Lifestyles Of The Rich And Brilliant
- Like any obscenely rich dude, Solomon's got a great posse: Princes, priests, soldiers, scribes, officers, and friends. They all get shout-outs in 4:2-19.
- At this time, Israel is livin' large. Its territory is huge (stretching from the Euphrates river across Philistine country and all the way to Egypt), it's politically strong, and its people are numerous, wealthy, and secure. Life is good.
- All the little kingdoms under Solomon's rule give him tribute, continually increasing his wealth for as long as he lives.
- And that's good, because being the king of the world ain't cheap. He's got a lot of mouths to feed, and they consume prodigious amounts of food.
- In addition to his servants, officers, family, soldiers, and so on, he's also got an insane numbers of animals to take care of.
- But we're talkin' about the Warren Buffet of the Hebrew Bible (a.k.a. Old Testament), and he makes sure nobody in his household ever wants for anything.
- Yet even with all his riches, he doesn't neglect his education. God gives Solomon "very great wisdom, discernment, and breadth of understanding […] so that […] he was wiser than anyone else" in the known world (4:29-31).
- He wrote a ton of proverbs and songs, and his fame spread across oceans and continents.
- People from all nations, even kings and rulers, came to Israel to learn from good Professor Solomon.