Melech

Shlomo HaMelech

שלמה המלך

The son of Dovid HaMelech who asked Hashem for a listening heart, built the first Beis HaMikdash, and gave Israel Mishlei, Shir HaShirim and Koheles.

YahrzeitNot recorded

Lifetimec. 849 – c. 797 BCE (traditional chronology; c. 2912–c. 2964 from Creation; about 52 years: king at twelve per Seder Olam, reigned forty years per Melachim I 11:42)

Biography

Yedidyah, Beloved of Hashem

Shlomo HaMelech zy"a, the king who built the first Beis HaMikdash, was born in Yerushalayim to Dovid HaMelech and Bas Sheva. After the loss of their first child, Bas Sheva bore a son and named him Shlomo, and the verse says simply that Hashem loved him. Hashem sent word through Nasan HaNavi, and the child was given a second name, Yedidyah, beloved of Hashem. His full brothers were Shimea, Shovav and Nasan.

He grew up in his father's palace and in his father's Torah. In Mishlei he remembers those years: he was a tender child before his mother, and his father taught him and said, let your heart hold fast to my words; keep my mitzvos and live. Chazal reckon from the verses of Sefer Shmuel that he was only twelve years old when he became king.

In Dovid's old age, his son Adoniyahu proclaimed himself king, with Yoav and Evyasar the Kohen at his side. Nasan HaNavi and Bas Sheva went in to the aged king and reminded him of his oath that Shlomo would sit on his throne. Dovid gave the command at once: Shlomo was set on the king's own mule, brought down to the Gichon and anointed by Tzadok HaKohen and Nasan HaNavi. The shofar sounded, and the people cried, long live King Shlomo.

A Listening Heart

Before his passing, Dovid gathered the leaders of Israel and told them that of all his sons, Hashem had chosen Shlomo to sit on the throne of His kingdom and to build His house. He handed his son the plans of the Beis HaMikdash and charged him: know the God of your father, and serve Him with a whole heart and a willing soul. When Dovid passed away, on Shabbos, the Gemara relates, Shlomo sent to the beis midrash to ask how to care for his father's body on the holy day. Shlomo sat on the throne of his father, and his kingdom was firmly established.

Early in his reign he went up to Givon and brought a thousand olos on the great altar there. That night Hashem appeared to him in a dream and said: ask, what shall I give you? Shlomo did not ask for long life, for wealth, or for the defeat of his enemies. I am a young lad, he said, and I do not know how to go out or come in. Give Your servant a listening heart to judge Your people, to tell good from bad. The request was good in Hashem's eyes. He granted Shlomo a wise and understanding heart such as no one before him had had, and added the riches and honor he had not asked for.

His wisdom became a byword among the nations. The verse compares it to the sand on the seashore and calls it greater than all the wisdom of the east and of Egypt. He spoke of trees, from the cedar of Levanon to the hyssop growing out of the wall, and people came from every kingdom of the earth to listen. The Queen of Sheva came with camels laden with spices and gold to test him with hard questions. When she had heard his answers she praised Hashem: fortunate are your servants, she said, who stand before you always and hear your wisdom.

Builder of the Beis HaMikdash

In Shlomo's days Israel had peace on every border. From Dan to Be'er Sheva, Yehudah and Yisroel lived in safety, each family under its own vine and fig tree, and the king's rule reached from the river Euphrates to the border of Egypt. In the fourth year of his reign, in the month of Ziv, four hundred and eighty years after the Exodus, he began to build the house his father had longed to build. No hammer, axe or any iron tool was heard in the house while it was built; the stones were finished at the quarry. Seven years later, in the month of Bul, the house was complete. Chazal praise him for building Hashem's house first, in seven years, and only afterward his own palace, which took thirteen.

In the seventh month, the month of Eisanim, at the festival of Sukkos, Shlomo gathered the elders and the heads of the tribes to bring the Aron up from the city of Dovid. When the Kohanim came out of the Kodesh, a cloud filled the house, and they could not stand to serve, for the glory of Hashem filled the house of Hashem. Shlomo stood before the altar, spread his hands toward heaven and prayed. Can Hashem truly dwell on earth? he asked. The heavens and the highest heavens cannot contain You, how much less this house. He asked that every prayer turned toward this place be heard, the prayer of Israel in every trouble and even of a stranger who comes from a distant land for the sake of Hashem's great name.

