Solomon, the son of David and Bathsheba, is remembered in biblical tradition as Israel’s wisest and wealthiest king (2 Samuel 12:24, which also gives him the name Jedidiah). His name means “peace.”
In the narrative he succeeds David and, as his signal achievement, builds the first Temple in Jerusalem. Tradition credits him with the wisdom books — Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Solomon — though scholars date those writings to later periods.
The account does not flatter him to the end: his turn in later life to idolatry is cast as the reason the kingdom divided in two after his death.
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