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00:00Three thousand years ago in ancient Jerusalem the young King Solomon was
00:09forced to put his wisdom to the ultimate test and the king said bring me a sword
00:17and they brought a sword before the king and the king said divide the living
00:23child in two and give half to the one and half to the other 1st Kings 3 24
00:35according to the Hebrew Bible Solomon would become one of ancient Israel's
00:39mightiest kings gifted with powers beyond those of mortal men he can see
00:49into the human heart he knows how to pose a question so that he gets a
00:55truthful answer and this is what is the source of his fabled wisdom
01:03under King Solomon's rule the sacred Ark of the Covenant said to contain the Ten
01:08Commandments was brought to rest in his holy temple in Jerusalem
01:19guided by Solomon's wisdom the nation of Israel experienced an era of peace and
01:24tranquillity never before known
01:30why then does this legendary King have such harsh critics
01:36the great mystery about Solomon is how somebody endowed with such wisdom and such
01:42worldly success yet failed morally in so deep and profound a way as a king
01:53Solomon is considered by many to be Israel's most enigmatic ruler
02:01how did his duel of wits with the Queen of Sheba spark one of the great love affairs in the Bible
02:06what happened to the Ark of the Covenant when it disappeared from his holy temple
02:19how could a king blessed with divine wisdom be ultimately responsible for the destruction of his own kingdom
02:28these are but a few of the mysteries of the Bible
02:36we'll see you soon
03:063,000 years ago
03:36the Bible tells us
03:38the wisest of all men
03:40ruled the kingdom of Israel.
03:42The monarch's name
03:44was Solomon.
03:46The source of his wisdom
03:48was said to be divine.
03:50He could see into the human
03:52heart, and it was said
03:54even understand the language
03:56of the beasts.
03:58According to
04:00tradition, this legendary king
04:02kept a harem of 1,000
04:04women.
04:06The walls of his
04:08holy temple were said to be lined with
04:10the purest gold.
04:12But today,
04:14King Solomon's fabled kingdom
04:18has crumbled to dust.
04:20His very existence
04:22has been called into question.
04:24The roots of Solomon's legend
04:28can be traced back to a pivotal moment
04:30in time.
04:32To the days when Solomon's
04:34father, the warrior King David
04:36lay dying in his palace.
04:38David's seventeen sons
04:42gather at the royal court
04:44all claimants to the throne.
04:46Among them
04:48is a mere boy.
04:50According
04:52to Jewish legend, barely
04:54twelve years old.
04:56His name is Solomon.
05:00It is now, as David
05:02lies near death, that Solomon's
05:04mother Bathsheba approaches
05:06the frail king's bedside.
05:08And she said unto him,
05:12My lord,
05:14you swore to your servant
05:16by the lord your God,
05:18saying,
05:19Your son Solomon
05:20shall succeed me as king
05:22and shall sit on my throne.
05:24First Kings
05:261, 17.
05:30Even though Solomon is not first
05:32in line to inherit the throne,
05:34David exceeds to Bathsheba's wishes.
05:38Too sick to rule,
05:39David proclaims Solomon king.
05:43But many are left wondering,
05:45does this youth have the knowledge,
05:47let alone the vision,
05:48to rule the people of Israel?
05:55No sooner does David die
05:56than the fledgling King Solomon
05:58finds his reign in crisis.
06:01While taking advantage
06:03of this period
06:04of grief and uncertainty,
06:05one of Solomon's
06:06half-brothers
06:07attempts to overthrow
06:08the young monarch.
06:12Solomon quells
06:13the rebellion
06:14and condemns
06:15his half-brother
06:16to death.
06:22It is soon afterwards
06:23that Solomon journeys
06:24to a hilltop
06:25named Gibeon,
06:27a sanctuary
06:28just outside of Jerusalem.
06:32Here he dutifully
06:33offers a sacrifice
06:34to God,
06:35never imagining
06:36that he is about
06:37to experience
06:38the defining moment
06:39of his life.
