I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 4-6.

The first thing I noticed when reading this was that King Solomon had time to learn about all of the subjects it later says he was knowledgeable about because he set up his government with people in charge of various aspects of it.  This included regional governors.  King Solomon demonstrated the wisdom for which he was famous by delegating his authority to others instead of trying to run everything himself.  Unlike his two predecessors, King Solomon delegated specific areas of responsibility to specific individuals.  King Saul had delegated responsibility sparingly, and only on a task by task basis.  King David had delegated responsibility on a more consistent basis, but did not clearly divide areas of responsibility.

Another item of interest to me was that the Temple of Solomon had what we would consider low ceilings.  The passage tells us that each story of the Temple complex was 7 1/2 feet high.  There was a two-fold reason for this.  Building materials were outrageously expensive, especially those used by Solomon in the Temple.  Also, the Israelites of that time had not developed the more advanced architectural techniques which make high ceilings practical.  This second point is related to the first in that what building materials one uses will impact how advanced one’s architectural techniques need to be to build high ceilings.  I will note it is likely that the impact of the level of architectural skill is more on it not occurring to them to build high ceilings than on them not being able to figure out how to do so.  Now, as I was doing a little research on the design of Solomon’s Temple I came across a reference suggesting that the design of Solomon’s Temple was a copy of the Temple of Melqart in Tyre.  This is certainly possible because King Solomon hired builders from Hiram of Tyre to assist in building the Temple.  However, while we do not know for sure, it seems probable that it was Hiram who built the Temple of Melqart in Tyre.  Which means that he may have copied Solomon’s design rather than the other way around.

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on 1 Kings 2-3.

I like the insights into the politics of ancient Israel, and really into politics in general, which one gets from the way King Solomon solidified his reign by dealing with those whose loyalty to himself, or to his father, were questionable.  I also like the way in which Solomon acknowledged that no one person could know enough to rule over a numerous population; that the only way he could successfully rule Israel was with God’s guidance.

However, I really love the insight into judging people which his ruling in the dispute between the two women who both claimed to be the mother of the baby.  The woman who wanted the baby to live was the child’s mother, regardless of whether the child came out of her womb or not.  Let us care more for the well-being of others than for our own selfish desires.