Solomon's Building Program and Its Effect on the United Kingdom

King Solomon on his throne
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In our readings of Jerusalem: One City Three Faiths this week, we heavily focused on the division of the United Kingdom into Judah and Israel. In highlighting the differences between these two kingdoms, I became more curious in the details of how and why the United Kingdom was torn apart. In the readings and other research, one man seemed to be the most responsible: King Solomon.

 Son of King David, Solomon inherited a mighty kingdom when he came into kingly power in his early 20s (Ward).  After seeing God in a dream, Solomon asked him for limitless wisdom with which to lead his people with. Impressed with his selflessness, God gave Solomon wisdom, hence beginning Solomon's recognition as one of the wisest men alive (NLT, 1 Kings 3:1-15). While at first Solomon was beloved across the United Kingdom due to his wisdom and power, his rein would soon turn for the worse.

Portrait of King Solomon sacrificing to his wives' idols
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One of the main reasons for this turn was Solomon's insistence on building. While his construction of the Temple for Yahweh was widely cherished and still plays an important role in many religions today, there were countless other less "wise" projects that Solomon funded. A main source of these projects were temples and shrines for the gods of his many wives. It is said that Solomon had as many as 700 wives during his life and in 1 Kings 1:18, it states that “Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods,”. In response to this, God became angered and promised to divide the kingdom. However, there is another more secular reason for the division that stands out as well. 

Historical archives suggest that it was the economic burden of building these many shrines that caused the division. While it is not archaeologically confirmed how many shrines were built for Solomon’s wives, it is still thought to be a number substantial enough to severely debt the United Kingdom. So much so that Solomon was forced to give 20 towns to the Kingdom of Tyre in order to continue his building (1 Kings 9:11). Because of Solomon’s expensive lifestyle and building program “the political economy of his kingdom was weak… and despite Solomon’s alleged riches, the nation was stretched beyond its limits,” (Armstrong). To compensate, Solomon resorted to exploiting the Kingdom of Israel for resources and labor.  Not only were Israelite men being forced into labor to build temples, but they were unable to see the fruits of that labor because the projects had no productive value. As a result, the Israelite economy suffered dearly. Additionally, Solomon was quick to show favoritism toward the Kingdom of Judah. While the Israelite men were mandated to labor for his projects, no such mandate was made in Judah. These combined factors created a tension and hostility that were key to Israel’s secession from the United Kingdom during the reign of Rehoboam.

Works Cited

“21. The Great Divorce: The Kingdom Divided (1 Kings 12; 2 Chronicles 10) | Bible.org.” Bible.org, bible.org/seriespage/21-great-divorce-kingdom-divided-1-kings-12-2-chronicles-10.

Armstrong, Karen. Jerusalem : One City, Three Faiths. New York, Ballantine Books, 1997.

NLT Bible. New York, American Bible Society.

Ward. “Solomon Became King When He Was 20-25 Years Old, Here’s Why… | World Events and the Bible.” Worldeventsandthebible.com, 14 Feb. 2024, worldeventsandthebible.com/old-solomon-became-king. Accessed 10 Feb. 2024.