1 Chronicles 28:9 And thou, Solomon my son, know thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a whole heart and with a willing mind; for the Lord searcheth all hearts, and understandeth all the imaginations of the thoughts; if thou seek Him, He will be found of thee; but if thou forsake Him, He will cast thee off forever. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Deuteronomy 27:15 Cursed be the man that maketh a graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and setteth it up in secret. And all the people shall answer and say: Amen.
(JPS) (Emphasis added)

Deuteronomy 29:17 lest there should be among you man, or woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart turneth away this day from the Lord our God, to go to serve the gods of those nations; lest there should be among you a root that beareth gall and wormwood; ¹⁸ and it come to pass, when he heareth the words of this curse, that he bless himself in his heart, saying: 'I shall have peace, though I walk in the stubbornness of my heart--that the watered be swept away with the dry'; ¹⁹ the Lord will not be willing to pardon him, but then the anger of the Lord and His jealousy shall be kindled against that man, and all the curse that is written in this book shall lie upon him, and the Lord shall blot out his name from under heaven; ²⁰ and the Lord shall separate him unto evil out of all the tribes of Israel, according to all the curses of the covenant that is written in this book of the law. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Ecclesiastes 3:15 That which is hath been long ago, and that which is to be hath already been; and God seeketh that which is pursued. (JPS)
(Emphasis added)

The Greatest Tragedy

According to the Bible, King Solomon was the wisest man that ever lived or ever will live. It is highly probable that he was also the richest man that ever lived and he also possessed many other attributes that are highly regarded and sought after by mankind.

Very few kings throughout the entire history of the world are as famous as King Solomon and few are so well remembered thousands of years after their deaths. Solomon was a very popular king, perhaps largely because Israel experienced great prosperity during his reign.

Solomon’s great wisdom made him a figure to be highly respected. Since this was G-d given, he continues to be a figure to be revered today. It is extremely important for the reader to realize that King Solomon was probably far superior to the reader as he certainly is to the author. However, in contemplation of all of the foregoing information about the actual affairs of King Solomon, would it not be reasonable to question what all of the facts uncovered so far actually mean?

Could Solomon’s life have had far more significance than that which has heretofore been attributed to it? Who would give away the Ark of the Covenant, make a counterfeit ark complete with a counterfeit and perverse law and build a temple diametrically opposed to the plans of the L-rd? Did Solomon actually rule a much greater area than Israel? How did Solomon perpetrate so many serious transgressions directly against the L-rd, and yet, seemingly escape serious judgment?

Perhaps a careful analysis of all aspects of Solomon’s life will produce startling information.

First, however, it might be well to digress onto the fact that as it has been widely perceived that King Solomon was one of the best kings that Israel ever had, so was the perception of the author until conducting the investigations preceding this chapter. Superficial examination of King Solomon’s life produces the appearance of a life characterized by extraordinary success and blessing; however, a systematic examination of that life reveals what is undoubtedly the greatest tragedy of all time.

Prince Solomon

There are few mentions of Solomon in the Bible until shortly before he was anointed king. We are told that he was the son of King David and Bathsheba. As one might recall, King David’s relationship with Bathsheba was the cause of much trouble for him, evidently much more than has normally been appreciated. The narrative of these events can be found beginning in 2 Samuel 11.

A short recap of the story of David and Bathsheba begins with David walking on the roof of his palace and spotting the very beautiful Bathsheba bathing. He was infatuated and soon seduced her. Alas, Bathsheba was another man’s wife.

Leviticus 20:10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death. (JPS)

David’s affair with Bathsheba was fruitful and she summarily sent word to David that conception had occurred. This child was Solomon’s older brother that only lived a few days. Unfortunately, this all happened while Bathsheba’s real husband Uriah the Hittite was away serving in King David’s army. In a failed attempt to cover up this indiscretion, David brought Uriah back to town from the army and arranged for him to have some free time so that he could be with Bathsheba. To no avail, David hoped that Uriah would sleep with her so that her unfortunate manifestation of infidelity would not be recognized for what it actually was. Had this scheme worked, Uriah would have thought that the child was his and everything would have been covered up.

Plagued with ill fate, King David could not get Uriah to sleep with Bathsheba even after many attempts. Finally, David implemented plan B, thereby arranging for Uriah to be placed in the front lines of battle after returning to active duty. When the battle grew fierce, King David had the rest of the troops withdraw from around Uriah correctly surmising that he would be killed. Some might consider this to be murder by proxy.

Despite King David’s concerns about Uriah’s wrath, more importantly, G-d was angry with David about this whole affair and sent judgment onto him and his household. Although G-d forgave David’s sins, he had to endure serious consequences. Frequently, those whose sins are forgiven endure their punishment on this side of eternity. As part of the judgment, G-d said that the sword would never depart from David’s house because of these events. It is extremely important to remember that the sword would never depart from David’s house because this is an important clue in the subsequent words of the prophets.

2 Samuel 12:10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised Me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Some of the consequences that befell David’s household included the incident(s) of Amnon, Tamar and Absalom; but the first manifestation of judgment was that the child that Bathsheba was carrying whose conception initiated all of these events died seven days after birth.

2 Samuel 12:15 And Nathan departed unto his house. And the Lord struck the child that Uriah's wife bore unto David, and it was very sick. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

2 Samuel 12:18 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that the child died. And the servants of David feared to tell him that the child was dead; for they said: 'Behold, while the child was yet alive, we spoke unto him, and he hearkened not unto our voice; how then shall we tell him that the child is dead, so that he do himself some harm?' (JPS)

Entanglement

If one looks at this very carefully, it is notable that Bathsheba is referred to as Uriah’s wife in 2 Samuel 12:15. If she is still Uriah’s wife, then she could not be David’s wife at this point. It is important to consider that David fasted and afflicted himself pleading with God for the child’s life for the entire seven days that it took for the child to die. Since it is very clear that David fasted and wept lying on the ground until the child died, it is absolutely certain that he did not marry Bathsheba during this period of time. If Bathsheba is still Uriah’s wife, then she is obviously not married to David in the legal sense.

It is important to note that David did not marry Bathsheba before he went to comfort her – before Solomon was conceived. This is certain because there is a detailed account of his activities between the time that he quit fasting and weeping up until the moment he went in to comfort her.

2 Samuel 12:20 Then David arose from the earth, and washed, and anointed himself, and changed his apparel; and he came into the house of the Lord, and worshipped; then he came to his own house; and when he required, they set bread before him, and he did eat. (JPS)

One would think that a wedding would have been included in this narrative of 2 Samuel 12:20 if one occurred. If the passage notes that he ate, washed and changed his clothing, it is inconceivable that a wedding would have been left out of a listing of the events of that day. David’s subsequent activities involve his comforting Bathsheba, and at some point, they got so comfortable that Solomon was conceived.

2 Samuel 12:24 And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her; and she bore a son, and called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him; ²⁵ and He sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he called his name Jedidiah, for the Lord's sake. (JPS)

By the time of 2 Samuel 12:24, we see that Bathsheba is referred to as David’s wife yet in 2 Samuel 12:15 she is referred to as Uriah’s wife. Certainly no wedding occurred during this period so how can this be explained? One of the more obvious possibilities is that she was considered David’s wife because the two became one flesh and this can be and is frequently done without an official wedding. Nevertheless, she must have been officially married to Uriah at this time. She obviously would have been Uriah’s widow. Obviously this would leave a pedigree problem for one of the parties involved; however, this detail was apparently doctored. After all, the royal family must keep up appearances.

There is a verse in Matthew that simply states that David begot Solomon by Uriah’s wife. Translators have attempted to clarify the passage a bit by adding words that are not actually in the original manuscripts. Many translations make note of this by separating the added remarks in brackets. If one ignores the translator’s inclusions then the verse clearly says that David begot Solomon by Uriah’s wife.

Matthew 1:6 And Jesse begat David the king. And David begat Solomon, of her [that had been the wife] of Urias; (Darby) (Emphasis added)
(Note: Brackets indicate words added by the translator that do not appear in the original text.)

Matthew 1:6 And Jesse begot David the king. David the king begot Solomon by her [who had been the wife] of Uriah. (NKJV) (Emphasis added)
(Note: Brackets indicate words added by the translator that do not appear in the original text.)

Proverbs 30:5 Every word of God is tried; He is a shield unto them that take refuge in Him. ⁶ Add thou not unto His words, lest He reprove thee, and thou be found a liar. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Back in 2 Samuel 11, there is another mention of David marrying Bathsheba and this confuses the exact course of these events. That information is included as an element of other fine points of these exploits, but it is not necessarily sequentially or chronologically related to the continuation of the main narrative in chapter 12. In chapter 11, the information given says that David and Bathsheba were married after the period of mourning for Uriah. While mourning periods are not necessarily very long in contemporary society, in other times and cultures widows remained in mourning for months or years.

2 Samuel 11:26 And when the wife of Uriah heard that Uriah her husband was dead, she made lamentation for her husband. ²⁷ And when the mourning was past, David sent and took her home to his house, and she became his wife, and bore him a son. But the thing that David had done displeased the Lord. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Deuteronomy 21:10 When thou goest forth to battle against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God delivereth them into thy hands, and thou carriest them away captive, ¹¹ and seest among the captives a woman of goodly form, and thou hast a desire unto her, and wouldest take her to thee to wife; ¹² then thou shalt bring her home to thy house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; ¹³ and she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thy house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month; and after that thou mayest go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Prohibited Degrees
One who is suspected of having committed adultery with another man's wife is not permitted to marry her after she has been divorced or after she has become a widow (Sotah 25a; Yeb. 24b)
(Jewish Encyclopedia; Marriage Laws by Solomon Schechter and Julius H. Greenstone)

Remarriage
There are some prohibitions which relate specifically to the woman's remarriage. A woman who was twice widowed, if both husbands died natural deaths, might not marry again (Yeb. 64b; "Yad," l.c. xxi. 31; Eben ha-'Ezer, 9). A widow or a divorced woman might not remarry before the expiration of ninety days from her husband's death or from the time when the bill of divorce was handed to her. This provision was made in order to ascertain whether she was pregnant, and that in the event of her being so the paternity of her child might be established. For the sake of uniformity the Rabbis required the woman to wait that length of time even when there could be no suspicion of pregnancy. If she was visibly pregnant, she might not remarry until after her delivery, and even then, if the child lived, she was required to wait until it was twenty-four months old. A woman who had an unweaned child was required to wait the same period. If the child died during the interval, she might remarry immediately. (Yeb. 41a, 42a; "Yad," Gerushin, xi. 18-28; Eben ha-'Ezer, 13)
(Jewish Encyclopedia; Marriage Laws by Solomon Schechter and Julius H. Greenstone)

It appears that Bathsheba projected the appearance of mourning for some time. It is possible that one particular manifestation of these events, to wit: Solomon, may have materialized inexplicably soon for prudent appearances. Since this appears to be the case, it seems highly likely that the exact time of his arrival might have been blurred a bit in order to keep up appearances. It is also relevant to note that the narrative mentions that after the period of mourning, Bathsheba bore David a son, but it does not say which son. Nevertheless, one should notice that according to the ordinance one was not ordinarily permitted to go in unto the captive woman before the battle and victory occurred.

