Is there wisdom in Solomon's level of Polygyny which we misatribute to folly? The argument is often Solomon had excess, but Solomon also had the resources for his actions, and was the wisest man to live. Was Solomon practicing wisdom or folly in taking as many wives as he did? Scriptures only rebuttal to Solomon is his foreign wives. Are we misatributing to Solomon a quantity problem when it was actually only ever quality?
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Solomon The Wisest Man To Live
- Thread starter BiblicalLiteralist
- Start date
When you do the math on a thousand women....he had to marry a new one every couple weeks for like 20 years. There is no way he could maintain relations with that many wives. Could he even remember their names? As I understand it those living back then who knew the law belived the prohibition on kings multiplying wives limited a king to 18 wives.
Yet there is no hard number given by Yah, and there is no rebuke given to Solomon. So how should the quanitity be interpreted, when the quality was what is cited as the cause for falter?
I don’t believe that Solomon was seeking those wives.
Israel was in its heyday during his reign and leaders of countries, provinces, towns or whatever wanted to get in his good graces.
What do you give a king who has anything that he wants? Women, your local beauty queens.
Like the old joke about a rich man showing up at the Pearly Gates with a wheelbarrow full of gold bricks.
Peter yells: “Bartemaus, we got another load of pavement!”
Israel was in its heyday during his reign and leaders of countries, provinces, towns or whatever wanted to get in his good graces.
What do you give a king who has anything that he wants? Women, your local beauty queens.
Like the old joke about a rich man showing up at the Pearly Gates with a wheelbarrow full of gold bricks.
Peter yells: “Bartemaus, we got another load of pavement!”
Even so was he practicing wisdom in excepting vs rejecting?
It seems pretty clear to me that Solomon violated all three of those commands from Deuteronomy 17 (excessive horses, getting them from Egypt, excessive wives, and excessive gold and silver). Deuteronomy 17 warns that these can result in the king's heart turning away from the Lord, and Solomon's heart did indeed turn away from the Lord.
Yes, the bigger problem is that he married a bunch of idolatrous women from the particular nations which the Lord had explicitly prohibited. He was specifically called out for that.
Still, I am confident that the quantity was also a problem.
David his father also had quite a few wives, quite a few horses, and a tidy amount of gold and silver, yet his heart remained true to the Lord. David didn't violate Deut. 17.
Yes, the bigger problem is that he married a bunch of idolatrous women from the particular nations which the Lord had explicitly prohibited. He was specifically called out for that.
Still, I am confident that the quantity was also a problem.
David his father also had quite a few wives, quite a few horses, and a tidy amount of gold and silver, yet his heart remained true to the Lord. David didn't violate Deut. 17.
I think Solomon's extreme polygyny serves a positive illustrative purpose in the eternal plans of the Almighty. I think that God somehow ordained that it comes to pass.
Maybe my Calvinist leanings are slipping through
Somehow Solomon imperfectly reflects the Greater Son of David, the ultimate King of Shalom.
Solomon married 1000 women and they turned his heart away from the Lord.
Jesus Christ is the Head and Saviour of a vast multitude of millions to billions of the redeemed, turning their hearts back to the Lord.
Here is a link to another thread where this topic was discussed.
Maybe my Calvinist leanings are slipping through
Somehow Solomon imperfectly reflects the Greater Son of David, the ultimate King of Shalom.
Solomon married 1000 women and they turned his heart away from the Lord.
Jesus Christ is the Head and Saviour of a vast multitude of millions to billions of the redeemed, turning their hearts back to the Lord.
Here is a link to another thread where this topic was discussed.
I think that it was just flat-out expected of him.
They would have been insulted if he didn’t accept.
My personal opinion is that Solomon had to have been in violation of Deuteronomy 17:17. The law is obviously a guideline, however, if having 1000 wives is not considered "increasing in excess", I don't know what is. We are not told exactly how many is "excessive", but again, I don't know how you can think that 1000 wives is not excessive.
This is obviously not the sin stated to be his downfall, but it is linked to it. My personal theory is that per Ecclesiastes, we see a man who is always reaching for more and struggling to be happy with where he is in life. Thankfully that book ends on a positive note, but it still shows his heart. From the biblical narrative, we know that towards the end of his life he started following all manner of occult practices- reaching for other Gods to give him the further knowledge and power that he desired. His excessive "wife-hoarding" seems to stem from his inability to remain content with what he had. He always had to be reaching for more, which is a great trait to have until it's not.
I think we can all learn some valuable lessons from Solomon.
This is obviously not the sin stated to be his downfall, but it is linked to it. My personal theory is that per Ecclesiastes, we see a man who is always reaching for more and struggling to be happy with where he is in life. Thankfully that book ends on a positive note, but it still shows his heart. From the biblical narrative, we know that towards the end of his life he started following all manner of occult practices- reaching for other Gods to give him the further knowledge and power that he desired. His excessive "wife-hoarding" seems to stem from his inability to remain content with what he had. He always had to be reaching for more, which is a great trait to have until it's not.
I think we can all learn some valuable lessons from Solomon.
He was also in violation for accumulating too much wealth. I don't think the verse is implying that wealth is wrong though. I think it's a special case for kings.
It really makes me wonder why Solomon was known for his wisdom. For being the wisest person of all time, he sure did make a lot of foolish decisions.
Do some of his decisions appear to be unwise to those who are not as wise as he was?
I don't think it requires the wisdom of Solomon to recognize that worshipping other gods wasn't a bright idea.
That is rather obvious and wasn't the point. Cheers
Maybe it is a slippery slope of little changes in actions and thoughts over the years that moves a wise person to being unwise? So, maybe having wisdom regarding life, spiritually and daily, is something that needs to be nourished to keep it from slowly being changed by the Enemy. I do understand that dynamic in my own life.
Maybe you guys are missing the whole point of Duet 17:15-18
Deu 17:15 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 set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. <- This is about establishing a government according to God's requirements. A Native born king whom God shall choose!
Deu 17:16 But 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. <- This is about the king not building a large ARMY of horsemen and taking the people back to Egypt to revenge themselves against it for the treatment they have just suffered. Remember, at this point in scripture, they have not even entered into the promise land. The mental wounds are still healing.
Deu 17:17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. <- This is about forming covenants with many other nations using the Princesses from those nations as peace agreements. "Don't you fight my daddy!" This is also about not building up a war chest to fund such wars.
Does the text explictly say that this is a foreign policy statement from God?
No. I am interpreting it that way and I hold to my interpretation. Prove me wrong??
Shalom...
Deu 17:15 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 set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother. <- This is about establishing a government according to God's requirements. A Native born king whom God shall choose!
Deu 17:16 But 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. <- This is about the king not building a large ARMY of horsemen and taking the people back to Egypt to revenge themselves against it for the treatment they have just suffered. Remember, at this point in scripture, they have not even entered into the promise land. The mental wounds are still healing.
Deu 17:17 Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. <- This is about forming covenants with many other nations using the Princesses from those nations as peace agreements. "Don't you fight my daddy!" This is also about not building up a war chest to fund such wars.
Does the text explictly say that this is a foreign policy statement from God?
No. I am interpreting it that way and I hold to my interpretation. Prove me wrong??
Shalom...
You make me laugh.
(Suggesting Solomon ,arguably the wisest man that lived and had 700 wives and 300 concubines ,was stupid in love life)
And this suggestion comes from you a man with how many wives and concubines?
I beginning to think you are psychologically projecting and trolling yourself.