THE GREAT LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF SOLOMON'S TIMES

Mention of the century of Solomon is apt to make us think, possibly too exclusively, of the great material achievements of the reign - the construction of the Temple, the royal palace, the fortresses; the foundation of Ezion-geber, the organization of the army and the establishment of the chariot corps, and so on.

On the other hand there is a tendency to ignore, or at any rate to neglect, the great literary achievements which had their beginnings and developed at this period. It is a pity that this should be so on account of the intense activity of the thinkers and historians of Solomon's time. The literary activity of this period can be examined under three heads. In the first place there is the 'wisdom' literature of Solomon's period to which, possibly, he made his own contribution. Then, there are those parts of the Scripture which began to be written down at this period. Lastly, there will be examined briefly the compositions which a late tradition has attributed, wrongly to Solomon in person.

A word on the 'wisdom literature

The term 'wisdom books' is given to those works of the Old Covenant which are especially concerned with 'wisdom' -an expression which should be understood in the spiritual sense given by Scripture to meditation on moral and spiritual things. 38

This literary genre is in the form of proverbs, allegories, observation, and precepts. Its form is rather like the style of popular sayings and axioms. At a very late period this formula developed very gradually and assumed the form of fiction or even of a treatise (Iyob, Wisdom). But in Solomon's time it was only at the primitive stage.

It is very probable that this gnomic literature (a term sometimes given to it to signify that it is confined to maxims and sentences) appeared in Egypt and also in Mesopotamia at a very remote period. In fact, we possess a collection called the proverbs of Plahhope' which goes back to the far-off period of the fifth dynasty (2450-2242). Of course, during the following centuries works of a similar nature continued to be produced.

The character of these curious productions was originally essentially secular. The author confined himself to a form of social teaching, based on human experience. Just like proverbs at the present time, the moral teaching to be found in these precepts and observations is not very 'lofty'. The advice is certainly discerning, but it is of a severely practical nature intended to be used as a guide in daily life.

These popular maxims were repeated ad nauseam by fathers to their children in the family circle. Sentences of a subtler kind were elaborated by 'wise men' in schools in which the master's disciples meditated on his teaching. At the court the kohens distilled the spiritual doctrines into sentences for the pharaoh and the important persons of his retinue. Later the Mesopotamians in their turn acquired great enthusiasm for this kind of maxim. Thus this curious wisdom literature was propagated throughout the Middle East in ancient times.

At first in Yisrael the scribes, with scarcely any modification, adopted the proverbs that came to them from foreign lands. But soon the powerful Yahwist faith spirit stamped these reflections, which were often rather matter of fact, with a clearly spiritual emphasis. Among the worshippers of the One YAHWEH 'wisdom', hitherto purely human, was to seek its inspiration from on high.

38 The following are the titles of the five wisdom books of the Scripture; they were composed by different authors and at different periods: Iyob (beginning of the 5th century BC.), Mishle (a collection made in the course of centuries and completed in the 5th century), Koheleth (3rd century B.C.), the Book of Wisdom (about 50 BC.), Ecclesiasticus (author: Ben Sirach who wrote about 190 BC)

Solomon and the wisdom literature (1 Melechim 5)

Solomon, we are told, composed three thousand proverbs, and his songs numbered a thousand and five. The book of the Scripture bearing the name of Mishle is divided into two principal parts. The first is called, 'The Mishle of Solomon, son of David, king of Yisrael'; this section contains 375 sentences or proverbs. The second part is introduced by the following inscription: 'The following also are proverbs of Solomon transcribed by Hezekiah, king of Yahudah'. 39 This second collection probably came from the northern kingdom which was destroyed in 721. Taking the Scriptural evidence as a guide should we consider the two chapters in question as Solomon's personal work?

Before Solomon's time this literary genre was very popular in the East. The Egyptian collection called 'the Proverbs of Amemen-hope', the composition of which can be dated before the year 1000, must have been known in Yerusalem at the time of Solomon. Indeed, orientalists have discerned a close relationship between this Egyptian collection and a number of the sayings preserved in the Scriptural Book of Mishle. There can be no doubt that the Egyptian work exerted a clear influence on the Hebrew moralists.

On the other hand, for centuries after Solomon the writers of Yisrael and Yahudah continued to note down new 'proverbs' which quite naturally found their place in the book. Vocabulary, syntax and social preoccupations enable us to date some of these reflections at various periods of history, some of them rather late.

It is true, nonetheless, that according to recent studies and despite those parts of Mishle that must be classified as before or after Solomon the text of the book (so far as the two collections ascribed to Solomon are concerned) should be considered, at least generally speaking, as a work contemporary with Solomon. Can we admit his personal collaboration? Obviously, it is not possible to assert definitely that this or that aphorism was from his hand. But it would be venturesome in the extreme to refuse to acknowledge any share by Solomon in the composition of the book; tradition is emphatic on this point.

When the writer mentions 'three thousand proverbs' he adds that 'his songs numbered a thousand and five'. By the term 'songs' he means, very probably, what we nowadays call tehillim; such for example was the 'song' improvised by Solomon on the consecration day of the Temple:

YAHWEH has chosen to dwell in the thick cloud.
Yes, I have built you a dwelling,
a place for you to live for ever.

If at this period the number of these compositions of Solomon's amounted to a thousand or more all that can be said is that the loss of manuscripts must have been very severe.

Solomon could talk about plants from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop growing on the wall; and he could talk of animals, and birds and reptiles and fish. Of course, works of this nature should not be confused with a scientific treatment of the subjects. There was no idea then of an objective observation of nature. We can be fairly certain that the works mentioned in the Scripture were confined to short morphological descriptions or fairly elementary remarks on animal psychology. This zoological and botanical information was used, very probably, as the basis or the setting for picturesque fables, some of them of a poetical nature. Themes of this kind were treated at a later date but in a more intellectual, and for that reason a rather more arid, form by Aesop and the fabulists of the West. Solomon's writings on natural history should be included, very probably, in the category of the wisdom literature.

39 Hezekiah, king of Yahudah (716-688) was contemporary with the prophet Micah and YeshaYahu. He strenuously opposed the idolatry of his people, though not with much success. Although there were about two centuries between Solomon and Hezekiah it is probable that the texts in question were carefully preserved; the East is essentially traditionalist

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Solomon The Magnificent Index   Solomon Sitemap  Scripture History Through the Ages  Solomon The Historian  RADIANT DAWN  Solomon's Wisdom  SOLOMON IN ALL HIS HONOR  David's role in building the Temple  Dates of the building of the Temple  Division of the Temple  The Ark of the Covenant  The most Kodesh Place  Dedication of the Temple  SOLOMON Prince of Peace  SOLOMON THE TRADER   Solomon's Ophir expedition  The queen of Sheba  LITERARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF SOLOMON  First historical works of the Hebrews  What did Solomon write  THE SHADES OF NIGHT  Political and social failure  Solomon's spiritual failure  The moral failure of Solomon  CONCLUSION of Solomon