The Legend of King Solomon BY MARCUS TRELAIN, PM OF SINGLETON NO. 7, CINCINNATUS NO. 76; AND DOUGLAS COHEN, PM OF HIRAM-TAKOMA LODGE NO. 10
To most, the name of King Solomon is synonymous with wisdom recounted in the Bible in 1 King 3:15-28, the Judgment of Solomon, in which the verses describe when two women who approached King Solomon claiming the same baby as their own. “And the king said, ‘Bring me a sword.’ And they brought a sword before the king. And the king said, ‘Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.’” (I Kings 3: 25-26) The woman who would deceive the king agreed with the plan while the true mother immediately withdrew her claim believing it better for her child to be raised by the other woman than see her baby severed in two by sword. King Solomon instantly granted the baby to the women speaking the truth, recognizing that the rightful mother would suffer the greater loss to herself that her offspring might survive. Yet there is far more to King Solomon than this single story. According to Jewish, Christian, and Islamic scripture, he was a man of considerable force of character. It is said he was learned of philosophy and poetry, possessed esoteric knowledge of nature and metaphysical powers, was consumed by immense political ambitions and great personal desires in his life, and was guided by divine inspiration to weld his people into a strong and respected kingdom. To these ends, he built the First Temple in Jerusalem as the center of the religious worship of his people and a symbol of their national unity which continues to this day.
12:25, the name given by God to Solomon in the Bible is Jedidiah, meaning “loved by God.” Some scholars have conjectured that Solomon is only a “title name” taken upon his ascent to the throne or at his death. Much philosophy and poetry is attributed to Solomon by rabbinical tradition comprising more than 3,000 proverbs and 1,000 songs. According to Jewish tradition, Solomon wrote three Biblical books, corresponding to the three states of a man’s life. The Shir ha-Shirim or Song of Songs expresses the lustful vigor of youth and chronicles erotic love. The Mishlei or Book of Proverbs is a collection of moral and philosophical maxims which express the wisdom of maturity. (These reflect the first five proverbs in Chapter 1 of 31 total chapters. The Kohelet or Ecclesiastes articulates the cynicism of old age and contemplates the sense of absurdity of man’s feeble accomplishments as written, in the first of 12 chapters. Another book of wisdom and poetry credited to Solomon and is the deuterocanonical “Wisdom of Solomon,” which portrays him as an astronomer, but was likely written much later near the second-century, BCE, while the “Odes of Solomon” and the “Psalms of Solomon” are possibly Gnostic Christian in authorship.
Legend has it that the philosophy of Solomon was also exemplified in the form of riddles exchanged between King There is some historical eviSolomon with King Hiram dence for the reality of King of Tyre and the “tests” of the Solomon, but the legend of this Queen of Sheba. The impresking is literally a treasure trove sion he made on the Queen for Masons. Rich in allegory of Sheeba during her visit is and filled with as many secrets well known: “Thy wisdom and caption as the long-lost chambers of his prosperity exceedeth the fame temple. Even the name of Solowhich I heard,” she exclaims in mon is surrounded in mystery. The name “Solomon” or “Shlomo” I Kings 10: 7. His prayer for wisdom and understanding are equally in the Old Testament means “peaceful,” or “complete”, from the famous. Exactly what kind of wisdom was granted? Hebrew Shelomoh and Sulaiman in Arabic. However, in 2 Samuel
32 The Voice of Freemasonry ISSUE 4, 2019