06:45That night,
06:46God appears
06:47before Solomon
06:48in a dream.
06:52And God said,
06:53Ask what I shall give thee.
06:55And Solomon said unto God,
06:58I am but a little child.
06:59I know not how to go out
07:01or come in.
07:02Give therefore to me,
07:04thy servant,
07:05an understanding heart
07:07to judge thy people,
07:09that I may discern
07:10between good and bad.
07:121 Kings 3, 9.
07:16This is exactly what God wants to hear.
07:22And God says,
07:23Well, because you could have asked for anything,
07:26but you only asked for wisdom,
07:28I'm not only going to give you wisdom,
07:30I'm going to give you everything else too.
07:35Scholars have speculated about the nature
07:37of the extraordinary power God grants to Solomon.
07:41Intriguing clues may be found
07:44in the book of Jewish oral tradition
07:46known as the Talmud.
07:51He woke up and he heard the baying of a donkey
07:54and the chirping of a bird,
07:56and he understood what they were saying
07:59and realized that the dream had not been a dream,
08:02but the dream had come true.
08:04Had God endowed Solomon
08:08with the transcendent capacity
08:10to become one with the universe?
08:14What an unbelievable moment
08:16there must have been for Solomon
08:17to walk outside and realize
08:19that somehow he was in tune
08:21with the language of the flowers.
08:23He could hear the blades of grass
08:25whispering to each other.
08:27What secrets do they tell?
08:29As profoundly moving
08:31as the legend of Solomon's transformation
08:33is, some scholars question
08:36whether this incident actually occurred.
08:41Many biblical scholars suspect
08:43that the story of Solomon very modestly
08:46asking God for wisdom and nothing else
08:48is a rather fanciful piece of propaganda
08:51written by the court of Solomon
08:53to support his being the king.
08:58After this moment, Solomon would claim
09:00that his power stemmed from his special relationship
09:03with God.
09:04It was not unusual for a king
09:06to govern by such divine authority,
09:09making it very difficult for anyone
09:11to oppose his rule.
09:16Before long, the young king's wisdom
09:18would be put to the test
09:19in a baffling legal case.
09:21When approached by two women,
09:27each claiming the same baby as her own,
09:31Solomon is asked to discern the identity
09:33of the real mother.
09:39How does he arrive at his famous decision?
09:41When we return, how does Solomon ingeniously
09:46use this case to establish himself
09:49as the dominant ruler of his time?
10:11The scene has come down through the ages
10:13as one of the most dramatic in the Bible.
10:17Two women enter Solomon's court
10:19fighting over a newborn infant.
10:25Their voices rise to a fever pitch,
10:27each claiming the baby as her own.
10:34And the king said,
10:35bring me a sword.
10:37And they brought a sword before the king.
10:39And the king said,
10:41divide the child in two,
10:43and give half to the one,
10:45half to the other.
10:471 Kings 3, 25.
10:55One of the most extraordinary qualities
10:57of Solomon's wisdom is his ability
10:59to discern truth from falsehood.
11:01Many have wondered,
11:03by what means is he able to do this?
11:09He had enormous confidence
11:11in his own gut reaction to people.
11:15He listened carefully to their case
11:17and responded in an innovative gut kind of fashion.
11:21You know, challenged the women,
11:23pushed them to the brink,
11:25exposed them in terms of their emotional profile.
11:29Before the women's startled eyes,
11:31the baby is hefted into the air.
11:37A razor-sharp sword swings back,
11:39about to deal the death blow.
11:45Solomon shows no hint of emotion
11:47as he orders the soldier to cut the child in two.
11:49Suddenly, one of the women lunges forward,
11:59crying out for him to stop.
12:03She begs Solomon to give the baby
12:05to the other woman,
12:07and spare the child's life.
12:09Solomon knows that mother love is love that lets go,
12:19love that would rather see the child well and safe
12:23than see personal gratification.
