The Tragic Life of King Solomon

Solomon: Biblical King and Legendary Sorcerer

The video contrasts the biblical King Solomon with the later legendary figure portrayed as a sorcerer who commanded demons. Its central argument is that the biblical story is less about magical power than about how a wise, prosperous king gradually turned away from God—and about the limits of everything worldly.

Solomon’s rise and the gift of wisdom

Solomon became king after a succession struggle. His older brother Adonijah declared himself king, but David named Solomon as his successor. Solomon’s reign began with executions of political rivals and former opponents.

At Gibeon, God asked Solomon what he wanted. Solomon requested a “listening heart”—the ability to hear God and his people and distinguish right from wrong. God granted him wisdom, as well as wealth and honor, while warning that his future depended on remaining faithful.

The story of the two women disputing over a baby illustrates this wisdom: Solomon’s threat to divide the child reveals which woman would rather surrender the baby than see it killed.

The biblical account describes Solomon as exceptionally learned, composing proverbs and songs and attracting visitors from other nations. For a time, his reign represents peace and prosperity.

The Temple and Solomon’s prosperity

Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem with materials and labor gathered from across the region. Its garden-like decoration—plants, trees, and cherubim guarding the inner room—evokes Eden: a place where God dwells among people.

The narrator highlights the contrast between the Temple, which took seven years to build, and Solomon’s palace, which took thirteen. At the Temple’s dedication, Solomon acknowledges that no building can contain God.

God appears to Solomon a second time, affirming the promise of his dynasty but warning that turning to other gods would bring disaster.

Solomon’s wealth becomes immense, including gold, elaborate furnishings, trade, and gifts from visitors such as the Queen of Sheba. The video also mentions archaeological evidence connected to places and periods associated with Solomon, while noting the limits of what it can prove.

The turn away from God

The video connects Solomon’s choices to the rules for Israelite kings in Deuteronomy: they were not to accumulate excessive horses, wives, or wealth. The account of Solomon’s prosperity includes horses from Egypt and vast riches; 1 Kings then describes his many foreign wives.

According to the biblical narrative, Solomon’s wives led him to worship other gods and build places of worship for them, including for Molech. The narrator presents this as the turning point that fulfills the earlier warnings about a king’s heart being led astray.

Solomon’s adversaries multiply, including Hadad, Rezon, and Jeroboam. A prophet tells Jeroboam that ten tribes will be taken from Solomon’s dynasty. The kingdom’s division is delayed until after Solomon’s death.

After Solomon dies, his son Rehoboam rejects advice to ease the people’s burdens. The northern tribes rebel and form a separate kingdom under Jeroboam. Within a few years, Egypt’s king Shishak takes treasures from Jerusalem, including Solomon’s gold shields.

How Solomon became a legendary master of demons

The narrator clearly separates these later traditions from the Bible, presenting them as Jewish, Islamic, Ethiopian, and medieval developments:

• Solomon’s knowledge of plants and animals, and changes in how his songs were rendered in Greek, are described as possible ingredients in later associations with magic.
• The historian Josephus recounts an exorcism performed using a method attributed to Solomon.
• The Testament of Solomon portrays Solomon receiving a ring from the archangel Michael, using it to control demons, and compelling them to help build the Temple. Its ending echoes the biblical account: Solomon is led astray by a foreign woman and loses God’s favor.
• A story in the Babylonian Talmud says Solomon captured the demon king Asmodeus to obtain the shamir, a creature that could cut stone. Asmodeus later escapes, takes Solomon’s place, and leaves the king wandering as a beggar.
• Islamic tradition describes Solomon (Suleiman) commanding jinn and the wind. Ethiopian tradition, in the Kebra Nagast, links Solomon and the Queen of Sheba to a son who brings the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia.
• Medieval and early modern grimoires, including the Key of Solomon and the Lesser Key of Solomon, associate his name with rituals and lists of demons, including 72 spirits.

The video also notes that the Gospels connect Jesus, the “son of David,” with casting out demons and include Jesus’ statement that “something greater than Solomon” is present.

The lesson of Ecclesiastes

The narrator reads Ecclesiastes, traditionally attributed to Solomon, as an old king reflecting on his life. The book’s theme of hevel—often translated “vanity,” but also meaning breath or vapor—captures the fleeting nature of wealth, achievement, pleasure, and fame.

The video links that theme to Solomon’s story: his treasures were taken, the Temple was destroyed, and his kingdom divided. Later legends added more stories about power, but those stories too are presented as temporary pursuits.

Ecclesiastes does not end in despair. The video emphasizes its call to remember the Creator, draw near to listen, fear God, and keep God’s commandments.

The closing lesson returns to Solomon’s first request. Of all he possessed, the “listening heart” he asked for at Gibeon is presented as more enduring than wealth, political power, or fame.

Speakers and sources featured

• Speaker: The video’s narrator and host, Nils Glenn.
• Sponsor: Fabletics, in a brief advertisement.
• Biblical sources discussed: 1 Kings; 2 Chronicles; Deuteronomy; Proverbs; Song of Songs; Psalms 72 and 127; Ecclesiastes; Nehemiah; and Matthew’s Gospel.
• Other named sources and traditions: G. K. Beale; Dennis Dooling; Josephus; the Testament of Solomon; the Babylonian Talmud (tractate Gittin); the Quran and classical Muslim commentary; the Ethiopian Kebra Nagast; and the Key of Solomon and Lesser Key of Solomon.
• Archaeological and historical evidence mentioned: the Ain Dara temple, the Tel Dan Stele, an Ophir-inscribed pottery shard, and copper mines in the Timna Valley.