable by this time and alternated his episodes of rage with extreme affection for David, to such an extent that he first offered his daughter, Merav, to him as wife, and then after retracting the offer, made a second offer of Michal, another daughter.

In another bout of jealousy, Saul asked his son, Jonathan, to kill David. Jonathan however was David's closest friend and would not do this. Instead he asked his father not to kill David, which Saul promised. Not proving to be a man of his word, Saul again tried to kill David, and this time David fled with the help of Michal, his wife. David only returned from hiding with the prophet Samuel in Ramah to make a pact of peace with Jonathan, but fled again upon the news that Saul was still after his blood.

After seeking refuge with a variety of priests, David continued his flight and in the process gathered 600 men to support him. The next contact with Saul was when David crept into Saul's battle came and instead of killing him, removed a piece from his cloak. When confronted, Saul broke down and asked David not to destroy him or his descendants. For the sake of his friendship with Jonathan and his past with Saul, David promised. Saul however still pursued him and broke all his promises to David.

David became king of Judah after a battle against the Amalekites, in which Saul and Jonathan were killed. As king of Judah, David was in continuous battle with Saul's son, Ish-Boshet, who became the king over the other tribes of Israel. David gradually gained strength for his dynasty, however. After Ish-Boshet was killed, David united the tribes of Israel, and became king of the whole nation.

Once he became king, David began establishing and expanding his kingdom. His first task was to take the part of Jerusalem now known as the City of David and build a palace. He then continued to force the Philistines out of Israel altogether. After bringing the Holy Ark to Jerusalem, the king wanted to build a Temple for God, but was told that this would be his son's task, as David had shed blood. The Temple would then finally be built by Solomon, who succeeded him as king. David then threw his whole weight behind his battles and established an empire over both sides of the Jordan River. Jerusalem was established as the center of the territory, with twelve districts surrounding it. This established David as one of the best and most prosperous kings that Israel had known for a long time.

David's personal life was however somewhat unstable. His most well-known mistake was Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite. David fell in love with her when seeing her bathe and subsequently impregnated her and killed her husband. The first baby died as punishment, but the second would be Solomon, the king to follow David.

A further punishment was that David would experience a large amount of rebellion from his own children. This came in the form of Amnon and Absalom. The former raped his own half-sister, and Absalom murdered him for it. Absalom continued with his rebellion by gathering an army to fight against his father. Absalom's downfall and death are well-known events in biblical history. David's reaction to Absalom's death is perhaps the most moving testament of a father's love for his son depicted in the Bible. Despite Absalom's rebellion, David gave a heartrending rendition of his feelings with the words "O my son Absalom - my son, my son Absalom - if only I had died in your place! O. Absalom, my son, my son." (2 Sam. 18:33).

Before his death, David publicly anointed Solomon as king, but the division within his home continued when Adonijah, the eldest attempted to declare himself king instead. He was however a somewhat cowardly and feared that Solomon would kill him, but he was pardoned.

David died after providing Solomon with final instructions, and after 40 years of reign as king.

In addition to his final instructions, Solomon was left with the plan of the Temple for God, the physical materials to build it, and instructions for the Levites and other persons to complete their duties inside the Temple once the building was completed.

King Solomon

King Solomon is most well-known for his wisdom, wealth and writing. His greatest achievement is the Holy Temple that he built in Jerusalem. His rule began at approximately 967 BCE. As seen above, Adonija attempted to declare himself king in favor of Solomon. Solomon's rise to the throne was therefore not without some difficulty, as Adonijah had support from a variety of people.

Solomon was however wise enough to identify his opposition and banish them or kill them before any plans could be put in place to take over the throne. Instead he appointed his friends to key positions in the military, the government and religious posts.

In addition to peace on his borders, King Solomon also accumulated fabulous amounts of wealth, including 12,000 horses with horsemen, 1,400 chariots, 700 wives and 300 concubines. Many of the marital alliances were for the sake of political alliances only.

In addition to wealth, Solomon was also known for his wisdom. The case of the two women both claiming a baby to be their own is probably the most well-known display of Solomon's wisdom. His wisdom survives in the form of his writings, comprising the Song of Songs, the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes, containing 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs.

Another prominent episode in Solomon's life was the visit from the Queen of Sheba from southern Arabia. It was an official visit, in which the two royals exchanged trade routes and marketing rights. The queen was impressed with Solomon's wisdom after testing him with riddles and questions. She conveys her feelings in 1 Kings 10:6-7: "It was a true report which I heard in my own land about your words and your wisdom... Your wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame of which I heard."

When Solomon was assured of the tranquility in his country, he began work on the Holy Temple. Under the compulsory labor not only of Israelites, but also of the foreign nations under his control, the Temple took seven years. It was a huge, ornate structure, consisting of cedar and pure gold. The Temple was dedicated with prayers and sacrifices in a public ceremony.

Solomon was as prolific in his building projects as his father was in destroying his enemies in battle. Other building projects included his own palace, a city wall, a citadel, a palace for his wife, the Pharaoh's daughter, and foreign trading facilities. He also built storage cities and cities for chariots and horsemen.

Solomon's downfall, much like that of his father, was the result of alliances with women. In contrast to his father, however, his downfall occurred only in his old age. Having taken many foreign… READ MORE

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