12:25Then the king responded,
12:29give the first woman the living boy.
12:33Do not kill him.
12:35She is his mother.
12:37First Kings 3, 27.
12:45While many marvel at Solomon's ingenious solution to the case,
12:47there are some who doubt the story's veracity.
12:55It's a wonderful story,
12:56but once again,
12:57seems like it must have been hatched
12:59in the campaign headquarters
13:01of Solomon becoming the king,
13:03just as much as it could come from an actual decision.
13:08With his wisdom now legendary,
13:10Solomon takes up the reins of leadership
13:12with commanding authority.
13:16In a deft maneuver to expand his power base,
13:19he enters into diplomatic alliances
13:21with rulers throughout the Middle East.
13:30One of the ways that you sealed relationships
13:32with foreign countries is through marriage.
13:35So, early on, Solomon's number of marriages
13:38must have been seen as,
13:39look at the great statesmanlike accomplishments
13:42of this great diplomatic king of ours.
13:49The Bible tells us
13:50that Solomon accumulates 700 wives
13:53and 300 concubines.
13:58Many have asked,
13:59are these astonishing numbers an exaggeration?
14:05He probably didn't marry all those women
14:07any more than he had all those mountains of gold.
14:11There's no doubt whatsoever
14:12that the Bible magnifies the accomplishments
14:15of some of their royal figures,
14:17even at the same time that it criticizes them.
14:22Criticism of Solomon's many affairs
14:24is also implicit in biblical accounts,
14:28as is his habit of building chapels
14:30for his foreign wives,
14:32so they can continue to worship their own pagan gods.
14:41It's a ticking bomb.
14:42Sooner or later, it's got to go off,
14:44and there has to be an indictment of Solomon,
14:47because his heart does get led astray
14:49by those wives and their idols.
14:51Raising even more questions
14:56about Solomon's personal values
14:58is the fact that despite his large number of wives,
15:02Solomon's offspring are barely mentioned.
15:08This is a man who supposedly had a harem
15:11consisting of a thousand women.
15:13Where are all the kids?
15:14Where's all the little pitter-patter
15:15of thousands of feet around the palace?
15:17There's something dead and sterile about his romances.
15:22They don't issue in children.
15:27Seemingly unaware of his own disturbing flaws,
15:30Solomon embarks on an ambitious building program
15:33that will become the talk of the ancient world.
15:38By almost every standard,
15:40he seems a king at the very peak of his power.
15:47Yet, it is now, as Solomon starts to turn his grandiose plans
15:51into reality,
15:52that some scholars see the seeds of his crushing downfall.
16:01When we return,
16:02how could a king endowed with wisdom and divine insight
16:06cruelly oppress his own people?
16:09The landscape of Israel
16:33abounds with archeological wonders,
16:34bearing silent witness
16:36silent witness to dramatic events which occurred thousands of years ago outside
16:48of the Hebrew Bible however there is little historical evidence that Solomon
16:52ever existed which makes the quest for archaeological clues all the more crucial
17:02could it be that these ancient stones of Megiddo corroborate the story told in the
17:08Old Testament of Solomon's flourishing kingdom was Solomon a real figure those
17:15questions are very difficult to answer I think on the basis of what I know about
17:21the archaeological remains of the period if we didn't have Solomon we'd have to
17:26invent somebody and we could name him Solomon
17:32according to the Hebrew Bible Solomon builds fortifications throughout Israel
17:37where he can provision his armies and guard strategic trade routes
17:46but it is in the glittering capital city of Jerusalem where he embarks on his most
17:50ambitious project an extravagant palace that contains within it the holy temple
18:02and he built the inner court with three rows of huge stone and a row of cedar beams
18:09and he carved there on cherubim and palm trees and open flowers and covered them
18:17with gold 1st Kings 6 36
18:27Inside the temple in an inner sanctum called the holy of holies Solomon places the ark of the covenant
18:36according to tradition the ark was believed to contain within it the ten commandments
18:40presented to Moses on Mount Sinai
18:46when Solomon put the ark into the temple it endowed the entire temple with the sort of divine authority
