• For an admirable comparative study of Hebrew and Greek proverbial literature see H. Bois, La Poisie Gnomique cliez lei Hetjreux et les Grecs : Salomon et Thetxjnis^ Toulouse, 1S06. A careful comparative study of Hebrew and Egyptian proverbial wisdom is a great desideratum. Wisdom books akin to the Proverbs of the OT, and partly to Kccltsiastes, were produced in Egj-pt from about B.C. 3500 until about a.d. 200. It cannot re;isonably be supposed tliat in the age of Solomon they were wholly unknown to the Hebrews. The sayings in the oldest of them — the liutructions or Maxims of itahhotep — often strikingly resemble those in Proverbs, Before and during the reign of Solomon Eg>'pt was open both to Greeks and Jews. It does not follow that any of the Hebrew Wisdom books wer« composed in the time or Solomon.
t Prideaux's estimate, long generally accepted, was consider- ably less, viz. £«t;3,000,000. Yet he added, ' the sum is 80 prcKligious, as to give reason to think that the talents whereby the sum is reckoned were another sort of 'alenls of a tar less value than the Mosaic talents, of which an account is given IB the preface ' (Old and New Testament Connected, p. 6).
SOLOMON
SOLOMON
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were all of gold. Silver, we are told, was nothing accnunti'd of in his days ; he made silver to he in Jerusalem as stones. Such is the account given us of his wealth. What are we to think of if; The statement as to the sum amassed by David for the building of the templeis, of course, incredilily lar"e. The amount of annual revenue assigned to Solo- mon is not so, although very large. Probably it may have been his income merely for an excep- tional year or j'ears. That he was the wealthiest king known to his Hebrew contemporaries may well be believed. But even what is said of his wealth in Kings and Chron. suggests that he was only rich after the fashion of Oriental kings. His golden targes, golden utensils, and throne overlaid witli gold, seem to imply that he could find little
f)roductive use for his gold. Gold came into circu- ation as money among the Hebrews only in the time of David, and probably it was little used by them as such in the time of Solomon. Various peoples have passed through a stage in which a pound of gold was willingly exchanged for a pound of silver or even of copper. The Shahs of Persia and Emirs of Scinde were not wealthier than are European monarchs, although they had, as a rule, vastly more treasure in the form of jewels and the precious metals. The value of the material of money depends largely on its purchasing power and rapidity of circulation. Had Solomon's silver, and still mure had his gold, much of either? It is not likely that they had. Although he may have made silver as stones 'in Jerusalem,' there is nothing to indicate that it was plentiful outside of Jerusalem. There was gold in abundance at the court and among the king's officers and favourites, but there is no evidence of its having reached the farmers and peasants of Palestine. Probably in the form of money most of it got into the hands of the Phoenicians and other foreign traders. By the (jreat extension of the royal domains during liis reign, Solomon must have increased his real wealth more than by the importation of gold ; but such enrichment of himself implied the impoverishment of his subjects, .and that in a country of very small extent, and of which the real prosperity mainly de- pended on agriculture. The money spent on mag- nilicent buildings must have been to a large extent wa-sted. We may believe, therefore, almost all that we are told about the wealth of Solomon, and yet believe also that even his economic policy was foolish, and tended to national bankruptcy and the ruin of his dynasty.
14. Closely connected witli the wisdom and wealth of Solomon was his 'fame' and ' glury.' The 'fame' of Solomon denoted by the Hebrew words them (1 K 4^'). shimt'tnh (1 k lu', 2 Ch 9"), and shima {,\ K 10',2Ch 9'), — name, hearing, report, — was, like all fame, an external thing, 'a fancied life in others' breath.' The 'glory' of Solomon, although denoted in the NT by the same term (doxa) as 'the glory of the Son of Man,' was a vei-y dill'ercnt kind of glory. It was not glory of the highest order, the glory of essential excellence, but a superficial glory attainable by striving after etl'ect, by the lavish display and expenditure of wealth, by showy talents, by courting popularity, and the like. I'he glory which Solomon sought for he obtained in an extraordin.iry measure in Ilia lifetime, and it grew in the couise of ages to the most extravagant proportion. Orientals are fond of display and pomp, and doubtless, at least for a lengthened pericxl, Solomon, with his good di^position and brilliant gifts and conspicuous suc- cess, must have seemed to his subjects an almost ideal king. He gave Israel a place among the nations which it had never previously held, secured to it i)eace and prosperity, perfected its organiza- tion and administration, and so transformed,
adorned, and enriched Jerus.alcm as to make it appear the central city, the joy and pride of the wliole earth. Not only to the Hebrews but to all the peoi>les of the Semitic world he must have seemed the foremost monarch of the age. His in- tellectual gifts and acquisitions were so displayed as to cause him to be regarded as a paragon of wisdom, one whose knowledge and judgment had never been equalled, a sage and ruler superior to all others on the earth. Hence we are told many princes and renowned men came from afar to visit him, to see the grandeur of his court, to hear the wisdom of his words, and to pay him lioin.age and present him with gifts. Of all his visitors, the queen of Sueba naturally made the greatest impression. She was a much iiioie ex- alted personage than the princes and sheikhs with whom the Israelites were familiar. She came from ' the uttermost parts of the earth' (Mt IS''-) ; came in hi^h slate ' ^\■ith a very great train with camels that bare incense and very much gold and precious stones' (1 K lO'') ; came, it would appear, attracted purely by the fame of the wisdom, and especially of the religious wisdom, of Solomon ; and departed leaving magnilicent gifts, confessing that what she had heard was not half of what she had found to be true, and thanking and blessing the God of Israel.