SOLOMON 



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SOLOMON ISLANDS 



Solomon's Wisdom. Solomon was more than 

 a judge and lawgiver to his people. He studied 

 into the secrets of nature and learned many 

 facts that previous to his time had not been 

 observed. From the proverbs which he spoke 

 we know that he had a good knowledge of 

 plants and animals, also that he was a student 

 of human nature. His proverbs are guides to 

 life, and for three thousand years they have 

 influenced men. The Bible tells us that "he 



THE DIVISION OF HIS KINGDOM 



spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs 

 were a thousand and five." Only one song, 

 The Song of Solomon, and the proverbs found 

 in the book of Proverbs are all that remain of 

 his sayings and writings, but these are enough 

 to place him among the wisest of men. After 

 communing with him, the Queen of Sheba, who 

 visited him with all the pomp and splendor of 

 an Eastern monarch, exclaimed, "The half was 

 not told me; thy wisdom and prosperity ex- 

 ceedeth the fame which I heard. Happy are 

 thy men, happy are these thy servants, which 



stand continually before thee, and that hear 

 thy wisdom." >j 



His Decline. Contrary to the Hebrew ideals, 

 Solomon established a harem, and made al- 

 liances with women of the surrounding heathen 

 nations. In time, to appease these women, he 

 erected altars to their gods in and about Jeru- 

 salem. This weakened his influence over the 

 Israelites and caused dissension in his court. 

 Moreover, the extravagance of the court caused 

 a heavy burden of taxation, under which the 

 people had become restive, so during the last 

 years of his reign the seeds of dissension, 

 which bore fruit in the division of the kingdom 

 soon after his death, were gradually sown. He 

 reigned forty years and was succeeded by his 

 son, Rehoboam. 



Estimate of His Character. In his tempera- 

 ment and tastes Solomon was the opposite of 

 his father David. He preferred the pursuits of 

 peace to those of war, and under him the He- 

 brew nation enjoyed a longer period of uni- 

 versal peace and prosperity than at any other 

 time in its history. An eminent authority, 

 Richard G. Moulton, has aptly characterized 

 these two great kings : 



What David achieves, Solomon carries further. 

 If David founded a kingdom, Solomon extended 

 this to an empire. If David had the honor of 

 ordering the service of Jehovah, it was reserved 

 for his son to lay the art and riches of Tyre under 

 contribution to crown the Divine service with the 

 Temple. David is the center of Hebrew poetry ; 

 Solomon is the founder of its wisdom. 



Consult Caldecott's Solomon's Temple : Its His- 

 tory and Structure; Harris's The Odes and Psalms 

 of Solomon. 



Related Subjects. The reader is referred to 

 the following articles in these volumes : 

 David Solomon's Song 



Jerusalem Temple 



SOLOMON ISLANDS, an archipelago in the 

 Western Pacific Ocean about 120 miles west of 

 the Bismarck Archipelago, with an area of 17,000 

 square miles. The principal islands are Bou- 

 gainville, Choiseul, New Georgia, Ysabel, Ma- 

 laita, Guadalcanar and San Christobal. The 

 larger islands are of volcanic origin, the smaller 

 of coral formation. There are several active 

 volcanoes, and earthquakes are frequent. The 

 climate is hot and unhealthful. Great Britain 

 controls the greater part of the archipelago. 

 Many of the islands are covered with dense 

 forests containing ebony and sandalwood; 

 vegetable ivory, copra and pearl shell are ex- 

 ported in large quantities. The population is 

 estimated at 176,000, of whom only 500 are 



