Illustration of Solomon, a king in royal purple and white robes with a crown, sitting thoughtfully on his throne

“Give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong.”

1 Kings 3:9

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

Proverbs 4:23

“Two are better than one… If either of them falls down, one can help the other up.”

Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.”

Proverbs 1:7

“King Solomon was greater in riches and wisdom than all the other kings of the earth.”

1 Kings 10:23

“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”

Proverbs 27:17

“The whole world sought audience with Solomon to hear the wisdom God had put in his heart.”

1 Kings 10:24

“There is a time for everything.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”

Proverbs 3:5

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Solomon

The wisest king of Israel.

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Solomon's Life Story

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Illustration of Solomon as the son of King David and Queen Bathsheba, them sitting on each their throne

Solomon was the son of King David and Queen Bathsheba, and the heir to the throne of Israel. In this day and age, we say “As wise as Solomon” because he was blessed with a great level of wisdom that no man has ever known. This made him a great king to the people of God.

Illustration of Solomon sitting on his throne with plenty of jewelry and a crown on his head

Solomon was not the first son of King David, but just as God chose David among his brothers, God also chose Solomon to rule Israel after his father. Likewise, just as King Saul tried to fight off David, Adonijah, Solomon's brother, did not want Solomon to be king. But with the help of Bathsheba and Prophet Nathan, Solomon became King.

Illustration of Solomon overseeing the building of the temple of God as his workers raise wooden beams

God's promise to David stood, therefore Solomon was blessed and highly favored by God. He did not have to worry about enemies, and his reign was a peaceful one. Solomon decided to use his reign to build the temple of God as he had no worry fighting off enemies, and he began this work in his fourth year as king.

Illustration of Solomon shaking hands with King Hiram of Tyre

God made Solomon the wisest man in his time. He was not just wise; he was very rich too! While he was a king, he made things work peacefully among his people and with other kingdoms. He used his wisdom and riches to join forces with King Hiram of Tyre to build the temple of God.

Illustration of Solomon sitting on his throne being surrounded by many wives and concubines from foreign nations

However, Solomon did not remain on this path of righteousness and favor with God. He had a lot of wives and concubines, and this got him distracted from his obedience to God. He married women from nations that did not worship God, and as a result, he started worshipping other gods, the gods of his wives. This was the beginning of his downfall.

Illustration of Solomon sitting lonely on his throne looking up at God personified leaving Israel at a long distance

Solomon broke his part of the covenant between him and God. He did not remain faithful to God. Consequently, the hand of God departed from Israel gradually. He was the king of Israel for forty years, and after he died, his son called Rehoboam became king.

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Important Events

Illustration of Solomon at Gibeon sleeping in his royal tent, with God appearing to him in a dream as a light with stars shining above

King Solomon went up to a high place called Gibeon to worship God, and he gave a thousand burnt offerings on the altar as a sign of complete adoration of God. This moved God. While Solomon slept at night, God appeared to him in a dream and told him to ask for anything that he wanted, and he would be given.

Solomon honored God so much, just like his father David. He saw his Kingship as a privilege given to him by God to lead God's own people, and he cared about this job and wanted to do it well. Thus, Solomon asked God for the wisdom to lead and judge the people right. God was moved again that Solomon did not ask for long life or riches, so he gave Solomon the wisdom he asked for, and also a long life and the riches he did not ask for.

1 Kings 3:5-14

Illustration of the construction of the temple in Jerusalem, with skilled workers carving wood and Solomon overseeing the process

King Solomon knew that his father could not build a temple for God because of the many battles with his enemies. But as God fought all of Solomon's enemies, Solomon wished to build the temple while he was King. Solomon hired skilled men to use cedars of Lebanon to build the temple. Hiram, King of Tyre, provided strong men to work for King Solomon, and in return, Solomon provided lots of food for the royal household of King Hiram. Thousands of men began cutting strong materials for the temple, and on the fourth year of King Solomon's reign, they began building the temple.

Solomon was so eager to give the best for the temple that they spent seven whole years to build. The temple was built very high and wide, and only cedar was used to build it - not a single stone, and the inner sanctuary was made with pure gold.

1 Kings 5-8

Illustration of two women before King Solomon at his throne disputing over a child, with Solomon using wisdom to determine the real mother

Two women who were prostitutes had an issue to solve. Therefore, they were brought before the king. They both lived together, and some days after the first one gave birth to a son, the second one also gave birth to a son. One night while they were sleeping, one of the women turned over and laid on her son until he died. When she woke up and saw this, she quickly swapped her dead son with the living son of the other woman. This was awful, but the woman denied it.

King Solomon asked for a sword, saying he would split the child in half and give one half to each woman, and the bad woman agreed to this. The real mother did not want her son to die, so she refused and said King Solomon could give her son to the other woman. This is how King Solomon knew she was the real mother of the living son!

1 Kings 3:16-28

Illustration of Solomon writing proverbs and songs

God made Solomon exceedingly wise. In His promise to Solomon when He appeared to him in a dream, God gave him a heart of understanding and said no one like him would rise after him. That is, until this day, Solomon can be called the wisest man to have lived, except Jesus. Because of this wisdom, he became known all around for his leadership and his heart. Solomon wrote a lot of wise words called Proverbs out of the wisdom of his heart and many Kings came to Israel of hear his wise words.

Solomon is the author of many proverbs in the Book of Proverbs in the Bible, because he wished to share his wisdom and all that God revealed to him to the readers of the Bible.

1 Kings 4:29-34

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Fun Facts

Solomon the Wisest King

When Solomon was made king, he had the opportunity to ask God for anything. He chose to ask for wisdom to rule over Isreal. God in return gave him wisdom, wealth, and honor.

King Solomon was the wisest man in his lifetime. Many kings from wide and near sent their ambassadors to listen to the wisdom of Solomon.

1 Kings 3:9; 4:29

He Wrote Proverbs and Composed Songs

Solomon was not just a wise man, he was a great writer as well, he composed three thousand proverbs and a thousand and five songs.

He wrote three popular books in the Old Testament: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs.

1 Kings 4:32

He Built the First Temple in Jerusalem

King Solomon built the first-ever temple in Jerusalem. King David, his father, initially wanted to build this temple, but he could not because he had shed a lot of blood.

The temple was magnificent. It became the Jewish place of worship.

1 Kings 6

Solomon's 700 Wives and 300 Concubines

Solomon married women from different tribes and countries. Besides Pharaoh's daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and the Hittites.

He also married women from countries that God had commanded the Israelites not to marry.

Aside, the marrying seven hundred wives, he had three hundred concubines.

1 Kings 11:3

Solomon Turned Away from God

As Solomon grew old, his multiple wives turned his heart from God to their foreign gods. Solomon went as far as building shrines for the gods; he did evil in God's sight.

This made God furious, which made Him tear Solomon's kingdom and gave most of it to one of his servants, Jeroboam.

1 Kings 11:4-13