Isaac Kalimi, «King Solomon: His Birth and Names in the Second Temple Period Literature», Vol. 93 (2012) 481-499
In Chronicles Solomon is represented as one who was born under normal circumstances. He appears in the center of David’s nineteen descendants, and as the youngest of Bathsheba’s four sons, but still gained the kingship. The name «Solomon» was given to the child by God prior to his birth and He elected him as king. The root of the name was interpreted twice, but there is no mention of «Yedidyah». The allusions to or ignorance of the name «Yedidyah» in Psalms, Nehemiah, Chronicles, and Josephus, as well as the question if «Qoheleth» is Solomon’s third name, are also discussed.
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490 ISAAC KALIMI
other words, although Solomon was the youngest son of Bathsheba,
he, above all, was elected to inherit the throne of King David. The au-
thor wished to state that all the three older sons of Bathsheba were
not worthy of the kingship, but her youngest son, Solomon, was
granted that value.
In fact, this literary feature is common in the Hebrew Bible in gen-
eral and in other places in the book of Chronicles, in particular 28.
Thus, for example, in 1 Chr 28,4-5 (an “additionâ€) the Chronicler de-
scribes Solomon as God’s chosen king. And also there he forms his
description, once again, in the literary numerical pattern of “three–
fourâ€, where he locates Solomon in the fourth and final place. More-
over, this literary feature appears also regarding the structuring of the
lists of the sons of Josiah in 1 Chr 3,15, and the sons of Saul in 1 Chr
8,33 (= 9,39) 29. To mention just one example from out of the Chro-
nistic work: Judah is also mentioned in the fourth place among the
sons of Jacob: after rejection of the first three sons ― Reuben,
Simeon, and Levi ― (because of their evil deeds), Judah took the fa-
vorable spot, and the kingdom is related to him (Gen 49,3-12; and see
also Genesis 34; 35,22).
In addition, the importance of Solomon also emerges from his
location in the list of David’s sons, as correctly noted by Klein, “Of
the nineteen sons of David mentioned in verses 1-8, Solomon oc-
cupies position number ten, the exact center, with nine before him
and nine after him†30.
It is questionable, at least in the case under review, if the Chronicler
indeed had “access to sources unknown to the Deuteronomist†31.
Moreover, even if the Chronicler had access to such a source, it still
should not be automatically assumed that the source was historically
reliable and should be preferred over the old tradition in the book of
For a detailed discussion, see KALIMI, Zur Geschichtsschreibung des
28
Chronisten, 305-310, esp. 305-307; ID., Reshaping of Ancient Israelite His-
tory, 362-368, esp. 362-364.
For a discussion on these lists in Chronicles, see KALIMI, Zur Ge-
29
schichtsschreibung des Chronisten, 306-307; ID., Reshaping of Ancient Is-
raelite History, 364.
See KLEIN, 1 Chronicles, 116.
30
See S.S. TUELL, First and Second Chronicles (Interpretation; Louisville,
31
KY 2001) 25. Cf. RUDOLPH, Chronikbücher, 26, who assumes that the post-
Chronistic writer added this chapter (i.e., 1 Chronicles 3) to the book of
Chronicles, and based his information on extra-biblical sources.
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