18:53and divine majesty that made it recognized among all the people as the center of Jewish worship
19:00and Jewish religious life and the Jewish connection to God
19:05Solomon succeeds in making his dream come true a temple for the Lord in the holy city
19:15under his reign the grandeur and opulence of Jerusalem would become legendary
19:22but what remains of Solomon's grand legacy in our own time
19:30to this day beneath the age old streets of Jerusalem not one shred of evidence has been unearthed
19:39to support the existence of either Solomon's palace or temple
19:45the ark of the covenant the holiest icon of the Jewish people has also vanished
19:51experts have naturally wondered why
19:56archaeologists believe that the mysterious disappearance of evidence that Solomon lived
20:01may have had something to do with the turbulent character of Jerusalem itself
20:06for much of its long history Jerusalem has been a holy city for three major religions
20:16Judaism Christianity and Islam
20:19to this day the city remains a battleground to the faithful and fanatical
20:28sites such as that of Solomon's holy temple are forbidden to the probing shovels of archaeologists
20:38we may never know what secrets lie buried beneath this sacred soil
21:00assuming however that what the Bible tells us is true
21:04and Solomon did transform his kingdom with an amazing amount of construction
21:09what would be the verdict of history?
21:13if we take Solomon's story at face value
21:16we might come away thinking this is a real golden age
21:19this is a Camelot
21:21everything is hunky-dory
21:23and yet beneath the surface of Solomon's achievements lay a darker truth
21:32for while he may have turned his dreams into reality
21:35they were realized at a terrible price
21:42Solomon even went so far as to conscript labor
21:46and take people away from their farms
21:48and destroy village life
21:50so that he could get these massive building projects off the ground
21:55the people suffered horribly under Solomon
21:58yes they had beautiful buildings
22:00but they had whip marks on their backs to show for it
22:05oppressive taxes
22:07and forced labor
22:09these were the policies of Solomon's administration
22:12despite all the trappings of outward glory
22:18some experts have come to wonder
22:20how Solomon
22:21this wisest of all kings
22:23lost his way
22:25there's no doubt about the fact
22:29that Solomon plants the seeds of his own destruction
22:32by oppressive rulership of his own people
22:35this is the downfall of course of all dictators
22:38of all dictators
22:39and that is their glories come at a price
22:42a human price
22:43that they forget to honor and pay
22:46and pay back
22:47now as Solomon approaches the middle years of his life
22:53there is about him a sense of longing
22:56and dissatisfaction
22:58you can see that same kind of psychological process
23:06in many men today
23:08who build a career
23:11do very well materially
23:16but can't seem to find peace or happiness
23:21or joy in their lives
23:27it is now that one of the most alluring figures in the Bible
23:30enters Solomon's life
23:32none other than the Queen of Sheba
23:35for years the mighty King Solomon
23:53has surely heard whisperings
23:55of a lush and prosperous land called Sheba
23:58lying far to the south of Egypt
24:00the kingdom is ruled by a shrewd and powerful queen
24:07who has made her nation prosper
24:09by cultivating an aromatic plant used as incense
24:17although the primary source of Sheba's encounter with Solomon
24:20comes to us from the Bible
24:22so many corresponding tales of their liaison
24:25have been passed down by other cultures
24:28that many experts believe Sheba to be an historical figure
24:34if so, where was her fabled kingdom?
24:39there are a number of good possibilities
24:41one is that Sheba is really another name
24:44or another term for a well-known place called Saba
24:48which is in South Arabia
24:50however there's also a kind of Ethiopian connection to Sheba
24:55we know that there are many references in the Bible
24:58to the kingdom of Kush
25:00of what we call today Ethiopia
25:03we know that it was a flourishing kingdom
25:05so it's not outside of the possibility
25:07that a dignitary, a female dignitary
25:11from the kingdom of Kush
25:13would have come on diplomatic visits
25:15that would have included Jerusalem
25:19many scholars have wondered
25:20if the queen of Sheba did come from Ethiopia
25:23was she of African descent?