Isaiah 66:7 Before she travailed, she brought forth; before her pain came, she was delivered of a man-child. ⁸ Who hath heard such a thing? Who hath seen such things? Is a land born in one day? Is a nation brought forth at once? For as soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children. ⁹ Shall I bring to the birth, and not cause to bring forth? saith the Lord; shall I that cause to bring forth shut the womb? saith thy God. (JPS)

The reason that this theory can be put forth is because of all of the other characteristics of Solomon for which there is ample support. When all of the facts are considered together, it is certain that this must be the case because in Deuteronomy 17 we see the characteristics of the man we are studying. It is with confidence that we can conclude that since the L-rd knows the beginning from the end, this passage is in reference to specific events regarding a specific person. Since most of the characteristics mentioned in this passage are those of Solomon - and all of the other characteristics can be proven beyond any doubt - it is safe to conclude that some of the less clear aspects of this king are also direct attributes of Solomon.

Deuteronomy 17:14 When thou art come unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein; and shalt say: 'I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me'; ¹⁵ thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the Lord thy God shall choose; one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother. ¹⁶ Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses; forasmuch as the Lord hath said unto you: 'Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.' ¹⁷ Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. (JPS)

Since Solomon was conceived in such a way that David and Bathsheba should have been cut off from their people, it should be apparent that Solomon could not have been an Israelite. If one is cut off from among a people, they are no longer part of that people. Therefore, Solomon was a foreigner. Furthermore, while it is certain that he was conceived out of wedlock, it is also highly probable that he was born out of wedlock and that David and Bathsheba attempted to cover up this fact by keeping his birth a secret and announcing his birth at a later time. Perhaps he was a thirty-pound (14-kg) baby or something to that effect.

Deuteronomy 23:3 A bastard shall not enter into the assembly of the Lord; even to the tenth generation shall none of his enter into the assembly of the Lord. (JPS)

It is of great interest to note that the word rendered "bastard" in the above translation is rendered “those born of a forbidden marriage” in the New International Version. The New Jewish Publication Society Tanakh renders this “no one misbegotten.” A footnote in the NJPS notes that the Hebrew meaning for the word mamzer - the word that appears in the original manuscripts here - is uncertain, but in Jewish law it would tend to mean the offspring of adultery or incest between Jews. While it might be vague whether or not Solomon was of illegitimate birth, it is absolutely certain that this was a forbidden marriage. Therefore, neither Solomon or any of his descendants down to the tenth generation should have been allowed into the assembly of the L-rd.

It is not really possible to determine with absolute certainty what the dates of Solomon’s kingdom were despite the fact that there seems to be a reliable set of dates for the reign of King David. The Bible contends that he was 52 when he died, but historical records maintain an age of 53. This could well be a clear indication of the exact theory presented here.

The Squalid Conception

Another distressing aspect of Solomon’s conception that is inescapable is that Bathsheba was ceremonially unclean because she had given birth just seven days before Solomon was conceived. David became unclean by touching her, and according to the Mishnah (Kelim 1:3 - 1:5), in this condition he imparted uncleanness to everything under, above or even near him. Please note that the following passage from the 1917 Jewish Publication Society translation calls “sickness” that which would ordinarily be called a menstrual period today.

Leviticus 12:1 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: ² Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: If a woman be delivered, and bear a man-child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of the impurity of her sickness shall she be unclean. (JPS)

Leviticus 20:18 And if a man shall lie with a woman having her sickness, and shall uncover her nakedness--he hath made naked her fountain, and she hath uncovered the fountain of her blood--both of them shall be cut off from among their people. (JPS)

Leviticus 5:2 or if any one touch any unclean thing, whether it be the carcass of an unclean beast, or the carcass of unclean cattle, or the carcass of unclean swarming things, and be guilty, it being hidden from him that he is unclean; ³ or if he touch the uncleanness of man, whatsoever his uncleanness be wherewith he is unclean, and it be hid from him; and, when he knoweth of it, be guilty; (JPS)

Solomon was conceived shortly after his brother died (2 Samuel 12:24). This occurred on the seventh day after Solomon’s older brother was born; therefore, both David and Bathsheba should have been cut off from among their people. This could be stated differently with a phrase something like, stricken from the register of Israel, or perhaps cut off from the tents of Jacob, for examples. While it is clear that David was forgiven, does it not seem that the child conceived under these circumstances would technically not be an Israelite? How could the product of such a union be included in the register of Israel? It is impossible.

It is conspicuous that Solomon’s parents were unclean and that he was conceived in uncleanness. One could juxtapose that concept with the idea of virgin conception thereby imputing freedom from the Adamic curse for consideration.

Bathsheba

It is significant that Bathsheba was the wife of a Hittite, one of the peoples that the Israelites were forbidden to mingle with. From scripture, it is not clear if Bathsheba was Jewish. There are some mentions of her father, but no clear genealogy. Furthermore, her father is named as Eliam in 2 Samuel 11:3 while he is listed as Ammiel in 1 Chronicles 3:5, so perhaps there was some question about her parentage.

There is a general theory promulgated by some that Bathsheba’s father must have been one of the scouts that explored the land of Canaan back in the days of Moses and Joshua (Numbers 13:12 & 14:36-38). This is because the name Ammiel is listed as one of the scouts; however, this would require that he was more than 400 years old when Bathsheba was conceived, so there may be problems with that theory. We can conclude this because we know that the foundation of the temple was laid in the 480th year after the Children of Israel came up out of Egypt (1 Kings 6:1). Solomon would have been 16 during the year that the foundation was laid.

It is apparent that two different names are listed as Bathsheba’s father and yet the Bible is the infallible word of G-d, so this leaves a puzzle. This particular issue has not received a great deal of attention; but it is worthwhile to explore a plausible explanation. There are several scenarios that could explain this.

Consider the possibility that Bathsheba’s parents had been married some time and wanted children very badly, but to no avail. Then consider the possibility that in order to conceive they experimented outside their marriage in ways similar to the case of Abraham many years before (Genesis 16); however in this case, the wannabe father, the husband of her mother, was sterile and another man sired her. Then, as one can see, as far as Bathsheba would be concerned her father was the man that raised her, the husband of her mother. But he would not be her biological father, a man she may have never known or even known about. Perhaps there was only one instance of passion and this scenario could easily explain a listing of two fathers.

There is another scenario recorded in the Bible that could also produce the phenomenon of a person having two fathers, but in this case, the scheme was not successful. Consider the case of Solomon’s older brother that died when he was one week old. If the plan that David and Bathsheba devised had worked, Uriah would have thought that he was the child’s father and her affair with David would have been covered up. In that event, it is likely that David and Bathsheba would have never told anyone including the child the truth about the conception. Then both the child and Uriah would have always believed that Uriah was his father. Perhaps this stratagem was not an original idea and had been successful one generation before.

Due to many of the characteristics of Solomon that can be determined for certain, it is possible that Bathsheba was not Jewish. This may simply have been due to her alliance to Uriah. Bathsheba’s exact pedigree must be left to the Levites, however, because records and Jewish genealogical knowledge beyond that of the author would be indispensable. Some sources contend that both one’s parents must be Jews in order for the begotten to be Jewish.

Enmity House

In other areas of scripture (2 Samuel 13-18) concerning the results of David’s affair with Bathsheba, one can see that this affair caused many problems, not only for David, but also, for his entire household and kingdom. Some of the more notable events included the affairs of Amnon, Tamar and Absalom. These events were the direct result of David’s affair with Bathsheba and could be construed by suspicious types to be an omen that the relationships within King David’s home were at times less than harmonious.

A short recap of these events could read that Amnon became infatuated with his sister Tamar. He perpetrated a ruse to get her into bed whereby he deflowered her. Because of this, Tamar’s closer brother, Absalom, became very angry with Amnon and eventually perpetrated a plot of vengeance against him, thereby taking his life.

Absalom fled outside the grasp of King David, but the king longed to see him and arranged for his safe return to Jerusalem. As time passed, Absalom managed to depose King David through a series of shrewd covert and overt actions. King David had to flee for his life. Absalom then took control of Jerusalem where he plundered the booty of King David’s remaining concubines.

In the subsequent series of events, Absalom pursued David hoping to take his life, but David emerged victorious. Unfortunately, it was a hollow victory because Absalom the king’s beloved son was killed and great harm had been done to King David’s reputation. Nevertheless, King David ruled again.

In consideration of the foregoing information, some could speculate that there may have been certain problems in the relationships between certain members of King David’s household. Today, some might describe such a household as a dysfunctional family, or use some other oblique term with similar meaning. In earlier times, that idea might have been expressed that they were literally at each other’s throats.

2 Samuel 12:10 Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from thy house; because thou hast despised Me, and hast taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be thy wife. (JPS)

The Prince of Peace

It is noted that David and Bathsheba named their second son Solomon. Solomon is actually Shelomoh in Hebrew and it is the word for peace in that language. Shelomoh has several variations of spelling and form and is frequently shortened to the familiar Hebrew greeting Shelom. Shortly after they named him Solomon, G-d sent word through Nathan the prophet that He loves this son and to name the child Jedidiah, which means, “loved by the L-rd” or “beloved of the L-rd.”

2 Samuel 12:24 And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and went in unto her, and lay with her; and she bore a son, and called his name Solomon. And the Lord loved him; ²⁵ and He sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet, and he called his name Jedidiah, for the Lord's sake. (JPS)

There is no evidence that the advice on names was actually followed, but Solomon might have gone by the name Jedidiah until he ascended to the throne. Nevertheless, by the time he became king, we see the name Solomon. In this case, the name Solomon would mean “prince of peace.” This might be the reason that G-d suggested another name because this would obviously be another title for the Messiah. In fact, according to the Talmud, the name actually means G-d. Be that as it may, Israel did enjoy peace during most of Solomon’s reign.

The Talmud says Shalom ("Peace"; Judges vi. 23) is the name of God, consequently one is not permitted to greet another with the word "shalom" in unholy places (Shab. 10b). The name Shelomoh (from shalom) refers to the God of Peace, and the Rabbis assert that the Song of Solomon is a dramatization of the love of God: "Shalom" to His people Israel = "Shulamite." "King of kings" in Dan. ii. 37 refers to God. "'Attik Yamin" (ib. vii. 9) refers to the Ancient One of the universe (see Yalk., Chron. 1076). The pronoun "Ani" (I) is a name of God (Suk. iv. 5). The first verse in Ezekiel ("we-Ani") refers to God (Tos. Suk. 45a). Hillel's epigram "If I [am] here everything is here" (Suk. 53a) is interpreted as referring to God. The divine names are called in the Talmud "Azkarot," or "Adkarata" in the Aramaic form. Divine names that occur in the handwriting of minim should be excised and buried in the genizah (Shab. 116a; Cant. R. ii. 4). God is named also Ha-Geburah ("The Majesty"; Shab.87a), but generally Ha-Makom. ("The Omnipresence"), accompanied with Baruk-hu ("Praised be He").
(Jewish Encyclopedia; Names of God; By: Executive Committee of the Editorial Board. J. F. McLaughlin and Judah David Eisenstein)

Recall that G-d told David that the sword would never depart from his house because of these events.

