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 12:25, the name given by God to Solomon in the Bible is Jedidiah, recounted in the Bible in 1 King 3:15-28, the Judgment of Solomon, meaning “loved by God.” Some scholars have conjectured that in which the verses describe when two women who approached Solomon is only a “title name” taken upon his ascent to the throne King Solomon claiming the same baby as their own. “And the king or at his death. 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 Much philosophy and poetry is attributed to Solomon by rabthe one, and half to the other.’” (I Kings 3: 25-26) The woman who binical tradition comprising more than 3,000 proverbs and 1,000 would deceive the king agreed songs. According to Jewish trawith the plan while the true dition, Solomon wrote three mother immediately withdrew Biblical books, corresponding her claim believing it better for to the three states of a man’s her child to be raised by the life. The Shir ha-Shirim or Song other woman than see her baby of Songs expresses the lustful severed in two by sword. King vigor of youth and chronicles Solomon instantly granted the erotic love. The Mishlei or Book baby to the women speaking of Proverbs is a collection of the truth, recognizing that the moral and philosophical maxrightful mother would suffer ims which express the wisdom the greater loss to herself that of maturity. (These reflect the her offspring might survive. first five proverbs in ChapYet there is far more to King Kohelet or Ecclesiastes articuSolomon than this single story. lates the cynicism of old age According to Jewish, Chrisand contemplates the sense tian, and Islamic scripture, of absurdity of man’s feeble he was a man of considerable accomplishments as written, in force of character. It is said the first of 12 chapters. Another he was learned of philosophy book of wisdom and poetry and poetry, possessed esoteric credited to Solomon and is the knowledge of nature and metadeuterocanonical “Wisdom physical powers, was consumed of Solomon,” which portrays by immense political ambitions him as an astronomer, but was and great personal desires in his likely written much later near life, and was guided by divine the second-century, BCE, while inspiration to weld his people the “Odes of Solomon” and into a strong and respected the “Psalms of Solomon” are kingdom. To these ends, he possibly Gnostic Christian in built the First Temple in Jerusaauthorship. lem as the center of the religious worship of his people and a Legend has it that the phisymbol of their national unity losophy of Solomon was also which continues to this day. exemplified in the form of ridThere 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 as the long-lost chambers of his caption 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 ter 1 of 31 total chapters. The dles exchanged between King

Perhaps some of the most overlooked aspects of Solomon’s life were his endeavors as a philosopher, occultist, kabbalist, and astrologer. Indeed, Solomon has been declared the greatest magician who could not only penetrate the Laws of the Universe, but conquer the devil himself. According to the Kabbalah, which literally means “receiving”, man may become spiritually closer to God and as a result become empowered with higher insight into the inner workings of God’s creation. An intimate understanding and mastery of the Kabbalah can then effectively enable prophecy and allow control over one’s surroundings and one’s inner self. Appearing in the text as Sulayman, the Qur’an refers to Solomon not only as the son of David, but as a prophet and great ruler imparted by God with tremendous wisdom, favor, and mystical powers: “And before Sulayman were marshaled his hosts of Jinns and men and birds, and they were all kept in order and ranks.” [Quran 27:17]

Solomon was said to have under his rule not only people, but also the obedience of invisible beings and control over the elements, such as the wind. “And to Sulayman he made the Wind obedient. Its early morning stride was a month’s journey, and its evening stride was a month’s journey; and We made a Font of molten brass to flow for him; and there were Jinns that worked in front of him, by the leave of his Lord, and if any of them turned aside from his command, he made them taste of the Penalty of the Blazing Fire.” [Quran 34:12]

In the Sutra XXVII, it is reported that Solomon was taught the “Language of the Birds,” acquired by his father King David in his early days as a shepherd and a “man of nature.” In receiving this training, it is conjectured Solomon entered into esoteric knowledge of nature and all its complexity. He could see through a veil into a hidden glory in the world which was not accessible to common human understanding. Thereby, he was able to see the earth in idealized and supernal form. Even the Roman-Jewish historical writer Flavius Josephus mentioned many of these interesting details, while further ascribing to Solomon a number of books about magic rituals.

Solomon’s mastery of demons is a common element in later Jewish and Arabic legends, as well. According to rabbinical literature, a magical ring called the “Seal of Solomon” was supposedly presented to Solomon, and gave him power over Asmodeus, king of demons and his minion hordes. Through the power of the seal, and with the sanction of the Lord, Solomon was able to enlist demons help with the building of the first temple at Jerusalem. The Seal of Solomon itself is an esoteric symbol, for it is a figure of two equilateral and

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interlocking triangles – one representing man and the other his goal of striving towards the divine. Today of course, the magical symbol and Seal of Solomon is better known as the Star of David, serving as symbol for all of Israel.

This seal was an attempt to reunite the everyday world in which man lives and the divine. The Rabbinic sages expanded on a phrase used by mystics from Isaiah 6:3, “The whole world is filled with His glory,” leading to a less classical view of the world and the universe than is commonly supposed in the passage. Such associations between Solomon and the esoteric world have led to assumptions that Solomon was involved in idolatry. This raises a concern: Was Solomon an idolater?

This must remain a mystery for each of us to decide, based on our wisdom and faith outside of Freemasonry, whether Solomon abandoned faith in God by being swayed towards other religions, or whether his faith might have been enhanced with an esoteric wisdom beyond our ken. What is certain, however, is that with the unification of the tribes of Israel by King David, Solomon fulfilled the wishes of his father David and glorified the dream of building a house dedicated to the God of Abraham, of Moses, and all the people of Israel.

The First Temple at Jerusalem, the crowning achievement of Solomon’s reign, was monumental in design and exceedingly magnificent. Sadly, as all Masons know, even the Temple of Solomon, so spacious and magnificent, and constructed by so many celebrated artists, escaped not the unsparing ravages of barbarous force. How it would add to the legend of Solomon to see the original Temple fully intact and discern the esoteric meanings it might have once held! 