25:28some people think
25:29she might have been quite dark skinned
25:32she might have been African
25:33but even if she was from Arabia
25:35she was also dark
25:37according to Ethiopian legend
25:42Solomon sends the queen a message
25:44attached to the wings of a bird
25:50he simply cannot stand the idea
25:53of anyone out there ruling independently
25:56who has not acknowledged him to be superior
26:00in the letter Solomon orders Sheba
26:03to appear before him
26:05he tells her that the trip to Jerusalem
26:07should take seven years
26:12despite the potential dangers of such a journey
26:14Sheba seems drawn to him by destiny
26:25when the queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon
26:28fame due to the name of the Lord
26:31she came to test him with riddles
26:34in the Ethiopian legend
26:52Sheba sets out by camel caravan
26:54crossing 3,000 miles of burning desert
26:57meanwhile Solomon has heard strangely unsettling rumours about the queen
27:10it is whispered that Sheba may be part demon
27:16as a result of her pact with the spirits of darkness
27:20she may not have the legs and feet of an ordinary woman
27:24but may possess the hooves of a goat
27:31nervously anticipating her arrival in Jerusalem
27:35Solomon devises a scheme that will force Sheba to reveal her alleged demon's feet
27:40he installs a pool of water in his throne room
27:45filling it with fish and covering it with a sheet of glass
27:49when Sheba arrives sooner than expected Solomon is caught off guard
27:56as her entourage approaches the palace gates
27:59as she makes her way towards his throne room
28:11the king carefully observes her every move
28:17she hesitates at the perimeter of the pool
28:20as she lifts her skirts her ankles are revealed
28:25to his relief Solomon sees that Sheba is human after all
28:36they spent days apparently just challenging each other with riddles
28:41his riddles seem to be designed to show off his knowledge of the natural world
28:49her riddles seem to be more seductive and more personal
28:57legend tells us that Solomon is intensely drawn to Sheba
29:04the minute Solomon sees her he wants her
29:08but she's extremely virtuous
29:10so in some of the legends he actually sets out to seduce her
29:13because he understands he cannot have her any other way
29:16some experts even believe that Solomon may have written the Song of Songs
29:23a series of erotic poems that appear in the Bible
29:26to express his desire for the Queen
29:31you have ravished my heart
29:33my sister, my bride
29:36you have ravished my heart with a glance of your eyes
29:39song of songs
29:40song of songs
29:42four
29:43nine
29:48some of the verses of the song of songs
29:50have been thought to be about the Queen of Sheba
29:54especially those verses that say
29:56I'm dark but beautiful, oh daughters of Jerusalem
29:59scholars have wondered if indeed Sheba was of a darker skin color than Solomon
30:08how would this difference have been viewed?
30:13there would have been no sense of this is an interracial affair
30:17that is they would have hated it because she was foreign
30:21but that has nothing to do with her skin color
30:23the Bible is aware of differences in skin color
30:29but there is not attached to that difference
30:33any kind of moral judgment
30:37there is no judgment passed on people because of their physical features
30:43perhaps then if racial prejudice was not a problem in the ancient world
30:48then the obvious differences between Solomon and Sheba
30:51would have been viewed as a source of attraction
30:56that would be hard to sort out
30:58from a lot of the other bases of attraction that the Bible seems to point out
31:04I mean Solomon's displaying all of this wealth
31:07this great panache and wisdom
31:09was skin tone also an aspect of the attraction?