Jeremiah 4:10 Then said I: 'Ah, L-rd GOD! surely Thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying: Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul.' (JPS) (Emphasis added)

The Ascension of Solomon

The next significant event involving Solomon consists of his becoming the king of Israel at the age of twelve.

Ecclesiastes 10:16 Woe to thee, O land, when thy king is a boy, and thy princes feast in the morning! (JPS)

As one may recall, Solomon’s kingdom was established after some conflict with another of David’s sons, Adonijah. Incidentally, the name Adonijah means “my L-rd is YHWH,” or more loosely, “the L-rd is my master.” Adonijah was also a name that the Israelites used for G-d. Notwithstanding that this son was named Adonijah, he has traditionally been considered to be an upstart or usurper-type of figure that tried to set himself up to be the king. The accounts about David, Adonijah, and the events leading up to Solomon becoming king are found beginning in 1 Kings 1 and 1 Chronicles 29.

1 Kings 1:5 Now Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying: 'I will be king'; and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. ⁶ And his father had not grieved him all his life in saying: 'Why hast thou done so?' and he was also a very goodly man; and he was born after Absalom. (JPS)
(Goodly means handsome)

It is apparent from the accounts about Adonijah in the Bible, that for a substantial amount of time, he went about claiming to be the next king. Furthermore, it is evident that David did not interfere with this for a long time and we are told that David was getting old and in declining health during the period that these events took place. Some Bible scholars have concluded that David never wanted Solomon to be his successor. Nevertheless, the conventional view holds that Adonijah is a usurper.

The question is, was he?

Perhaps this material should be carefully reexamined to see if something might have been overlooked. Looking at 1 Kings 1, it is possible to probe more of this story of Adonijah and Solomon’s rise to the throne for clues validating or negating the conventional view.

1 Kings 1:9 And Adonijah slew sheep and oxen and fatlings by the stone of Zoheleth, which is beside En-rogel; and he called all his brethren the king's sons, and all the men of Judah the king's servants; ¹⁰ but Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

1 Kings 1:11 Then Nathan spoke unto Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon, saying: 'Hast thou not heard that Adonijah the son of Haggith doth reign, and David our lord knoweth it not? ¹² Now therefore come, let me, I pray thee, give thee counsel, that thou mayest save thine own life, and the life of thy son Solomon. ¹³ Go and get thee in unto king David, and say unto him: Didst not thou, my lord, O king, swear unto thy handmaid, saying: Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? why then doth Adonijah reign? ¹⁴ Behold, while thou yet talkest there with the king, I also will come in after thee, and confirm thy words.' (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Considering the previous passage carefully, just what part of Nathan’s statement does not appear to be a lie? To put it another way, this is obviously a lie and it is evident that Nathan is cooking up an artless scheme here. This particular plot would be much too obvious to use in a novel, play or movie because nearly everybody would see through this unsophisticated ruse immediately. Notice that Nathan tells Bathsheba that she needs to talk to King David in order to preserve her life and that of her son. Furthermore, notice that Nathan will come in and confirm her words.

Micah 3:5 This is what the Lord says: “As for the prophets who lead my people astray, if one feeds them they proclaim ‘peace’; if he does not, they prepare to wage war against him.” (NIV) (Emphasis added)

As a pertinent side note, consider that this is written in the Bible, the infallible word of G-d. While everything in the Bible must necessarily be true, it is a conspicuous fact that this segment records the dialog of the characters; therefore, their lies are faithfully recorded. In faithfully quoting the lying words of the characters - and notice that there are quotation marks - the Bible remains absolutely true.

Micah 3:5 Thus saith the Lord concerning the prophets that make my people to err; that cry: 'Peace', when their teeth have any thing to bite; and whoso putteth not into their mouths, they even prepare war against him: (JPS)
(Emphasis added)

The meaning of these types of passages may be somewhat different than that which is traditionally ascribed to them. Notice that in the JPS translation, the word “Peace” is capitalized and recall that the name Solomon means peace.

Nathan

It should be obvious that Nathan is motivated out of his desire to maintain his important position in the royal court. There may have been good reason for Nathan to be concerned about his position because this was not the first time that Nathan prophesied something that was not the word of the L-rd. Another recorded instance of Nathan prophesying out of his own heart occurred when David began thinking of building the temple.

2 Samuel 7:1 And it came to pass, when the king dwelt in his house, and the Lord had given him rest from all his enemies round about, ² that the king said unto Nathan the prophet: 'See now, I dwell in a house of cedar, but the ark of God dwelleth within curtains.' ³ And Nathan said to the king: 'Go, do all that is in thy heart; for the Lord is with thee.' ⁴ And it came to pass the same night, that the word of the Lord came unto Nathan, saying: ⁵ 'Go and tell My servant David: Thus saith the Lord: Shalt thou build Me a house for Me to dwell in? ⁶ for I have not dwelt in a house since the day that I brought up the children of Israel out of Egypt, even to this day, but have walked in a tent and in a tabernacle. ⁷ In all places wherein I have walked among all the children of Israel, spoke I a word with any of the tribes of Israel, whom I commanded to feed My people Israel, saying: Why have ye not built Me a house of cedar? (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Considering the calamities that David normally experienced when he did not follow the word of the L-rd, he might have been especially displeased with a prophet that did not carefully tell him what the L-rd had said. In the case of Adonijah, however, Nathan revealed no prophecy at all, but simply a clandestine scheme.

Nathan was not invited to Adonijah’s feast and was feeling spurned and alarmed that his position in the royal court is apparently imperiled. Therefore, he concocted a scheme to put Solomon on the throne, thus insuring an important position for himself if his plan succeeded. Unfortunately for Nathan, the plan has some nasty long-term consequences that he might not have considered. At the end of the following passage it is noted that this prophet will not be included in the register of Israel and this is one way of saying that this person is damned.

Ezekiel 13:1 And the word of HaShem came unto me, saying: ² 'Son of man, prophesy against the prophets of Israel that prophesy, and say thou unto them that prophesy out of their own heart: Hear ye the word of HaShem: ³ Thus saith the L-rd GOD: Woe unto the vile prophets, that follow their own spirit, and things which they have not seen! ⁴ O Israel, thy prophets have been like foxes in ruins. ⁵ Ye have not gone up into the breaches, neither made up the hedge for the house of Israel, to stand in the battle in the day of HaShem. ⁶ They have seen vanity and lying divination, that say: HaShem saith; and HaShem hath not sent them, yet they hope that the word would be confirmed! ⁷ Have ye not seen a vain vision, and have ye not spoken a lying divination, whereas ye say: HaShem saith; albeit I have not spoken? ⁸ Therefore thus saith the L-rd GOD: Because ye have spoken vanity, and seen lies, therefore, behold, I am against you, saith the L-rd GOD. ⁹ And My hand shall be against the prophets that see vanity, and that divine lies; they shall not be in the council of My people, neither shall they be written in the register of the house of Israel, neither shall they enter into the land of Israel; and ye shall know that I am the L-rd GOD. ¹⁰ Because, even because they have led My people astray, saying: Peace, and there is no peace. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Recall that the word for peace in Hebrew is Solomon or Shelomoh. Therefore, Ezekiel 13:10 might have a slightly different meaning than has traditionally been attributed to it. For example, it would be fair to translate the verse something like the author’s paraphrase: they have led My people astray, saying: Shelomoh, and there is no Shelomoh. Recall also that this is the title of the true Messiah.

King David’s Decline

Nathan’s scheme to put Solomon on the throne has a good chance of success because we know that David is old and not feeling well. In fact, we are told that he is very cold all of the time and there is a general consensus among scholars that he was senile. His chill was such a problem that David’s advisors found a beautiful girl named Abishag to lie with him to keep him warm. While Abishag slept with David to keep him warm and was one of the most beautiful maidens in all of Israel, it says he never had intimate relations with her, thereby confirming his feebleness (1 Kings 1:4).

Solomon mentions some events in Ecclesiastes that have the oddest similarity to some of the events considered here. Recall the special nature of Ecclesiastes.

Ecclesiastes 4:11 Again, if two lie together, then they have warmth; but how can one be warm alone? ¹² And if a man prevail against him that is alone, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. (JPS)

Ecclesiastes 4:13 Better is a poor and wise child than an old and foolish king, who knoweth not how to receive admonition any more. ¹⁴ For out of prison he came forth to be king; although in his kingdom he was born poor. ¹⁵ I saw all the living that walk under the sun, that they were with the child, the second, that was to stand up in his stead. ¹⁶ There was no end of all the people, even of all them whom he did lead; yet they that come after shall not rejoice in him. Surely this also is vanity and a striving after wind. (JPS)

Bathsheba’s Petition

Due to the problems in David’s household Bathsheba had good reason to be concerned about her future and the future of her son. The family problems in David’s household are likely why Solomon was not invited to Adonijah’s feast and this obviously implies that he was not in good standing with Adonijah. After all, Bathsheba would obviously have been viewed as the exact cause of most of the family’s problems. Since there was a tendency for such differences in this household to result in death, she really had good reason to be concerned. If a shrewd and unscrupulous prophet wanted to motivate someone to a particular course of action, this could be just the card to play.

1 Kings 1:16 And Bath-sheba bowed, and prostrated herself unto the king. And the king said: 'What wouldest thou?' ¹⁷ And she said unto him: 'My lord, thou didst swear by the Lord thy God unto thy handmaid: Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne. ¹⁸ And now, behold, Adonijah reigneth; and thou, my lord the king, knowest it not. ¹⁹ And he hath slain oxen and fatlings and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the sons of the king, and Abiathar, the priest, and Joab the captain of the host; but Solomon thy servant hath he not called. ²⁰ And thou, my lord the king, the eyes of all Israel are upon thee, that thou shouldest tell them who shall sit on the throne of my lord the king after him. ²¹ Otherwise it will come to pass, when my lord the king shall sleep with his fathers, that I and my son Solomon shall be counted offenders.' (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Alarmed at the ominous prospects for the future Bathsheba becomes Nathan’s ally.

Ezekiel 13:17 "Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination. Prophesy against them ¹⁸ and say, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Woe to the women who sew magic charms on all their wrists and make veils of various lengths for their heads in order to ensnare people. Will you ensnare the lives of my people but preserve your own? ¹⁹ You have profaned me among my people for a few handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to my people, who listen to lies, you have killed those who should not have died and have spared those who should not live. (NIV)

G-d’s Choice of Leaders

If one looks carefully at the promise G-d gave to David about a successor, G-d never told David that Solomon should be the king. In fact, G-d told David that He would raise up David’s successor - one of David’s own sons. G-d never said which son.

1 Chronicles 17:11 And it shall come to pass, when thy days are fulfilled that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will set up thy seed after thee, who shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

2 Samuel 7:7:12 When thy days are fulfilled, and thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will set up thy seed after thee, that shall proceed out of thy body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³ He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom for ever. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

This clearly does not say for David to appoint a successor, but that G-d will establish one. Upon careful consideration of this promise, it becomes clear that David was not supposed to appoint his successor. It is also apparent that David had no intention of appointing one. Furthermore, there is no record that David told Bathsheba that Solomon would be his successor until Nathan approached her with his scheme. In light of those facts, there can be little doubt that the first that Bathsheba had heard of this promise was from Nathan. The first that King David heard of it was from Bathsheba and Solomon knew nothing of it until they anointed him to be the king.

