Solomon was born out of a family wound. His mother was Bathsheba, and the LORD loved him from the start (2 Samuel 12:24-25). He came to the throne young, in the middle of his brother's grab for power (1 Kings 1).
He asked God for wisdom and got it, along with wealth and fame (1 Kings 3:10-13). He built the temple and wrote proverbs and songs (1 Kings 4:32). He also gathered horses, gold, and foreign wives, the very things the law warned a king about (Deuteronomy 17:16-17). His story is a gift wasted slowly, not in one night.
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Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil
Name means
Peaceful (from shalom); the LORD also named him Jedidiah, “beloved of the LORD”
Home
Jerusalem
Role
Third king of Israel, son of David and Bathsheba, builder of the temple
Read in
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Solomon's story
His heart turned away
Beginning
Named beloved
Born after David's sin and the death of his first son. The LORD sends word through Nathan that he loves this child.
Turning point
Crowned in a crisis
Adonijah tries to take the throne. Solomon is anointed, then secures power by removing Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei.
High point
Asks for wisdom
God offers him anything. He asks for an understanding mind to govern well, and God is pleased.
High point
Dedicates the temple
He prays that heaven cannot contain God, yet asks God to hear from this house. The high point of his life.
Turning point
Gold, horses, wives
His wealth grows past every king. So do his horses from Egypt and his 700 wives, all against the law for kings.
Ending
Heart turned away
In old age his wives turn his heart to other gods. God says the kingdom will be torn, but keeps a tribe for David's sake.
Starts as a young king who knows he needs wisdom. Ends as an old king whose heart was not wholly true to the LORD.
Where Solomon lived and went
Only places Scripture records. Softer, dotted pins are traditional or uncertain sites. Tap a pin for the passage.
HomeMinistryKey momentTraditional or uncertainPinch or use + to zoom. Tap a cluster to spread it out.
How Solomon is wired
The Achiever
Enneagram 3, Individualist wing
To build something great and be honored for it.
Scripture doesn't give us much here, so treat this as a best guess.
At their best, toward 6 Under stress, toward 9
Why we think so
1
Builder of monuments. He spends seven years on the temple and thirteen on his own palace (). ()
2
Fame across nations. Kings and queens come to hear his wisdom and see his splendor. ()
3
Image through accumulation. Gold, ivory throne, chariots, and horses mark his reign. ()
A creative, reflective side shows in his 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. ()
The Loyalist. At his best he rests on God's covenant faithfulness, not his own achievement. ()
The Peacemaker. He drifts and accommodates, going along with his wives' gods instead of resisting. ()
The case for 7
His appetite for wealth, beauty, and many wives fits a 7's hunger for more. Some read Ecclesiastes as his own account of chasing pleasure, though its authorship is debated.
Other lenses
Big Five. Read from what is recorded in Kings and Chronicles.
ReservedOutgoing
SteadyReactive
ChallengingAccommodating
SpontaneousDisciplined
TraditionalCurious
DISC style: orderly builder, wide reach
Strengths & struggles
What's good in Solomon
Wise judgment, gifted administrator, builder, curious about the natural world, able to pray with deep theology ().
Where Solomon struggles
Divided loyalty, comfort with excess, treating alliances and marriages as tools, ignoring God's direct warnings ().
What Solomon wanted most
A secure, glorious kingdom and a name the nations would honor ().
Solomon was a son of David who built God a house, and Jesus is the greater Son of David who is the house.
God promised David a son who would build a house for his name and whose throne would last forever (). Solomon built the temple but his throne split. Jesus called himself the temple () and said, “something greater than Solomon is here” ().
Questions to sit with
1
Where do you know the right thing clearly but feel a slow pull the other way?
2
What good gift in your life could become the thing that turns your heart?
Study Solomon with your group
Ready-to-lead group studies with discussion questions and a leader's note are on the way.