31:13well, maybe
31:14it's certainly not outside the realm of possibility
31:17after six months in Solomon's court
31:22Sheba decides it is time to return home
31:25Solomon, in an uncharacteristic display of emotion
31:29begs her to stay for just one more day
31:33Sheba agrees
31:35be it raw physical attraction or perhaps even love
31:39powerful forces seem to be driving these two strong personalities ever closer together
31:46It is ten centuries before the birth of Jesus
31:57According to legend, the Queen of Sheba has been a guest in Solomon's court for six months
32:02And King Solomon gave unto the Queen of Sheba all her desire, whatsoever she asked,
32:03beside that which Solomon gave her of his royal bounty
32:041 Kings 10, 13
32:051 Kings 10, 13
32:061 Kings 10, 13
32:071 Kings 10, 13
32:08As Sheba prepares to return to the workplace
32:12tegoele's throne, the queen 56
32:16for the birth of hisгоmente
32:18according to legend the Queen of Sheba
32:19The Queen of Sheba has be a guest in Solomon's court for six months
32:21of Sheba, all her desire, whatsoever she asked, beside that which Solomon gave her of his
32:28royal bounty, 1 Kings 10, 13.
32:35As Sheba prepares to return to her homeland, Solomon oversees the preparation of a farewell
32:41feast.
32:43For some inexplicable reason, he tells his servants to add powerful spices to the food.
32:51Eying each other over the long banquet table, they linger, knowing this is the last meal
33:00they will ever share together.
33:04Finally, when the candles have burned low, Solomon suggests that she spend the night in
33:10his palace.
33:13And she said, well, I'm not comfortable staying.
33:17I'm afraid that you're going to try to seduce me.
33:20And he said, well, no, I promise I won't take anything from you if you promise not to
33:25take anything of mine.
33:29Solomon arranges a chamber where there are two beds and wishes her good night.
33:37Sheba awakens in the middle of the night with an intense thirst from the spicy meal.
33:42Solomon watches her from the other bed.
33:54Though it is only a mouthful of water, she has indeed taken something that belongs to him.
34:01Announcing that she has broken her promise, he slips into her bed.
34:05Their passion, held in check for so long, is finally released.
34:17Solomon and the Queen of Sheba share hours of joyful lovemaking.
34:21Later, as he falls asleep, Solomon has an ominous dream.
34:28He dreams that the son has departed from Jerusalem forever and never comes back.
34:34He waits and waits and it never comes back.
34:37And my sense is that that's his feeling about her leaving, that the warmth is really going
34:43out of his life.
34:46Sheba awakens in the morning, ready to depart for home.
34:51Solomon places a signet ring on her finger, a token of his affection.
34:59Reluctantly, he watches the Queen as she sets off on her homeward journey.
35:13What neither Sheba nor Solomon know is that she is pregnant with Solomon's child.
35:25Legend tells us that nine months after leaving the kingdom of Israel, a son is born to the
35:32Queen of Sheba.
35:33She names him Menelik.
35:35After an arduous journey, mother and son reach their home in Ethiopia.
35:47Historians have wondered whether Sheba's liaison with King Solomon is responsible for the existence
35:52of the Jewish population now living in Ethiopia.
35:55When Sheba returned to Africa or Arabia, she went with many gifts.
36:06So she may well have been bringing courtiers, maidservants, nannies, tutors, all kinds of
36:13people back with her.
36:15And these, as well as her own encounter with Solomon, could be the origin of Ethiopian Jews.
36:20As her son Menelik grows up, Sheba frequently recounts stories of his mighty father and the
36:30land he rules far to the north.
36:34And yet in her heart, she knows that she will never set eyes on Solomon again.
36:43When the boy turns 13, Sheba tells him to go to Jerusalem to meet his father.
36:50When he says, how will I know my father, she holds up the mirror and she says, he looks
36:55just like this, you, my son.
36:58He looks just like you.
37:02As Menelik sets off for Jerusalem, Sheba entrusts him with Solomon's signet ring, telling him
37:08that it will be through this ring that his father will recognize him as the son of the
37:13woman he once loved.
37:15Many scholars have questioned whether Solomon ever met the son born from his single night
37:23of passion with the queen of Sheba.
37:28Others believe that Menelik did, in fact, reach Jerusalem.