After Solomon became the king, David mentions Solomon as G-d’s heir apparent, but from all other signs, one can conclude that he must have assumed that was the way things should be because he was senile during his final decline (1 Chronicles 22:9). Why is there no record of G-d actually mentioning Solomon in the promise? The reason is because Nathan created the whole scheme to maintain his position and Solomon was not G-d’s choice of leaders. For purely selfish reasons Nathan manipulated Bathsheba and duped an aged an ill king that wished to do the right thing and be a man of integrity. The Bible does not specifically say that David had memory problems, but in view of all of his health problems that are mentioned and what is known about aging, it is likely. There is a general consensus among Bible Scholars that he was senile. Certainly Abishag was not the kind of opportunity that David would or could pass up if he were even moderately functional. It is also highly notable that all of these people had to visit David in his bedchamber to conduct the affairs of the court and this confirms that he was very ill.

What is clear in the story is that Adonijah is seemingly setting himself up to be the king. However, upon careful consideration, one comes to the realization that Adonijah was not setting himself up to be the king, but that this was the successor that G-d promised David. Adonijah was the manifestation of G-d’s hand at work and his name was not a mistake; he was actually G-d’s choice of leaders. G-d was raising up one of David’s own sons to succeed him. It did not require human intervention or action. This is why Aaron’s staff that budded was not in the ark when they brought it into Solomon’s Temple. The staff that budded represents G-d’s choice of leaders and Solomon was not G-d’s choice. There could be no clearer sign. Suddenly, we realize that Solomon became the king only through the auspices of a big lie. Eventually, it will become clear that this was a qualification for Solomon’s ultimate position.

Isaiah 57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and godly men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. ² He entereth into peace, they rest in their beds, each one that walketh in his uprightness. ³ But draw near hither, ye sons of the sorceress, the seed of the adulterer and the harlot. ⁴ Against whom do ye sport yourselves? Against whom make ye a wide mouth, and draw out the tongue? Are ye not children of transgression, a seed of falsehood, ⁵ Ye that inflame yourselves among the terebinths, under every leafy tree; that slay the children in the valleys, under the clefts of the rocks? ⁶ Among the smooth stones of the valley is thy portion; they, they are thy lot; even to them hast thou poured a drink-offering, thou hast offered a meal-offering. Should I pacify Myself for these things? ⁷ Upon a high and lofty mountain hast thou set thy bed; thither also wentest thou up to offer sacrifice. ⁸ And behind the doors and the posts hast thou set up thy symbol; for thou hast uncovered, and art gone up from Me, thou hast enlarged thy bed, and chosen thee of them whose bed thou lovedst, whose hand thou sawest. ⁹ And thou wentest to the king with ointment, and didst increase thy perfumes, and didst send thine ambassadors far off, even down to the nether-world. ¹⁰ Thou wast wearied with the length of thy way; yet saidst thou not: 'There is no hope'; thou didst find a renewal of thy strength, therefore thou wast not affected. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

While it may appear to be merely coincidence that this passage of scripture mentions a number of characteristics for which Solomon is noted, it is conceivable that Isaiah’s mouth was not filled with obtuse drivel and that he was talking about specific people and events. Recall that Solomon was a son of adultery, at twelve may have been prone to sticking out the tongue, is noted for hedonism, possibly beneath trees, offered many offerings, built his home on a mountain, sacrificed in the high places, went in before King David to be anointed king by Zadok the priest, received large quantities of fragrant spices from the Queen of Sheba and maintained a fleet of ships traveling far and wide - etceteras. In fact, Solomon did actually send ambassadors to the netherworld. Obviously, the entire passage of Isaiah 57 is a direct reference to Solomon and the events of his reign. One will notice in Isaiah 57:5 that there is mention of slaying children and it is known that Solomon built temples to Moloch and Chemosh and sacrificed there. Sacrifice of children was an integral part of worship to these gods.

It is critical to remember that it was of utmost importance that Israel should only appoint the king of G-d’s choosing and that G-d Himself held the position of king until the people asked for a human king. In fact, Moses gave a warning about being sure to select the right king.

Deuteronomy 17:14 When thou comest unto the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are about me; ¹⁵ thou shalt only set him king over thee whom the Lord thy God will choose: from among thy brethren shalt thou set a king over thee; thou mayest not set a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother. (Darby) (Emphasis added)

Song of Solomon 3:11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and gaze upon king Solomon, even upon the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

There is actually a great deal of supporting information proving that Solomon was not G-d’s choice of kings. If one takes a critical look at the events involving Solomon, it becomes obvious that there is not one single thing recorded about this man that should be recorded about anybody.

Ecclesiastes 8:14 There is a vanity which is done upon the earth: that there are righteous men, unto whom it happeneth according to the work of the wicked; again, there are wicked men, to whom it happeneth according to the work of the righteous--I said that this also is vanity. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Song of Solomon 3:11 Go forth, O ye daughters of Zion, and gaze upon king Solomon, even upon the crown wherewith his mother hath crowned him in the day of his espousals, and in the day of the gladness of his heart. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

A Wife for Adonijah

Although Adonijah was unsuccessful in claiming the throne, Solomon was gracious enough not to have him executed right away - at least not until after David died. It is interesting to note that, as a condition for Solomon’s initial mercy, Adonijah had to be found to be a worthy man by Solomon and he was. Shortly thereafter, the record of Adonijah’s request of Abishag’s hand in marriage appears (1 Kings 2:13-25).

Abishag was the beautiful maiden that attended David while he was in his decline. The account states that David never had intimate relations with her so she was still eligible to be the bride of one of his sons. In making this request, Adonijah did not go directly to Solomon, but rather, he asked Bathsheba to approach King Solomon for him. Bathsheba agreed and therefore petitioned Solomon, her twelve-year-old son that is now the king.

1 Kings 2:13 Then Adonijah the son of Haggith came to Bath-sheba the mother of Solomon. And she said: 'Comest thou peaceably?' And he said: 'Peaceably.' ¹⁴ He said moreover: 'I have somewhat to say unto thee.' And she said: 'Say on.' ¹⁵ And he said: 'Thou knowest that the kingdom was mine, and that all Israel set their faces on me, that I should reign; howbeit the kingdom is turned about, and is become my brother's; for it was his from the Lord. ¹⁶ And now I ask one petition of thee, deny me not.' And she said unto him: 'Say on.' ¹⁷ And he said: 'Speak, I pray thee, unto Solomon the king--for he will not say thee nay--that he give me Abishag the Shunammite to wife.' ¹⁸ And Bath-sheba said: 'Well; I will speak for thee unto the king.' ¹⁹ Bath-sheba therefore went unto king Solomon, to speak unto him for Adonijah. And the king rose up to meet her, and bowed down unto her, and sat down on his throne, and caused a throne to be set for the king's mother; and she sat on his right hand. ²⁰ Then she said: 'I ask one small petition of thee; deny me not.' And the king said unto her: 'Ask on, my mother; for I will not deny thee.' ²¹ And she said: 'Let Abishag the Shunammite be given to Adonijah thy brother to wife.' ²² And king Solomon answered and said unto his mother: 'And why dost thou ask Abishag the Shunammite for Adonijah? ask for him the kingdom also; for he is mine elder brother; even for him, and for Abiathar the priest, and for Joab the son of Zeruiah.' ²³ Then king Solomon swore by the Lord, saying: 'God do so to me, and more also, if Adonijah have not spoken this word against his own life. ²⁴ Now therefore as the Lord liveth, who hath established me, and set me on the throne of David my father, and who hath made me a house, as He promised, surely Adonijah shall be put to death this day.' ²⁵ And king Solomon sent by the hand of Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he fell upon him, so that he died. (JPS)

Let’s take a critical look at this event. Some thought has been given to this previously that supports Solomon’s actions, but are Solomon’s actions really defendable? Considering this analytically, his mother came to him with a request and he swore that he would grant whatever she wished, but what did he actually do? He refused her request and had Adonijah killed. Now, that would not be the mark of integrity, would it?

Isaiah 57:1 The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart, and godly men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. ² He entereth into peace, they rest in their beds, each one that walketh in his uprightness. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Isaiah 66:5 Hear the word of the Lord, ye that tremble at His word: your brethren that hate you, that cast you out for My name's sake, have said: 'Let the Lord be glorified, that we may gaze upon your joy', but they shall be ashamed. (JPS)

Solomon was not concerned with honoring his mother’s request nor was King Solomon’s word reliable. It is interesting to compare this incident to similar events that are mentioned in the Bible. Take, for example, the story of Daniel and the lions’ den.

To briefly refresh the story of Daniel and the lions’ den, Daniel was an exile that had risen to a high position in the court of King Darius (Daniel 8:1 et seq.). Some other officials that shared similar positions to Daniel became envious of him and devised a scheme to eliminate him. Therefore, they conspired to persuade Darius to issue a decree that anyone worshiping any god or praying to any being except King Darius for thirty days would be thrown into a den full of lions. This was because they knew that Daniel could not worship or pray to any god or person apart from YHWH.

These officials set a trap for Daniel and also King Darius based upon a principle of the laws of the Medes and Persians that held that a decree from the king could not be rescinded and its terms had to be carried out. Apparently a decree could not be abrogated even by a subsequent order from the king. When these officials advised King Darius that Daniel was guilty of violating this decree, the king became greatly distressed because he held Daniel in high esteem and he realized that he had been duped. King Darius worked feverishly all day to avoid carrying out this plan, but to no avail, the course was set.

Darius undoubtedly realized that he had been had, so he was not apt to have had warm fuzzy feelings for the conspirators. However, in that time a king’s word was expected to mean something and all of those concepts of ancient people that seem strange today, like honor and integrity for examples, were thought to be virtues, something highly prized in other times. This is obviously difficult to understand today when it has actually become expected that if a public person makes an utterance it is probably not true, but throughout most of history, people were expected to honor their word, even political leaders. Therefore, Darius had Daniel placed into the lions’ den overnight just as his royal decree required, even though he did not want to and now realized he had been duped. After Daniel was miraculously released from the loins’ den unharmed, Darius had the scheming officials placed into the lion’s den along with their whole families as punishment for their conspiracy. G-d did not intervene of behalf of these parties and, needless to say, Darius never had anymore problems with any of them. It is conceivable that King Darius had few problems with scheming officials thereafter.

Of course, one could observe that, while Solomon could have honored his mother’s request, nothing would have prevented him from executing Adonijah at another time. It is also relevant to consider that it was certainly within the king’s power to restrict Adonijah’s movements and many other things if conspiracy was truly a concern. There are instances of those types of actions in scripture from around this time and Solomon used those techniques himself in several instances.

Solomon Consolidates Power

After Solomon became the king, there were some loose ends from David’s time that had to be dealt with. David left to Solomon the task of dealing with several subjects, Joab and Shimei.

