Solomon in the Bible

How Solomon became king

Solomon is born to David and Bathsheba after the death of their earlier, unnamed child. He is not David’s eldest son. When David is old, Solomon’s half-brother Adonijah claims the kingship with support from Joab and the priest Abiathar. Nathan and Bathsheba bring the challenge to David, who confirms Solomon as his successor.

At David’s command, Solomon rides the royal mule to Gihon, where Zadok anoints him. Nathan and Benaiah are among those supporting the public ceremony. David is still alive when the people acclaim Solomon and he takes the throne.

The succession includes bloodshed. After David’s death, Adonijah requests Abishag as his wife. Solomon treats the request as a claim to the kingdom and orders Adonijah’s execution. He also has Joab and, later, Shimei executed, while removing Abiathar from the priesthood and sending him to Anathoth. The narrative does not describe a peaceful transfer without rivals.

2 Samuel 12:24–25; 1 Kings 1–2 · Read about David’s final years and instructions →

An understanding heart and the disputed child

At Gibeon, God appears to Solomon in a dream and invites him to ask for a gift. Solomon admits that he does not know how to govern such a great people. He asks for an understanding heart to judge fairly, rather than long life, riches, or the death of his enemies. God grants wisdom and adds wealth and honor; the promise of a long life is conditional on obedience.

Two women then bring a dispute over a living baby. One says that the other woman’s baby died and that the children were switched during the night. With no witness to settle their competing claims, Solomon calls for a sword and orders the living child divided. The child’s mother begs him to give the baby to the other woman instead. Solomon awards her the child alive; the baby is not cut in half.

First Kings 4 also credits Solomon with three thousand proverbs, one thousand and five songs, and knowledge of plants and animals. These are descriptions of his reported learning, not a count of chapters or verses surviving in the biblical books.

1 Kings 3:5–28; 4:29–34

Building and dedicating the temple

Solomon builds the temple in Jerusalem with materials and workers supplied through his agreement with Hiram, king of Tyre. David has prepared resources and plans but is not the builder. First Kings 6 says the temple takes seven years to complete, from Solomon’s fourth regnal year to his eleventh. His own palace takes thirteen years, a separate building period.

The work is not described as entirely voluntary. First Kings 5 records a levy of thirty thousand Israelites, who serve in Lebanon in rotating groups. First Kings 9 distinguishes the surviving Canaanite peoples subjected to bonded labor from Israelites serving in other roles. That distinction does not cancel the earlier account of an Israelite labor levy.

At the dedication, the priests bring the ark into the inner sanctuary and a cloud fills the temple. Solomon prays for forgiveness, justice, and God’s attention to Israel and to foreigners who come to pray. He also says that even the heavens cannot contain God, much less this building. The temple is not a way of confining God to one place.

1 Kings 5–8; 9:15–23; 1 Chronicles 28:9–12

Wealth and the Queen of Sheba

The Queen of Sheba travels to Jerusalem after hearing of Solomon’s fame. She tests him with difficult questions and is astonished by his answers, household, and worship. She gives him gold, spices, and precious stones; Solomon also gives her gifts before she returns to her own country.

First Kings 10 does not give the queen’s personal name or say that she marries Solomon or has a child with him. Those details belong to later traditions, not this account. The chapter describes enormous royal wealth through trade, tribute, gold, horses, and chariots; it does not give a modern net-worth figure.

1 Kings 10:1–29

Wives, concubines, and named children

First Kings 11:3 reports seven hundred wives, described as princesses, and three hundred concubines. It does not call all one thousand women wives. His marriage to Pharaoh’s unnamed daughter is explicitly an alliance in 1 Kings 3:1. Naamah the Ammonite is named as the mother of Rehoboam, and 1 Kings 4:11 and 4:15 name two daughters of Solomon: Taphath and Basemath.

As Solomon grows old, his wives turn his heart toward other gods. The account also names his own actions: he follows other gods and builds places for their worship. He is responsible for disobeying the LORD, not simply a passive victim of his household. Deuteronomy 17:17 had warned Israel’s king against multiplying wives and turning his heart away.

1 Kings 3:1; 4:11, 15; 11:1–10; 14:21; Deuteronomy 17:17

Did Solomon write Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs?

Proverbs names Solomon in its opening and at the beginning of particular collections. Proverbs 25:1 says that men of King Hezekiah copied a collection of Solomon’s proverbs. The book also includes the words of Agur in chapter 30 and of King Lemuel, taught by his mother, in chapter 31. Its contents are not all assigned to Solomon.

Song of Songs 1:1 connects the song with Solomon. Ecclesiastes, by contrast, introduces a Teacher or Preacher, a son of David and king in Jerusalem, without naming Solomon. Its royal voice is the basis for the traditional identification with him; interpreters disagree about whether the voice establishes personal authorship or is a literary portrayal.

Ecclesiastes ends with a call to fear God and keep his commands. That ending is not an explicit account of Solomon’s final days. First Kings does not record a late repentance scene, and it does not give a verdict on his eternal destiny.

Proverbs 1:1; 10:1; 25:1; 30:1; 31:1; Song of Songs 1:1; Ecclesiastes 1:1, 12; 12:9–14; 1 Kings 11

His death and the division of the kingdom

Because Solomon has turned to other gods, the LORD announces that most of the kingdom will be taken from his son. Adversaries trouble Solomon, and the prophet Ahijah promises ten tribes to Jeroboam. Solomon tries to kill Jeroboam, who flees to Egypt.

Solomon dies after forty years of rule and is buried in the City of David. His age and cause of death are not stated. Rehoboam succeeds him, but the people ask the new king to reduce the burdens imposed by his father. Rehoboam answers harshly instead. The northern tribes reject his rule and make Jeroboam king, while Rehoboam retains Judah and Benjamin. First Kings connects the split both with the earlier prophetic warning and with Rehoboam’s response.

1 Kings 11:9–43; 12:1–24

Peace in the king’s name

What does the name Solomon mean?

Solomon, Hebrew Shelomoh, is related to shalom, “peace,” and is commonly explained as “peaceful.” First Chronicles 22:9 connects his name with promised peace and rest. Second Samuel 12:24–25 also records the name Jedidiah, “beloved of the LORD,” given through Nathan after his birth.

Solomon: Hebrew name and meaning

Read the names Solomon and Jedidiah