When he finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the offerings, and all Israel bowed with their faces to the ground and gave thanks: for He is good, for His kindness is forever. Hashem appeared to Shlomo a second time and said: I have heard your prayer. I have sanctified this house, and My eyes and My heart will be there always.

His Enduring Legacy

Shlomo left Israel three seforim of the Kisvei HaKodesh, said with ruach hakodesh: Mishlei, a book of parables and guidance for life; Shir HaShirim, the song of love between Hashem and Israel, which Rebbi Akiva called the holy of holies; and Koheles, his reflections on the passing vanities of this world. The Midrash teaches that he sang Shir HaShirim as a young man, taught Mishlei in his mature years, and spoke Koheles in old age.

He also strengthened the Torah with fences of his own. The Gemara relates that when he instituted eruvei chatzeiros and the washing of the hands, a heavenly voice called out with his own words: my son, if your heart is wise, My heart too will rejoice. Before Shlomo, Chazal say, the Torah was like a basket without handles, and through his parables he gave every Jew a way to take hold of it.

Tanach records that in his old age his wives, many of them foreign women, turned his heart after other gods, and that his heart was not as whole with Hashem as the heart of Dovid his father. Hashem told him that the kingdom would be torn away, though not in his days, for the sake of Dovid, and that one tribe would remain with his son. Chazal read these verses with great care. Whoever says that Shlomo sinned is simply mistaken, the Gemara teaches: his wives tried to turn his heart after their gods, but he did not follow them, and the verse holds him to account as if he had sinned because he should have protested their ways and did not. When the Men of the Great Assembly sought to count him among the kings who have no share in the World to Come, the Gemara relates, a heavenly voice came forth in his defense with his own verse: do you see a man diligent in his work? He will stand before kings. When they still pressed on, a second voice told them that such judgment belongs to Hashem alone.

Shlomo HaMelech reigned forty years over all Israel in Yerushalayim and passed away at about fifty-two, around the year 2964 from Creation. No date of his passing is recorded. He was laid to rest with his fathers in the city of Dovid, and his son Rechavam, whose mother was Naamah the Ammonite, reigned after him. Many communities read Shir HaShirim on Pesach and Koheles on Sukkos, the festival on which he dedicated the Beis HaMikdash, and his parables are quoted wherever Torah is taught.

Stories

Give Her the Living Child

Two women claimed the same baby with no witness between them, and Shlomo found the truth by reaching for a mother's compassion.

Soon after Hashem granted Shlomo a listening heart, two women came and stood before the king. The first spoke. This woman and I live in one house, she said, and we each gave birth, three days apart, with no one else there. In the night her son died, because she lay on him. She rose at midnight, took my son from beside me while I slept, and laid her dead child in my arms. In the morning, when I looked closely, I saw that it was not the son I had borne. No, cried the other, the living one is mine, and the dead one is yours. And so they argued before the king.

Shlomo repeated their words: this one says the living child is hers, and that one says the same. Bring me a sword, he said. When the sword was brought, he ordered: cut the living child in two, and give half to each. The true mother's heart burned within her. Please, my lord, she pleaded, give her the living child, only do not kill him. The other said: let him be neither mine nor yours; cut. Then the king answered: give the living child to the first woman, and do not kill him. She is his mother.

All Israel heard the judgment and stood in awe of the king, for they saw that the wisdom of Hashem was in him to do justice. The Midrash says this was the meaning of the verse that Shlomo sat on the throne of Hashem: as the throne of Hashem judges without witnesses, so Shlomo judged this case, where no witness stood.

Source: Melachim I 3:16–28; Midrash Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:1:10 (on Divrei HaYamim I 29:23). English: The JPS Tanakh (Sefaria); The Sefaria Midrash Rabbah (2022).

Practical lessonListen for the heart

Shlomo did not decide by who spoke louder or longer. He found the person who cared more about the child than about winning. The next time you are caught between two people who both insist they are right, perhaps your children, your coworkers or two friends, ask each one quietly: what matters most to you here? Listen for the answer that protects the other person, not the one that only wants to win. That answer usually points to the truth.