Joab

The way Solomon dealt with Joab is of great interest because he had him executed at the altar right in front of the ark in the Most Holy Place. It is important to note that this incident occurred at the tent-tabernacle that David pitched in Jerusalem, so this happened in front of the real Ark.

1 Kings 2:27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto HaShem; that the word of HaShem might be fulfilled, which He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. ²⁸ And the tidings came to Joab; for Joab had turned after Adonijah, though he turned not after Absalom. And Joab fled unto the Tent of HaShem, and caught hold on the horns of the altar. ²⁹ And it was told king Solomon: 'Joab is fled unto the Tent of HaShem, and, behold, he is by the altar.' Then Solomon sent Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, saying: 'Go, fall upon him.' ³⁰ And Benaiah came to the Tent of HaShem, and said unto him: 'Thus saith the king: Come forth.' And he said: 'Nay; but I will die here.' And Benaiah brought back word unto the king, saying: 'Thus said Joab, and thus he answered me.' ³¹ And the king said unto him: 'Do as he hath said, and fall upon him, and bury him; that thou mayest take away the blood, which Joab shed without cause, from me and from my father's house. (JPS)

There seems to have been some confusion about whether there are any problems with the idea of killing somebody in the real sanctuary right before the Ark where the L-rd actually dwelt. For a precedent, there is an example that the temple was not the place to kill someone later in the time of the kings.

The story of Athaliah and Joash appears in 2 Chronicles 22:10 – 23:15. Athaliah had taken control of Judah after the death of her son King Ahaziah. When Joash, the only heir to the throne that was not killed by Athaliah became old enough to take control of the kingdom that was rightfully his, Jehoiada the priest helped restore the kingdom to him. During the uproar of establishing Joash as king, Athaliah took refuge in the temple to escape certain execution. Nevertheless, Jehoiada did not have her struck down in the temple, but had her extracted from the temple before she was put to death.

2 Chronicles 23:12 And when Athaliah heard the noise of the people running and praising the king, she came to the people into the house of HaShem; ¹³ and she looked, and, behold, the king stood on his platform at the entrance, and the captains and the trumpets by the king; and all the people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets; the singers also played on instruments of music, and led the singing of praise. Then Athaliah rent her clothes, and said: 'Treason, treason.' ¹⁴ And Jehoiada the priest brought out the captains of hundreds that were set over the host, and said unto them: 'Have her forth between the ranks; and whoso followeth her, let him be slain with the sword'; for the priest said: 'Slay her not in the house of HaShem.' ¹⁵ So they made way for her; and she went to the entry of the horse gate to the king's house; and they slew her there. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

According to the Torah, a dead body in the sanctuary desecrates it. Furthermore, priests were never to go near the dead - not even the dead of their own families with certain exceptions. The reason for this is that it made them ceremonially unclean and everything they touched would become unclean. According to the Mishnah, corpse uncleanness is one of the fathers of uncleanness (Kelim 1:1 – 1:5).

Ezekiel 9:4 And the Lord said unto him: 'Go through the midst of the city, through the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abominations that are done in the midst thereof.' ⁵ And to the others He said in my hearing: 'Go ye through the city after him, and smite; let not your eye spare, neither have ye pity; ⁶ slay utterly the old man, the young man and the maiden, and little children and women; but come not near any man upon whom is the mark; and begin at My sanctuary.' Then they began at the elders that were before the house. ⁷ And He said unto them: 'Defile the house, and fill the courts with the slain; go ye forth.' And they went forth, and smote in the city. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Kelim 1:1:A. The Fathers of Uncleanness are: (1) The creeping thing (2) Semen (3) Corpse Uncleanness (4) A Leper during days of counting (5) Sin offering water of Insufficient quantity to be sprinkled.
B. These render man and vessels unclean by contact, and earthenware vessels become unclean by sharing the same airspace. (The Mishnah)

Shimei

The other people that David left to Solomon to deal with are also notable because it is clear that Solomon did not exactly do what David asked. In 1 Kings 2:9 David specifically told Solomon to bring Shimei’s head down to the grave in blood, but Solomon allows him to live another three years. The account of how Solomon dealt with Shimei is found in 1 Kings 2:36-46. The following quote relates King David’s instructions.

1 Kings 2:8 And, behold, there is with thee Shimei the son of Gera, the Benjamite, of Bahurim, who cursed me with a grievous curse in the day when I went to Mahanaim; but he came down to meet me at the Jordan, and I swore to him by the Lord, saying: I will not put thee to death with the sword. ⁹ Now therefore hold him not guiltless, for thou art a wise man; and thou wilt know what thou oughtest to do unto him, and thou shalt bring his hoar head down to the grave with blood.' (JPS)

King David mentioned on his death-bed that he wanted Solomon to execute Shimei, the man that cursed David. This has been interpreted various ways over the years with cursing taken to mean calling David bad names as in cussing out, or simply an insult. However, since King David was a man of war and became king through much bloodshed and strife, it is very safe to say that he had been cussed and insulted by many people. In fact, there are many instances of that recorded in scripture. The instance of Saul’s daughter can be cited as an example.

2 Samuel 6:16 And it was so, as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looked out at the window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. (JPS)

2 Samuel 6:20 Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said: 'How did the king of Israel get him honour to-day, who uncovered himself to-day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself!' ²¹ And David said unto Michal: 'Before the Lord, who chose me above thy father, and above all his house, to appoint me prince over the people of the Lord, over Israel, before the Lord will I make merry. ²² And I will be yet more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight; and with the handmaids whom thou hast spoken of, with them will I get me honour.' ²³ And Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death. (JPS)

Ponder the fact that David took no real action against Michal although it was in his power to do quite a lot. Recall also that he facilitated Absalom’s return to Jerusalem after killing Amnon, yet the king did not see him for two years - most likely because he was afraid of being overcome by his anger. There are other examples. Nevertheless, King David remembers this incident with Shimei years later when he is senile on his deathbed with pressing affairs of state.

Recall that in 1 Kings 2:8, King David mentions that Shimei “cursed me with a grievous curse.” Despite various ways of interpreting this, it must actually mean that Shimei was a witch and this curse had little to do with cussing. If one wants confirmation of that, observe in 2 Samuel 16:7 that Shimei was saying something else while he cursed. The words he spoke would not ordinarily be considered cursing in the foul language sense. In all probability, this means that Shimei was practicing witchcraft while he hurled insults at David. Therefore, David dubs it a “grievous curse.”

2 Samuel 16:5 And when king David came to Bahurim, behold, there came out thence a man of the family of the house of Saul, whose name was Shimei, the son of Gera; he came out, and kept on cursing as he came. ⁶ And he cast stones at David, and at all the servants of king David; and all the people and all the mighty men were on his right hand and on his left. ⁷ And thus said Shimei when he cursed: 'Begone, begone, thou man of blood, and base fellow; ⁸ the Lord hath returned upon thee all the blood of the house of Saul, in whose stead thou hast reigned; and the Lord hath delivered the kingdom into the hand of Absalom thy son; and, behold, thou art taken in thine own mischief, because thou art a man of blood.' (JPS) (Emphasis added)
(Begins at 2 Samuel 16:20 in many translations)

Ordinarily, one would not really describe a cussing as a grievous curse, nor is it likely that such a thing would be remembered long. Probably everyone reading this has been cussed at some time or another, and it is highly probable that having been cussed will not be remembered on your deathbed. However, if this was an act of witchcraft that could have caused David enormous problems - that is to say a demonic act - it is possible that it caused many problems for David and was, therefore, a “grievous curse.”

For one reason or another, and perhaps he was tricked, David did not put Shimei to death. Certainly, the subject came up because David’s troops wanted to kill him right then. However, David assured Shimei that he would not execute him. However, when he turns the kingdom over to Solomon, that is what he requests. Obviously, David’s promise only extended to himself. One should note that witchcraft was not permitted in Israel. There is very little information about the particulars of sorcery in the Bible, nevertheless there is plenty of scriptural evidence that these things exist.

Exodus 22:17 Thou shalt not suffer a sorceress to live. (JPS)
(Exodus 22:18 in some translations)

Deuteronomy 18:9 When thou art come into the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not learn to do after the abominations of those nations. ¹⁰ There shall not be found among you any one that maketh his son or his daughter to pass through the fire, one that useth divination, a soothsayer, or an enchanter, or a sorcerer, ¹¹ or a charmer, or one that consulteth a ghost or a familiar spirit, or a necromancer. ¹² For whosoever doeth these things is an abomination unto the Lord; and because of these abominations the Lord thy God is driving them out from before thee. ¹³ Thou shalt be whole-hearted with the Lord thy God. ¹⁴ For these nations, that thou art to dispossess, hearken unto soothsayers, and unto diviners; but as for thee, the Lord thy God hath not suffered thee so to do. (JPS)
(Emphasis added)

Abiathar the Priest

In 1 Kings 2:26-27, one will find the story of Solomon removing Abiathar from the priesthood. This was not something that David requested and it should be a glaring question what authority a king would have had to remove a priest. Under the Torah, the Levites were separate in Israel.

1 Kings 2:27 So Solomon thrust out Abiathar from being priest unto HaShem; that the word of HaShem might be fulfilled, which He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh. (JPS)

The Levites
Deuteronomy 18:18:1 The priests the Levites, even all the tribe of Levi, shall have no portion nor inheritance with Israel; they shall eat the offerings of the Lord made by fire, and His inheritance. ² And they shall have no inheritance among their brethren; the Lord is their inheritance, as He hath spoken unto them. ³ And this shall be the priests' due from the people, from them that offer a sacrifice, whether it be ox or sheep, that they shall give unto the priest the shoulder, and the two cheeks, and the maw. ⁴ The first-fruits of thy corn, of thy wine, and of thine oil, and the first of the fleece of thy sheep, shalt thou give him. ⁵ For the Lord thy God hath chosen him out of all thy tribes, to stand to minister in the name of the Lord, him and his sons for ever. ⁶ And if a Levite come from any of thy gates out of all Israel, where he sojourneth, and come with all the desire of his soul unto the place which the Lord shall choose; ⁷ then he shall minister in the name of the Lord his God, as all his brethren the Levites do, who stand there before the Lord. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Deuteronomy 12:19 Take heed to thyself that thou forsake not the Levite as long as thou livest upon thy land. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Apart from the fact that King David never requested that Solomon remove Abiathar and that Solomon did not have the authority to remove a priest, one will notice that this occurred, "that the word of HaShem might be fulfilled, which He spoke concerning the house of Eli in Shiloh”

The prophecy at Shiloh

The prophecy at Shiloh was the word of the L-rd spoken about the judgment that would fall against the house of Eli because of the corruption of his sons. It was largely fulfilled at that time. Lagging elements of this prophecy included that the descendants of Eli would never live to see old age and would die in the prime of life - except for one point.

