Solomon
“The beginning of wisdom is awe.”
The wisest king in history — yet, having gained the most, he saw the deepest emptiness.
Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba, who came to the throne at a young age. Right after his coronation, when God appeared to him in a dream at the high place of Gibeon and asked, 'What shall I give you?', he asked not for wealth or power but for 'a discerning heart.' Pleased with that prayer, God gave him not only wisdom but wealth and honor besides.
His wisdom shone brightest before two women fighting over one baby. 'Divide the child in two with a sword' — with that single line revealing at once who the true mother was, the whole nation came to know his wisdom. He left behind Proverbs and the Song of Solomon, spent twenty years building the Temple in Jerusalem, and the Queen of Sheba traveled a great distance to see his wisdom for herself. It was a golden age.
But his later years were the most tragic. Seven hundred wives, three hundred concubines, and the fruit of foreign alliances turned his heart toward foreign gods. The place where the wisest man could not guard his own heart. The Ecclesiastes he left in old age cries out again and again: 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.' It was the most honest conclusion, one only someone who had possessed everything could reach.
The king who asked for wisdom. He had everything, yet wrote 'vanity of vanities.' He thought deeply and doubted deeply.
Defining Moments
The events that made this person who they were
Asking for Wisdom at the High Place of Gibeon
Right after becoming king, God appears to him in a dream and asks, 'What shall I give you?' He asks not for wealth, honor, or the heads of his enemies, but for 'a discerning heart.'
The Sword Between Two Mothers
Before two women fighting over one baby, he commands, 'Divide the child in two.' With that single line revealing the true mother's heart, the whole nation comes to know his wisdom.
Building the Temple, and Losing God in Old Age
He spends twenty years building the Temple in Jerusalem, but in his later years builds high places for the gods of his foreign wives. The tragedy of the wisest man sliding into the most foolish place.
Personality
The colors revealed through their story
A Man with the Sword of Discernment
He grasps the heart of a complicated situation in a single stroke. A quick mind that listens, sorts, and decides.
Hands That Create Beauty and Abundance
Temple, palace, gardens, fleets — an aesthetic sense that shapes everything he touches into splendor.
The Emptiness of One Who Has Too Much
Ecclesiastes cries out, 'Vanity of vanities.' Having everything, he was also the first to know that everything is empty.
★ Strengths
- Seeing the essence in complex situations
◐ Shadow
- Over-analysis delaying action
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