The Gates That Would Not Open

On the day the Beis HaMikdash was dedicated, its gates stayed shut against all of Shlomo's prayers until he spoke of the kindness of his father.

The Beis HaMikdash stood complete, and Shlomo HaMelech went to bring the Aron into the Kodesh HaKodashim. But when he reached the gates, the Gemara tells, they clung to one another and would not open. Shlomo poured out twenty-four songs of praise and prayer, and still the gates stayed shut.

He called out the words of Tehillim: lift up your heads, O gates, be raised, you everlasting doors, so that the King of glory may come in. The gates rushed at him, the Gemara says, as if to swallow him, and demanded: who is this King of glory? They thought he meant himself. Hashem, mighty and strong, Shlomo answered, Hashem, mighty in battle. He said the verses again, and still there was no answer.

Then Shlomo prayed: Hashem, do not turn away the face of Your anointed one; remember the kindnesses of Dovid Your servant. At once the gates swung open, and fire came down from heaven onto the altar. In that moment, Chazal say, all Israel knew that Hashem had forgiven Dovid, and his detractors were put to shame.

The Gemara learns from this why Shlomo wrote in Koheles that he praised the dead more than the living. All his own songs had not opened the gates; the merit of his father, who had passed away, opened them in an instant.

Source: Gemara, Shabbos 30a and Moed Katan 9a (Talmud Bavli); Divrei HaYamim II 6:41–7:3; Tehillim 24:7–10. English: The William Davidson Talmud (Koren–Steinsaltz); The JPS Tanakh (Sefaria).

Practical lessonOpen the gate with a parent's merit

Shlomo was the wisest of men, yet the gates opened only when he mentioned his father's kindness. Before you daven for something that matters to you this week, add one sentence in your own words: in the merit of my father, or my mother, or my grandparents, who served You. Then name one good thing they did. If they are no longer living, consider learning a mishnah or giving a coin of tzedakah in their memory that same day.

The Shamir

To build the Beis HaMikdash without iron, Shlomo needed the shamir that splits stone, and the Gemara tells how it was found.

The Beis HaMikdash was to be built without the sound of any iron tool. How, Shlomo asked the chachamim, can the stones be cut without iron? They told him of the shamir, a tiny creature that splits stone, which Moshe had used to engrave the stones of the Kohen Gadol's garments. No one knew where it was, but the Gemara tells that Ashmedai, king of the demons, might know.

Shlomo sent his faithful Benayahu ben Yehoyada with a chain and a ring engraved with Hashem's Name. Benayahu found the mountain where Ashmedai drank from a sealed pit, drained the water, and filled the pit with wine. Ashmedai came, checked his seal, and found wine. Wine is a mocker, he said, quoting Shlomo's own Mishlei, and refused to drink, but in the end thirst overcame him, and he drank and fell asleep. Benayahu bound him with the chain. When Ashmedai struggled, Benayahu warned him that the Name of his Master was upon him.

Brought before Shlomo, Ashmedai measured four cubits with a reed and threw it down. When you die, he said, this is all you will have in the world, and yet you are not satisfied until you conquer me too? I want nothing from you, Shlomo answered. I need to build the house of Hashem, and for that I need the shamir.

Ashmedai revealed that the prince of the sea had entrusted the shamir to the hoopoe bird. Shlomo's men found its nest and covered the chicks with glass; the bird brought the shamir to break through to them, the men took it, and the work of the Beis HaMikdash went forward.

Source: Gemara, Gittin 68a–b (Talmud Bavli); Melachim I 6:7; Mishlei 20:1. English: The William Davidson Talmud (Koren–Steinsaltz).

Practical lessonSay what you really need

Ashmedai accused Shlomo of wanting to conquer everything. Shlomo's answer was simple: I want nothing for myself; I need this one thing to build Hashem's house. This week, when you find yourself reaching for more, a purchase, a promotion, an argument to win, stop and ask in one sentence: what do I actually need, and what is it for? If the answer is something that builds your home, your family or your avodah, pursue it fully. If not, let it go.