The prophecy at Shiloh
1 Samuel 2:30 Therefore the Lord, the God of Israel, saith: I said indeed that thy house, and the house of thy father, should walk before Me for ever; but now the Lord saith: Be it far from Me: for them that honour Me I will honour, and they that despise Me shall be lightly esteemed. ³¹ Behold, the days come, that I will cut off thine arm, and the arm of thy father's house, that there shall not be an old man in thy house. ³² And thou shalt behold a rival in My habitation, in all the good which shall be done to Israel; and there shall not be an old man in thy house for ever. ³³ Yet will I not cut off every man of thine from Mine altar, to make thine eyes to fail, and thy heart to languish; and all the increase of thy house shall die young men. ³⁴ And this shall be the sign unto thee, that which shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

The prophecy at Shiloh was largely fulfilled very shortly after it was given and Eli lived to see most of it come to pass. Eli died the same day as his sons after hearing of the calamity that had befallen them and the ark. The descendents of Eli were subject to shortened life expectancy through various unspecified tragedies - except for those that were cut off from the altar. This term is rendered more clearly in some other translations. Nevertheless, the key conditional point is that only one performance clause of this prophecy applies to priests that are cut off from the altar.

If one examines the performance aspects of the prophecy at Shiloh, it becomes apparent that since Abiathar was cut off from the altar, the remainder of the terms of the prophecy at Shiloh did not apply to him, except for one point. It appears that Abiathar was exempt from shortened mortality and the like by virtue of being expelled as a priest. Therefore, the only remaining point of the prophecy at Shiloh that could possibly be fulfilled in 1 Kings was: “1 Samuel 2:32 And thou shalt behold a rival in My habitation...” (JPS)

This is the unfulfilled prophecy from Shiloh that is fulfilled in 1 Kings 2:27. ” Ergo, this is not a reference to the priesthood or descendants of Eli per se, but rather, to someone described as a “rival in My dwelling” - meaning a rival to the L-rd Himself. Since this prophecy is fulfilled in 1 Kings 2:27, it is apparent that this rival is Solomon.

Consider that for a few moments.

The Second Anointing

Throne of the L-rd

One need not look far into Solomon’s kingdom to find some astonishing information. In fact, looking immediately past his ascension, there is an account of his second anointing in both Kings and Chronicles. Solomon was anointed twice and one narrative of the second ceremony appears in 1 Chronicles 29:21-24.

1 Chronicles 29:21 And they sacrificed sacrifices unto the Lord, and offered burnt-offerings unto the Lord, on the morrow after that day, even a thousand bullocks, a thousand rams, and a thousand lambs, with their drink-offerings, and sacrifices in abundance for all Israel; ²² and did eat and drink before the Lord on that day with great gladness. And they made Solomon the son of David king the second time, and anointed him unto the Lord to be prince, and Zadok to be priest. ²³ Then Solomon sat on the throne of the Lord as king instead of David his father, and prospered; and all Israel hearkened to him. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

In this instance, we see that Solomon was anointed king a second time before the L-rd and that Zadok was also anointed to be priest. This was a second anointing for Zadok as well. Reconstructing this scene from the details presented, it becomes clear that for this ceremony, the group went to the tent tabernacle that David had pitched to house the Ark of the Covenant. As we discovered earlier, going before the L-rd generally meant going before the ark. Now, notice in verse 23 that Solomon “sat on the throne of the Lord.” Obviously, this must mean that Solomon sat down on the ark - between the two cherubim.

This is only thing that this could mean because this is the only place where the phrase that someone “sat on the throne of the Lord” exists in the Bible regarding a person. There are only two other instances of the phrase “throne of the Lord” being used in the entire Bible with the exception of its usage in one particular paraphrase translation. The other instances of this phrase occur in Exodus 17:16 and Jeremiah 3:17. Jeremiah 3:17 also refers to Jerusalem, something that will need to be examined in greater depth later. Nevertheless, even in these cases, this phrase definitely refers to the Ark.

The phrase, “throne of the Lord,” does occur in different passages in the Contemporary English Version of the Bible. Specifically it appears in 2 Samuel 6:2 and Psalms 132:7. This was determined by using searchable text of the following translations: NIV, NASB, MSG, AMP, NLT, KJV, ESV, CEV, NKJV, KJ21, ASV, WE, YLT, DARBY, WYC and NIV-UK.

In Psalm 132:7 in the Contemporary English Version (CEV), the phrase “throne of the Lord” refers to the Ark of the Covenant and in other translations it definitely refers to the ark, but the phrase is usually rendered “footstool” or “dwelling place” of the L-rd.

In 2 Samuel 6:2 in the CEV, there is a description of the ark. Recall that God was enthroned between the two cherubim above the mercy-seat on the Ark of the Covenant. Therefore, 1 Chronicles 29:23 has to mean that Solomon sat down on the Ark of the Covenant and the full implications of this will be examined later; it is very important. While one would think that someone sitting on the ark would be immediately smitten, it is important to remember that touching the ark is not necessarily a death sentence because the Lord can have mercy upon whomever He chooses. Furthermore, G-d can choose special calamities as well.

In contemporary Western society, it might be a bit unclear as to why this would pose any problem. While it would have been unthinkable to sit upon a monarch’s throne in times before about the mid-nineteenth century, many people would probably think of it as no big deal today. Nevertheless, it was a big deal and a clear indication that there were aspirations of eminence far beyond being the world’s greatest king.

There are actually ancient historical Jewish records of Solomon sitting on the ark in the Holy of Holies after the temple was completed. Obviously, these instances probably involved the counterfeit ark.

The Throne of David

The L-rd Himself makes several mentions of the throne of Israel. One example is included here. This passage does not refer to Solomon, but is included as an example of the nomenclature used to denote the throne of Israel in other text. Notice that the L-rd refers to the king’s seat as “the throne of David.”

Jeremiah 29:16 For thus saith the Lord concerning the king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and concerning all the people that dwell in this city, your brethren that are not gone forth with you into captivity; ¹⁷ thus saith the Lord of hosts: Behold, I will send upon them the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so bad. (JPS)
(Emphasis added)

Solomon Goes to Gibeon

One of King Solomon’s notable early activities was that he went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices and burn incense before the L-rd because that was the most important high place (1 Kings 3:4). The reason that it was the most important high place was because the Tent of Meeting and altar built by Bezalel at Horeb were there. The high places were still in use because there was no temple at that time (1 Chronicles 21:29 & 2 Chronicles 5-6).

1 Kings 3:3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father; only he sacrificed and offered in the high places. ⁴ And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place; a thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

The L-rd Appears to Solomon

Gibeon is where the L-rd appeared to Solomon the first time and granted him wisdom exceeding that of any man before or since, and also gave him great riches and honor (1 Kings 3:10-15 & 2 Chronicles 1:1-12).

1 Kings 3:5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said: 'Ask what I shall give thee.' ⁶ And Solomon said: 'Thou hast shown unto Thy servant David my father great kindness, according as he walked before Thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with Thee; and Thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that Thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ⁷ And now, O the Lord my God, Thou hast made Thy servant king instead of David my father; and I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in. ⁸ And Thy servant is in the midst of Thy people which Thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. ⁹ Give Thy servant therefore an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this Thy great people?' ¹⁰ And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. ¹¹ And God said unto him: 'Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern justice; ¹² behold, I have done according to thy word: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there hath been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. ¹³ And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour--so that there hath not been any among the kings like unto thee--all thy days. ¹⁴ And if thou wilt walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.' ¹⁵ And Solomon awoke, and, behold, it was a dream; and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt-offerings, and offered peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. (JPS)

It is interesting that Solomon went to Gibeon to sacrifice because the altar at Gibeon was the same altar that David would not go before because he was afraid of being struck down by the angel of the L-rd that guarded that altar.

1 Chronicles 21:28 At that time, when David saw that the Lord had answered him in the threshing-floor of Ornan the Jebusite, then he sacrificed there. ²⁹ For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of burnt-offering, were at that time in the high place at Gibeon. ³⁰ But David could not go before it to inquire of God; for he was terrified because of the sword of the angel of the Lord. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

This fact has generally been overlooked, but it is conceivable that it was not a good idea for Solomon to go to that altar. It might appear that Solomon obtained a great blessing, but evidently he actually received a great curse.

Between Good and Evil

One particularly interesting aspect of Solomon’s request when the L-rd appeared to him at Gibeon is that he requested that the L-rd grant him wisdom to be able to “discern between good and evil.”

1 Kings 3: 9 Give Thy servant therefore an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this Thy great people?' (JPS) (Emphasis added)

While the significance of this has apparently been illusory, this exact phrase appears elsewhere in scripture as one of the more significant phrases in the entire Bible. It can be located all of the way back in Genesis and this is likely why 1 Kings 3:10 notes, “And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.” Generally, the meaning of the word “pleased” is well understood, but it might be well to point out that one possible meaning of the word could be “amused.”

Genesis 2:15 And the Lord God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying: 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.' (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman: 'Yea, hath God said: Ye shall not eat of any tree of the garden?' ² And the woman said unto the serpent: 'Of the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; ³ but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said: Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.':⁴ And the serpent said unto the woman: 'Ye shall not surely die; ⁵ for God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as God, knowing good and evil.' (JPS) (Emphasis added)

It is apparently possible to miss the diabolical aspects of seeking knowledge of good and evil, despite the overt position of that pursuit as the prime mover of ill in the entire history of mankind. The significance is embodied in the very end of the passage of Genesis 3:5: “and ye shall be as G-d, knowing good and evil.” The point of seeking knowledge of good and evil in these cases was to be as G-d.

To Judge

As if that set of considerations were not enough, there is one more extremely special aspect of this request.

1 Kings 3: 9 Give Thy servant therefore an understanding heart to judge Thy people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this Thy great people?' (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Under the Torah, it was exclusively the role of the Levites to act as judges, or in important cases, for G-d Himself. In the case of Solomon, seeking knowledge of good and evil and the act of judging the people was actually usurping the authority and position of the Most High.

Deuteronomy 1:16 And I charged your judges at that time, saying: 'Hear the causes between your brethren, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the stranger that is with him. ¹⁷ Ye shall not respect persons in judgment; ye shall hear the small and the great alike; ye shall not be afraid of the face of any man; for the judgment is God's; and the cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it.' (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Deuteronomy 17:8 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, even matters of controversy within thy gates; then shalt thou arise, and get thee up unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose. ⁹ And thou shall come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days; and thou shalt inquire; and they shall declare unto thee the sentence of judgment. ¹⁰ And thou shalt do according to the tenor of the sentence, which they shall declare unto thee from that place which the Lord shall choose; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee. ¹¹ According to the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare unto thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. ¹² And the man that doeth presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and thou shalt exterminate the evil from Israel. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

“Who is able to judge this Thy great people?”

Ecclesiastes 5:7 If thou seest the oppression of the poor, and the violent perverting of justice and righteousness in the state, marvel not at the matter; for one higher than the high watcheth, and there are higher than they. (JPS)

Ecclesiastes 3:16 And moreover I saw under the sun, in the place of justice, that wickedness was there; and in the place of righteousness, that wickedness was there. (JPS)

Solomon's Priestly Activities

After Solomon became the king, scripture records many of his activities that heretofore had been solely performed by the priests, that is to say the Levites. The cases where Solomon acted as a priest are extremely important and need to be examined in detail. There are actually so many of these that we will only examine some of the most conspicuous and major incidents. Others may wish to independently examine some more of Solomon’s many priestly activities that are not examined here.

