Solomon made two hundred large shields and had each one overlaid with almost fifteen pounds of gold. …He also had a large throne made. Part of it was covered with ivory and the rest of it was covered with the finest gold. …All of Solomon’s drinking cups were made of gold, and all the utensils in the Hall of the Forest of Lebanon were of pure gold. No silver was used, since it was not considered valuable in Solomon’s day. …King Solomon was richer and wiser than any other king, and the whole world wanted to come and listen to the wisdom that God had given him.
To what end? Human glory: so fleeting, so futile (Ecclesiastes 2:18-23); and soon all this will be taken away (1 Kings 14:25-26) and burned (2 Kings 25:8-10). May the result of my work endure, Father (Psalm 90:17; 1 Corinthiens 3:10-14).
The king’s agents controlled the export of horses from Musri and Cilicia, and the export of chariots from Egypt. They supplied the Hittite and Syrian kings with horses and chariots, selling chariots for 600 pieces of silver each and horses for 150 each.
Well regulated International commerce. Marvellous.
Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides the daughter of the king of Egypt he married Hittite women and women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon. He married… seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines.
That’s what they do… Salomon didn’t marry all these all at once, of course: little by little. During his prime, I’d guess he took on a new wife every month by the old traditions (Genesis 29:27-30).
They made him turn away from God, and by the time he was old they had led him into the worship of foreign gods.
I’m guessing performance issues (Deuteronomy 17:17). How we perform at 40 will not be the same at 60!