Teachings

Parables That Lift the Shechinah

The verse says of Shlomo HaMelech that he spoke three thousand parables, and his songs were a thousand and five. The Noam Elimelech reads it as a description of how a tzaddik works. When the tzaddik wants to bring something about in the world, he likens it to a parable, so that through the parable the thing it stands for is set right. Shlomo's three thousand, alafim, are three alefs, which R' Elimelech ties to the Name Ehyeh: through those alefs everything needed is set right, and Shlomo set them right through his parables. Then came his songs. After Shlomo reached a great level, R' Elimelech teaches, and came to thank Hashem and sing to Him with songs and praises, he raised the Shechinah, the last hei of Hashem's Name, whose number is five, up to Chochmah, hinted in the alef, for alef has the letters of pele, the wonder of wisdom.

Noam Elimelech, Bereishis, Vayeishev (on Bereishis 37:8 and Melachim I 5:12)

Practical lessonSing one song of thanks

Shlomo's songs came after he had climbed high, and they lifted the Shechinah with them. You do not need a thousand songs to begin. Tonight, before you sleep, choose one good thing Hashem did for you today, a word of encouragement, a safe trip, a meal shared. Thank Him for it aloud in a single sentence, or hum a niggun you love while you think of it. Do the same tomorrow night, and let the thanks grow into a song.

Why Koheles Spoke Before a Crowd

Chazal say Shlomo was called Koheles because he said all his words before an assembly. Why should that matter? The Lehavas David brings from his great-grandfather's Divrei Binah a saying of R' Dovid of Lelov: when two Jews join together, they are like two letters yud, which together write Hashem's Name. Every new Torah insight, the Divrei Binah explains, comes from combinations of the Torah's letters, and in Shlomo's days the combination rising from the Jewish people was complete, for there was great love among them; every man of Yehudah and Yisroel sat under his vine and his fig tree. Shlomo knew how to join all of Israel's powers together. He spoke before the gathered people because he wanted the Shechinah to rest among them as he taught, and the Shechinah rests on Israel through unity.

Lehavas David, Shemos, Vayakhel (on Shemos 35:1 and Melachim I 5:5), maamar 5, citing Divrei Binah

Practical lessonLearn with someone, not just near them

Shlomo taught before a crowd because the Shechinah rests where Jews come together in love. This week, turn one solitary moment of Torah into a shared one. Invite a friend, a neighbor or one of your children to learn a few lines with you, even for ten minutes. At the Shabbos table, ask someone else to share a thought before you share yours. Notice how a single verse feels different when two people hold it together.

Handles for the Torah

On the verse in Koheles that Shlomo weighed and searched and set many parables in order, the Midrash teaches that until Shlomo arose there were no parables, and the Torah was hard to grasp. The chachamim compare it to a great palace with many doors where everyone lost his way, until a wise man tied a string along the path; to a basket of fruit with no handles, until someone made handles; and to a deep well of sweet, cold water, until someone tied rope to rope and drew it up. Do not think little of a parable, the Midrash concludes. A king who loses a gold coin or a fine pearl in his house finds it with a wick worth a penny, and with a simple parable a person can reach the depths of Torah. The Gemara adds that through his parables Shlomo gave the Torah handles.

Midrash Shir HaShirim Rabbah 1:1:8 (on Koheles 12:9); Gemara, Eruvin 21b

Practical lessonFind the penny candle

Shlomo knew that a small parable can light the way to deep Torah. The next time you explain an idea to a child, a student or a friend and see their eyes glaze over, stop and reach for a simple picture from daily life: a key, a recipe, a phone that needs charging. Prepare one such example tonight for something you plan to teach or share this Shabbos, and watch how much more of the Torah your listener can hold.

Seforim

Mishlei: The book of Proverbs, Shlomo's parables of wisdom, mussar and fear of Heaven, one of the Kisvei HaKodesh.
Shir HaShirim: The Song of Songs, the song of love between Hashem and Israel, which Rebbi Akiva called the holy of holies; read by many communities on Pesach.
Koheles: Ecclesiastes, Shlomo's reflections on the vanities of this world and the fear of Hashem that remains; read by many communities on Sukkos.

Family & talmidim

Teachers: Dovid HaMelech, his father

Children: Rechavam, who reigned after him, Tafas (wife of Ben Avinadav), Basmas (wife of Achimaatz)

Historical sources