The Levites

It is extremely important to realize that the duties in the temple were exclusively reserved for the priests, the Levites. Not only were these functions appropriated exclusively to the Levites, but also, the Levites had to perform these duties in strict accordance with the proper procedures. Certain families were charged with specific priestly functions and there were to be no modifications to that organizational structure. There were generally NO other parties except the priests in any event that were authorized to perform the priestly function. This had been the case since the L-rd appeared at Horeb and there are very few examples where transgressing this directive did not result in dramatic calamity.

Numbers 8:13 And thou shalt set the Levites before Aaron, and before his sons, and offer them for a wave-offering unto the Lord. ¹⁴ Thus shalt thou separate the Levites from among the children of Israel; and the Levites shall be Mine. ¹⁵ And after that shall the Levites go in to do the service of the tent of meeting; and thou shalt cleanse them, and offer them for a wave-offering. ¹⁶ For they are wholly given unto Me from among the children of Israel; instead of all that openeth the womb, even the first-born of all the children of Israel, have I taken them unto Me. ¹⁷ For all the first-born among the children of Israel are Mine, both man and beast; on the day that I smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt I sanctified them for Myself. ¹⁸ And I have taken the Levites instead of all the first-born among the children of Israel. ¹⁹ And I have given the Levites--they are given to Aaron and to his sons from among the children of Israel, to do the service of the children of Israel in the tent of meeting, and to make atonement for the children of Israel, that there be no plague among the children of Israel, through the children of Israel coming nigh unto the sanctuary.' (JPS)

Numbers 3:5 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: ⁶ 'Bring the tribe of Levi near, and set them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto him. ⁷ And they shall keep his charge, and the charge of the whole congregation before the tent of meeting, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁸ And they shall keep all the furniture of the tent of meeting, and the charge of the children of Israel, to do the service of the tabernacle. ⁹ And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons; they are wholly given unto him from the children of Israel. ¹⁰ And thou shalt appoint Aaron and his sons, that they may keep their priesthood; and the common man that draweth nigh shall be put to death.' (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Some examples of calamities that resulted from transgressing this principle include those of Nadab and Abihu, Korah and his band, Hophni and Phineas, Uzzah and King Saul, to name a few instances preceding Solomon’s time where priestly duties carried out by non-priests resulted in penalties.

Numbers 3:4 And Nadab and Abihu died before the Lord, when they offered strange fire before the Lord, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children; and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest's office in the presence of Aaron their father. (JPS)

Numbers 16:23 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: ²⁴ 'Speak unto the congregation, saying: Get you up from about the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram.' ²⁵ And Moses rose up and went unto Dathan and Abiram; and the elders of Israel followed him. ²⁶ And he spoke unto the congregation, saying: 'Depart, I pray you, from the tents of these wicked men, and touch nothing of theirs, lest ye be swept away in all their sins.' ²⁷ So they got them up from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, on every side; and Dathan and Abiram came out, and stood at the door of their tents, with their wives, and their sons, and their little ones. ²⁸ And Moses said: 'Hereby ye shall know that the Lord hath sent me to do all these works, and that I have not done them of mine own mind. ²⁹ If these men die the common death of all men, and be visited after the visitation of all men, then the Lord hath not sent Me. ³⁰ But if the Lord make a new thing, and the ground open her mouth, and swallow them up, with all that appertain unto them, and they go down alive into the pit, then ye shall understand that these men have despised the Lord.' ³¹ And it came to pass, as he made an end of speaking all these words, that the ground did cleave asunder that was under them. ³² And the earth opened her mouth and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that appertained unto Korah, and all their goods. ³³ So they, and all that appertained to them, went down alive into the pit; and the earth closed upon them, and they perished from among the assembly. ³⁴ And all Israel that were round about them fled at the cry of them; for they said: 'Lest the earth swallow us up.' ³⁵ And fire came forth from the Lord, and devoured the two hundred and fifty men that offered the incense. (JPS)

1 Samuel 2:34 And this shall be the sign unto thee, that which shall come upon thy two sons, on Hophni and Phinehas: in one day they shall die both of them. ³⁵ And I will raise Me up a faithful priest, that shall do according to that which is in My heart and in My mind; and I will build him a sure house; and he shall walk before Mine anointed for ever. (JPS)

1 Chronicles 13:9 And when they came unto the threshing-floor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. ¹⁰ And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzza, and He smote him, because he put forth his hand to the ark; and there he died before God. (JPS)

1 Chronicles 15:11 And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab, ¹² and said unto them: 'Ye are the heads of the fathers' houses of the Levites; sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel, unto the place that I have prepared for it. ¹³ For because ye bore it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought Him not according to the ordinance.' ¹⁴ So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord, the God of Israel. ¹⁵ And the children of the Levites bore the ark of God upon their shoulders with the bars thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord. (JPS)

Apart from the fact that most people that violated the strict prohibition against usurping the role of priests suffered calamitous consequences, the Levites collectively also suffered consequences distributively that are not fully appreciated, realized or even fully understood at this time. These consequences will not be fully known until the time of the judgment.

Numbers 18:1 And HaShem said unto Aaron: 'Thou and thy sons and thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. (JPS)

Many blatant examples where someone transgressed the principle of the separation of the Levites are attributable to Solomon. Nevertheless, in some ways it may appear that this was acceptable in Solomon’s case, but on close examination, it becomes evident that the most dramatic example of judgment that resulted from failure to pay heed to this principle was delayed for a considerable time.

Solomon’s Wise Ruling

Scripture notes that Solomon displayed exceptional wisdom in judging a dispute between two women over a child. As we saw earlier, the role of the judge in Israel was reserved exclusively for the priests.

“Who is able to judge this Thy great people?”

1 Kings 3:16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. ¹⁷ And the one woman said: 'Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. ¹⁸ And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also; and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. ¹⁹ And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlay it. ²⁰ And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. ²¹ And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; but when I had looked well at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I did bear.' ²² And the other woman said: 'Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son.' And this said: 'No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son.' Thus they spoke before the king. ²³ Then said the king: `The one saith: This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead; and the other saith: Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.' ²⁴ And the king said: 'Fetch me a sword.' And they brought a sword before the king. ²⁵ And the king said: 'Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.' ²⁶ Then spoke the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her heart yearned upon her son, and she said: 'Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it.' But the other said: 'It shall be neither mine nor thine; divide it.' ²⁷ Then the king answered and said: 'Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.' ²⁸ And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice. (JPS)

While Solomon’s wise ruling has been widely lauded, perhaps it would be good to look at the system of justice that G-d set up as recorded in the Bible. There are few mentions of previous kings or leaders deciding matters like this except for Moses while he sat in the Tent of Meeting. Moses obtained his decisions from the L-rd, but eventually Moses established another system. It is notable that David appointed 6000 Levites to be officials and judges shortly before his death, but there is no note that they were ever used in that capacity.

1 Chronicles 23:3 And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward; and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand. ⁴ Of these, twenty and four thousand were to oversee the work of the house of the Lord; and six thousand were officers and judges; (JPS)

It is extremely significant that the Urim and Thummim still existed at the beginning of Solomon’s reign. We know for certain that they existed during David’s time because there are accounts of him using them. There is no mention of them after the time of David, but it is highly probable that they were passed on to Solomon’s time. The Urim and Thummim were used to inquire directly of G-d and one of their main purposes was for dispensing justice. They originally belonged to Moses as he states just before his death (Deuteronomy 33:8). This makes it clear that the L-rd actually judged the people during the time of Moses. Solomon asked for wisdom so he could judge the people - something that was only to be done by the priests (Deuteronomy 16:19 Thou shalt not wrest judgment.). The word wrest has several meanings all of which are applicable to the way the word is used in Deuteronomy 16:19. One possible meaning is to gain something, in the order of gaining money through robbery. The priests derived their decisions from the L-rd so judgment was the L-rd’s job. The act of usurping the role of the judges was another act that required the death penalty.

Exodus 28:29 And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart, when he goeth in unto the holy place, for a memorial before the Lord continually. ³⁰ And thou shalt put in the breastplate of judgment the Urim and the Thummim; and they shall be upon Aaron's heart, when he goeth in before the Lord; and Aaron shall bear the judgment of the children of Israel upon his heart before the Lord continually. (JPS)

Deuteronomy 16:18 Judges and officers shalt thou make thee in all thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee, tribe by tribe; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgment. ¹⁹ Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons; neither shalt thou take a gift; for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous. ²⁰ Justice, justice shalt thou follow, that thou mayest live, and inherit the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. (JPS)

Deuteronomy 17:8 If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, even matters of controversy within thy gates; then shalt thou arise, and get thee up unto the place which the Lord thy God shall choose. ⁹ And thou shall come unto the priests the Levites, and unto the judge that shall be in those days; and thou shalt inquire; and they shall declare unto thee the sentence of judgment. ¹⁰ And thou shalt do according to the tenor of the sentence, which they shall declare unto thee from that place which the Lord shall choose; and thou shalt observe to do according to all that they shall teach thee. ¹¹ According to the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do; thou shalt not turn aside from the sentence which they shall declare unto thee, to the right hand, nor to the left. ¹² And the man that doeth presumptuously, in not hearkening unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the Lord thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die; and thou shalt exterminate the evil from Israel. ¹³ And all the people shall hear, and fear, and do no more presumptuously. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Job 5:12 He frustrateth the devices of the crafty, so that their hands can perform nothing substantial. ¹³ He taketh the wise in their own craftiness; and the counsel of the wily is carried headlong. ¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the day-time, and grope at noonday as in the night. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

Jeremiah 8:9 The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and taken; lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and what wisdom is in them? (JPS) (Emphasis added)

It was the duty of the priests to judge matters because they had the means of inquiring of the L-rd. Even if one had Solomon’s wisdom, why would that person forego the opportunity to inquire of the L-rd when meting out justice? After all, it is impossible for humans to know all of the factors in a dispute no matter how wise they are and render truly just decisions. As a case in point consider the hundreds of condemned people that have been released from death-sentences in the United States in recent years due to DNA evidence.

The following passages outline the duties of the Levites in Ezekiel’s temple.

Ezekiel 44:15 But the priests the Levites, the sons of Zadok, that kept the charge of My sanctuary when the children of Israel went astray from Me, they shall come near to Me to minister unto Me; and they shall stand before Me to offer unto Me the fat and the blood, saith the L-rd GOD; ¹⁶ they shall enter into My sanctuary, and they shall come near to My table, to minister unto Me, and they shall keep My charge. (JPS)

Ezekiel 44:24 And in a controversy they shall stand to judge; according to Mine ordinances shall they judge it; and they shall keep My laws and My statutes in all My appointed seasons, and they shall hallow My sabbaths. (JPS)

The kings of Judah apparently judged disputes for a while after the time of Solomon. However, later one will notice that the good king Jehoshaphat re-institutes the system of using the Levites as judges.