37:32It has been said that years later, when Menelik leaves Jerusalem to return to Ethiopia, he takes
37:45with him the sacred Ark of the Covenant.
37:49To this day, some people claim the Ark is kept in a remote temple in Ethiopia's holy city
37:54of Aksum.
37:59However, many experts remain unconvinced.
38:03They believe it far more likely that the Ark disappeared as late as the fall of Jerusalem
38:08to the Babylonians, 400 years after the death of Solomon.
38:15Some speculate that the Ark may have been destroyed by a conquering army and melted down for its gold.
38:21Others, however, believe it may still be intact.
38:29The Ark is definitely buried somewhere, and according to most traditional sources,
38:33it's actually buried somewhere in Jerusalem.
38:41Even today, explorers believe that the Ark is buried and continue to search for its whereabouts.
38:51What does seem certain is that King Solomon does not end his life a happy or fulfilled man.
38:58Scholars have wondered, was it because he allowed the one woman he might have loved to slip through his fingers?
39:07One can imagine Solomon standing on the roof of his palace,
39:13watching Sheba's caravan disappear over the sands
39:16as he thinks about the one who got away.
39:24It is after his liaison with the Queen of Sheba
39:27that Solomon is believed to have written Ecclesiastes,
39:31a book in the Bible characterized by its haunting lament.
39:34To everything there is a season,
39:41a time to every purpose under the heaven,
39:44a time to be born and a time to die,
39:48a time to plant and a time to pluck that which is planted.
39:54Ecclesiastes 3, 2.
39:57It seems to me that the book of Ecclesiastes represents all of us
40:03in our moments of bitterness,
40:06in our moments of wondering if all of life is just vanity.
40:10The message seems to be,
40:13even in our darkest moments,
40:14even in our bitterest thoughts about where is God,
40:19the assurance is,
40:21no, God is still with you.
40:22Strangely, in his last days,
40:28a figure enters Solomon's life
40:30who has never before been mentioned in the Bible.
40:34It is Rehoboam,
40:35a son from one of Solomon's many wives.
40:40All that history tells us
40:42is that Solomon names him his successor to the throne.
40:49Solomon spends his last days alone
40:51in the magnificent palace he built for himself.
40:56His reign was marked by 40 years of peace and tranquility.
41:03Why is it, then,
41:05that shortly after Solomon's death,
41:07the United Kingdom of Israel
41:09is rocked by political turmoil?
41:15Ten of the traditional 12 tribes
41:18pull away from the House of David.
41:20This isn't a division of the kingdoms,
41:23as we so nicely say.
41:25This is a mass rejection of the House of Solomon.
41:28This is a mass rebellion
41:29amongst the majority of the people
41:32rejecting, lock, stock, and barrel,
41:36the rulership of Solomon.
41:37Some scholars hold Solomon personally responsible
41:42for the breakup of the 12 tribes of Israel.
41:47He became enamored of his own power
41:50and his own reach
41:51and his own possibilities and potential,
41:55and in the end,
41:56he forgot that he was a fallible human being,
41:59that he was accountable primarily to God and to the people,
42:03and so he left a legacy
42:05that did great harm to Israel.
42:10The tragedy of King Solomon
42:12strikes a universal and haunting chord.
42:16Perhaps no other human being
42:18has been blessed with such a deep and abiding wisdom.
42:21By relying on this divine insight,
42:26Solomon managed to build Israel
42:28into a mighty nation
42:29that awed the ancient world for a generation.
42:33And yet, somehow, he lost his way.
42:39Caught up in all of his worldly accomplishments,
42:42Solomon lost sight of the needs of the common man.
42:45The shining promise of his youth
42:49was never realized.
43:00Wisdom without compassion can be a dangerous tool.
43:05In his hunger for greatness,
43:07Solomon was to abuse his God-given gift
43:09and see it turn with disastrous effect
43:12against not only his own people,
43:15but also against himself.
43:45But now he's been raised by Daniel