Lesson ten: Reviewing Solomon’s life.
What was Solomon’s most outstanding ability? Was he politically astute? Could he deal with people from all levels of society (compare I Kings 1-2 with I Kings 3)?
- Did Solomon have a mind for science and engineering (I Kings 4:29-34, I Kings 6)? Was he talented in other ways (I Kings 4:32)? Did other people recognize his wisdom (I Kings 10:6-9,23-25)?
- Was Solomon capable of running a large organization (I Kings 4:1 –28, I Kings 9:14 – 25)? Was he able to capitalize on business opportunities (I Kings 9:26-28)? How wealthy was Solomon (I Kings 10:14-23, 26-27)?
- How does Solomon’s attitude toward foreigners in I Kings 8:41 – 43 compare with I Kings 11:1 – 11? What was his motivation for being open to the presence of foreigners in chapter 8? What is the extent of his involvement with foreigners by the time we reach chapter 11? What was the result? What did Solomon expect the attitude of the foreigners to be toward God in chapter 8? What attitude did they express in 11:4 – 8?
- What was the religion of Molech like? Read Leviticus 18:21, 20:2-5, II Kings 23:10, and Jer. 32:35. A good article is located at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Molech.
- What was the religion of Chemosh like? Read Num. 21:29, II Kings 3:26-27.
- The following is an example of the Canaanite/Phoenician “Baal” cult’s mythology. El is the chief god of the Canaanite pantheon somewhat analogous to the role of Zeus in Greek mythology and Baal was one of his sons. Yarih appears to have been another one of his sons. Athtart is the Ashtart mentioned in the (Hebrew) Bible. Anat is the sister of Baal who rescues him from the underworld in the most famous of the Canaanite myths. This myth was tied to the fertility cult associated with the death/rebirth cycle of winter/spring which was so important to the agricultural society of that time. The interpretation is from N. Wyatt, Religious Texts from Ugarit - The words of Ilimilku and his Colleagues, Sheffield (Sheffield Academic Press), 1998, pp. 404-413.
The myth of El’s banquet (KTU 114)
In his house El gave a feast of game,
The produce of the hunt in the midst of his palace.
He cried: ‘To the carving, gods,
Eat, O gods, and drink!
Drink wine until satiety
Foaming wine until intoxication!’
Yarih ached his back like a dog;
He gathered up crumbs beneath the tables.
(Any) god who recognized him
threw him meat from the joint.
But (any) god who did not recognize him
Hit him with a stick beneath the table.
At the call of Athtart and Anat he approached.
Athtart threw him a haunch,
And Anat a shoulder of meat.
The porter of El’s house shouted:
‘Look! Why have you thrown a haunch to the dog,
(why) to the cur have you thrown a shoulder?’
He shouted at El his father.
El summoned his drinking-companions;
El took his seat in his feasting house.
He drank wine to satiety,
New wine until intoxication.
El went off to his house;
He stumbled off towards his dwelling;
Thukamun and Shanim supported him,
A creeping monster approached him,
With horns and tail!
He floundered in his (own) feces and urine.
El fell down as though dead.
El was like those who go down to the underworld.
Athtart and Anat went out hunting
[missing line]
[missing line]
Athtart and Anat [returned ]
And the brought back meat
When they had cured him, he awoke.
(This is) what needs to be put on his forehead:
dog-hair and the knot of a vine and its juice.
They should be applied together with virgin olive oil.
What strikes you about the Canaanite concept of god(s)? Do the Canaanite gods inspire respect? Are they just overgrown humans with all the same shortcomings?
Does this seem like a concept of God that came through divine revelation or something that a man thought up? Is it more like a ghost story that people tell while sitting around a campfire just for entertainment?
Do the Canaanite gods really have anything to say to us that we don’t already know? Can they enable us to do anything we aren’t already doing? How is this different from the God of the Bible?