2 Chronicles 19:4 And Jehoshaphat dwelt at Jerusalem; and he went out again among the people from Beer-sheba to the hill-country of Ephraim, and brought them back unto the Lord, the God of their fathers. ⁵ And he set judges in the land throughout all the fortified cities of Judah, city by city, ⁶ and said to the judges: 'Consider what ye do; for ye judge not for man, but for the Lord; and He is with you in giving judgment. ⁷ Now therefore let the fear of the Lord be upon you; take heed and do it; for there is no iniquity with the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of bribes.' ⁸ Moreover in Jerusalem did Jehoshaphat set of the Levites and the priests, and of the heads of the fathers' houses of Israel, for the judgment of the Lord, and for controversies. And they returned to Jerusalem. ⁹ And he charged them, saying: 'Thus shall ye do in the fear of the Lord, faithfully, and with a whole heart. ¹⁰ And whensoever any controversy shall come to you from your brethren that dwell in their cities, between blood and blood, between law and commandment, statutes and ordinances, ye shall warn them, that they be not guilty towards the Lord, and so wrath come upon you and upon your brethren; thus shall ye do, and ye shall not be guilty. ¹¹ And, behold, Amariah the chief priest is over you in all matters of the Lord; and Zebadiah the son of Ishmael, the ruler of the house of Judah, in all the king's matters; also the officers of the Levites before you. Deal courageously, and the Lord be with the good.' (JPS)

Solomon Burns Incense

Solomon burnt incense before the L-rd at Gibeon and elsewhere. Burning incense was only to be done by the priests at certain times, in certain places, in prescribed ways and with specific incense that was not to be used anywhere else. Burning incense before the L-rd was an extremely egregious transgression in the eyes of the L-rd and everybody except Solomon that did so incorrectly was promptly smitten in some way. It seems that Solomon was either exempt from this regulation or his penalty was not implemented promptly.

1 Kings 3:3 And Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father; only, he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. (Darby) (Emphasis added)

Aaron’s Staff that Budded

Aaron’s staff that budded has many facets of significance beyond that which is readily apparent. It came into being and was preserved as a witness that the priestly duties were never to be preempted. Part of the events surrounding the creation of this item involved persons that were not of the seed of Aaron burning incense. It was preserved through the generations as a symbol of G-d’s choice of leaders.

The staff was not in the Ark when it was brought into Solomon’s Temple. Some have thought that it might have been removed during one of the times when the Ark was not in Israel, but as we discovered earlier, that is not possible. The staff had to have been removed by G-d because nobody could touch the Ark without being smitten. The reason that the staff was not in the Ark was Solomon. There could be no clearer sign that Solomon was not G-d’s choice of leaders and Adonijah was.

Because of the importance of this omen on numerous levels, it would be good to examine in detail how it came into being. It was initially made during a revolt against Moses by some of the Israelites while they were still in the wilderness. The whole story can be found in Numbers chapters 16-17 and the more relevant excerpts are included below.

Numbers 16:1 And Korah, the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, made bold, and [with him] Dathan and Abiram, the sons of Eliab, and On, the son of Peleth, the sons of Reuben; ² and they rose up against Moses, with two hundred and fifty men of the children of Israel, princes of the assembly, summoned to the council, men of renown; ³ and they gathered themselves together against Moses and against Aaron, and said to them, It is enough; for all the assembly, all of them are holy, and the Lord is among them; and why do ye lift up yourselves above the congregation of the Lord? ⁴ When Moses heard this, he fell on his face. ⁵ And he spoke to Korah and to all his band, saying, Even to-morrow will the Lord make known who is his, and who is holy; and he will cause him to come near to him; and him whom he has chosen, him will he cause to come near to him. ⁶ This do: take you censers, Korah, and all his band, ⁷ and put fire therein, and lay incense thereon before the Lord to-morrow; and it shall be that the man whom the Lord doth choose, he shall be holy. It is enough, ye sons of Levi! (Darby)

Numbers 16:28 And Moses said, Hereby ye shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these deeds, for they are not out of my own heart: ²⁹ if these men die as all men die, and are visited with the visitation of all men, the Lord has not sent me; ³⁰ but if the Lord make a new thing, and the ground open its mouth, and swallow them up, and all that they have, and they go down alive into Sheol, then ye shall know that these men have despised the Lord. ³¹ And it came to pass when he had ended speaking all these words, that the ground clave apart that was under them. ³² And the earth opened its mouth, and swallowed them up, and their households, and all the men that belonged to Korah, and all their property. ³³ And they went down, they and all that they had, alive into Sheol, and the earth covered them; and they perished from among the congregation. (Darby)

Numbers 16:35 And there came out a fire from the Lord, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that had presented incense. ³⁶ And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁷ Speak to Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning; and scatter the fire afar; for they are hallowed, ³⁸ the censers of these sinners who have forfeited their life; and they shall make them into broad plates for the covering of the altar; for they presented them before the Lord, therefore they are hallowed; and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. ³⁹ And Eleazar the priest took the copper censers, which they that were burnt had presented; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: ⁴⁰ as a memorial to the children of Israel, that no stranger who is not of the seed of Aaron come near to burn incense before the Lord, that he be not as Korah, and as his band, -- as the Lord had said to him through Moses. (Darby) (Emphasis added)

Nobody but a priest, a descendant of Aaron, was to burn incense before the L-rd in any event. The altar was covered with metal plates made from the flattened out censors of the smitten transgressors as a reminder that nobody that was not of the seed of Aaron could burn incense before the L-rd. As an additional symbol of this regulation, the staff was created as a result of these same events.

Numbers 17:16 And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: ¹⁷ 'Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of them rods, one for each fathers' house, of all their princes according to their fathers' houses, twelve rods; thou shalt write every man's name upon his rod. ¹⁸ And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi, for there shall be one rod for the head of their fathers' houses. ¹⁹ And thou shalt lay them up in the tent of meeting before the testimony, where I meet with you. ²⁰ And it shall come to pass, that the man whom I shall choose, his rod shall bud; and I will make to cease from Me the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against you.' ²¹ And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel; and all their princes gave him rods, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods; and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. ²² And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tent of the testimony. ²³ And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and put forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and bore ripe almonds. ²⁴ And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel; and they looked, and took every man his rod. ²⁵ And the Lord said unto Moses: 'Put back the rod of Aaron before the testimony, to be kept there, for a token against the rebellious children; that there may be made an end of their murmurings against Me, that they die not.' ²⁶ Thus did Moses; as the Lord commanded him, so did he. (JPS) (Emphasis added)
(This passage will begin at Numbers 17:1 in most translations)

Even if a priest was a descendant of Aaron, there were certain procedures that had to be followed and certain times for burning very particular incense that was not to be used for anything else. The key point is, Solomon was not a descendant of Aaron. In other passages, note that Solomon burnt incense in the temple after it was completed. To help determine this, note that the altar that was before the L-rd was the altar of incense.

1 Kings 9:25 And three times in a year did Solomon offer burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar which he built unto the Lord, offering thereby, upon the altar that was before the Lord. So he finished the house. (JPS) (Emphasis added)

2 Chronicles 8:12 Then Solomon offered burnt-offerings unto the Lord on the altar of the Lord, which he had built before the porch, ¹³ even as the duty of every day required, offering according to the commandment of Moses, on the sabbaths, and on the new moons, and on the appointed seasons, three times in the year, even in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles. (JPS)

Deuteronomy 16:16 Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall choose; on the feast of unleavened bread, and on the feast of weeks, and on the feast of tabernacles; and they shall not appear before the Lord empty; (JPS)

Through the course of time, various parties tested the incense precept, usually with unfortunate results. Aaron’s own sons were some of the first to violate the incense regulations.

The Death of Nadab and Abihu

Leviticus10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took each of them his censer, and put fire therein, and laid incense thereon, and offered strange fire before HaShem, which He had not commanded them. ² And there came forth fire from before HaShem, and devoured them, and they died before HaShem. ³ Then Moses said unto Aaron: 'This is it that HaShem spoke, saying: Through them that are nigh unto Me I will be sanctified, and before all the people I will be glorified.' And Aaron held his peace. (JPS)

1 Kings 9:25 And three times in the year did Solomon offer up burnt-offerings and peace-offerings upon the altar that he had built to the Lord, and he burned incense upon that which was before the Lord. So he finished the house. (Darby) (Emphasis added)

King Uzziah

Another king, King Uzziah, burned incense before the L-rd at a later time. In this case the priests approached the king and asked him to leave the temple because only the priests were allowed to burn incense before the L-rd. One could say that the priests kept their courses in this rare instance. Notice also that in light of this a king did not have the authority to remove a priest. It was a requirement that the priests confront someone acting presumptuously - even a king - and this is one of few cases where that was done of the many times that it should have been done. The reason is because the priests bore the responsibility for offenses against the sanctuary as well as the priesthood and they alone were sanctioned by G-d to perform the priestly function.

Numbers 18:1 And HaShem said unto Aaron: 'Thou and thy sons and thy fathers' house with thee shall bear the iniquity of the sanctuary; and thou and thy sons with thee shall bear the iniquity of your priesthood. (JPS)

When confronted, Uzziah became angry with the priests and the L-rd immediately struck him with leprosy right in the temple. The account of this incident is in the following passage from Chronicles.

2 Chronicles 26:16 But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up so that he did corruptly, and he trespassed against HaShem his G-d; for he went into the temple of HaShem to burn incense upon the altar of incense. ¹⁷ And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with him fourscore priests of HaShem, that were valiant men; ¹⁸ and they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him: 'It pertaineth not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto HaShem, but to the priests the sons of Aaron that are consecrated it pertaineth to burn incense; go out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thy honour from HaShem G-d.' ¹⁹ Then Uzziah was wroth; and he had a censer in his hand to burn incense; and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy broke forth in his forehead before the priests in the house of HaShem, beside the altar of incense. ²⁰ And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him, and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out quickly from thence; yea, himself made haste also to go out, because HaShem had smitten him. ²¹ And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a house set apart, being a leper; for he was cut off from the house of HaShem; and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land. ²² Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write. ²³ So Uzziah slept with his fathers; and they buried him with his fathers in the field of burial which belonged to the kings; for they said: 'He is a leper'; and Jotham his son reigned in his stead. (JPS)

While it might not be clear, this is exactly what should have been done with Solomon. In fact, there are many such acts of Solomon for which he should have been removed from the temple, or in most cases, killed; but as ill fate would have it the priests and Israelites failed to carry out their duties.

Solomon goes before the Ark

When Solomon left Gibeon, he returned to Jerusalem and went before the Ark of the Covenant and offered more sacrifices.

1 Kings 3:15 And Solomon awoke, and, behold, it was a dream; and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of HaShem, and offered up burnt-offerings, and offered peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. (JPS)

It is not noted that Solomon made any special preparations for this and therefore it is unlikely that he did. These activities were reserved for the priests also. Furthermore, anyone approaching the ark was supposed to first be consecrated and it was not normally a good idea to just go before the ark whenever one pleased anyhow. It is worthwhile to note that part of the conditions for entering into the sanctuary required that a person abstain from sexual relations for three days ahead of time. One would think that this requirement would be difficult to comply with for a man needing 1000 ladies.

Leviticus 16:1 And HaShem spoke unto Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they drew near before HaShem, and died; ² and HaShem said unto Moses: 'Speak unto Aaron thy brother, that he come not at all times into the holy place within the veil, before the ark-cover which is upon the ark; that he die not; for I appear in the cloud upon the ark-cover. ³ Herewith shall Aaron come into the holy place: w