Read the book “Counsels of King Solomon. From the series "Secrets from the Book" "online in full - Valery Kasym - MyBook. Solomon's Plan for Acquiring Wisdom The Wise Counsels of King Solomon

"Ask what to give you." During the reign of Solomon, the son of David, the whole country enjoyed peace and prosperity. This time is called the “golden age” of Israel.

Soon after Solomon became king, he made a rich sacrifice to Yahweh. At night, the king dreamed of God, who told him: "Ask what to give you." Solomon warmly thanked the Lord for all the mercies bestowed on him and his father David, and asked: "Grant your servant a reasonable heart to judge your people and discern what is good and what is evil." God really liked the modesty of the new king and He said: “For the fact that you asked for this and did not ask for yourself a long life, did not ask for riches for yourself, did not ask for the souls of your enemies, but asked for reason to be able to judge, I will do according to my word yours. Behold, I give you a heart that is wise and reasonable, so that there has not been anything like you before you and will not be after you. And what you did not ask, I give you: both riches and glory, so that there will be no like you among kings all your days. " To this God added that if Solomon follows the example of his father David in everything, he will live a long and happy life.

"Give her this child alive." Waking up, Solomon again performed a magnificent sacrifice and threw a rich feast. But during the feast, an unexpected event occurred: two women came with a tiny child and asked the king to judge them.

It turned out that they both live in the same house and both gave birth to a boy. One of the boys died during the night. His mother woke up, quietly took a living boy for herself, and planted a dead one for her sleeping neighbor. When everything was revealed in the morning, the deceiver refused to give the son to the real mother and claimed that it was her own child... They continued to bicker in front of the king, so that it was impossible to understand who was telling the truth and who was lying.

Then the king ordered to bring a sword and said: "Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other." One woman begged in horror: “Oh, my lord! Give her this child alive and do not kill him! " Another calmly said: “Let it be neither for me nor for you, cut it off”.

The king pointed to the one who begged to spare the child, and said: “Give this living child and do not put him to death; she is his mother. "

Since then, Israel began to fear Solomon, as they were convinced that nothing would be hidden from his wisdom.

Temple of the Lord. In the fourth year of his reign, Solomon sent people to his father's friend, the Tyrian king Hiram, with a request to help in building a house for the Lord. Solomon made an alliance with Hiram, and they agreed that Hiram would help chop the cedars and cypresses in the Lebanese mountains, and Solomon would supply him with wheat and olive oil.

All the adult men in Israel worked to build a home for God. Some, under the guidance of Phoenician craftsmen, cut down trees, others mined stone, others built the temple itself, and others supervised the work.

The construction took seven years. In appearance, the temple turned out to be not very large: sixty cubits long, twenty wide and thirty high [height of a modern five-story building]; but he was striking in the richness and beauty of the decoration. From the inside, Yahweh's house was clad in cedar, and the floors were made of cypress. In the depths of the temple, a special room was fenced off, which was called the "Holy of Holies": for the ark of the covenant. Above, two olive cherubim stretched out their mighty wings. The entire temple was adorned with gold plates and gold-plated wood carvings. Golden chains were stretched out in front of the Holy of Holies. Many items for worship were also made of gold.

A “sea of ​​copper” cast from copper was installed near the temple - a huge vessel resembling a lily flower in shape. From one end to the other, the "sea of ​​brass" was one hundred and ten cubits, five cubits deep. The vessel was filled to the top with water and stood on twelve brass oxen. Before entering the temple, the priests washed their hands and feet in it.

Yahweh's warning. When the ark of the covenant was solemnly brought into the built temple and Solomon turned to God, asking for his mercy for the people of Israel and for himself, God appeared to him again, praised the temple and confirmed: if the Israelites and Solomon himself worship only Him, then the descendants of David will be rule Israel forever. Then Yahweh threatenedly warned: “If you and your sons depart from Me and do not keep My commandments and My statutes that I have given you, and go and serve other gods and worship them, then I will destroy Israel from the face of the earth, which I gave him, and the temple that I have sanctified to my name, I will cast away from my presence, and Israel will be a parable and a laughingstock for all nations. And about this high temple, everyone passing by it will be horrified and whistle, and say: "Why did the Lord do this with this land and with this temple?" And they will say: "Because they left the Lord their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and accepted other gods, and worshiped them, and served them, for this the Lord brought all this calamity on them."

Solomon's palace. The royal palace, built under David, seemed to Solomon old and cramped, and he decided to build himself a new one. The construction took thirteen years. The house of Solomon turned out to be even more impressive than the house of Yahweh: a hundred cubits long, fifty wide and thirty high. The palace had three floors and was built of huge stone slabs and cedar. The palace had two annexes: a covered courtyard (the roof was supported by huge cedar pillars) with a front porch; the second annex was intended for court cases - there was a throne on which Solomon sat when he had to judge his subjects.

The inside of the palace was decorated with two hundred large shields forged of gold and three hundred smaller shields of gold. In the ceremonial hall on a dais stood a large throne of ivory and gold, six steps led to it. The throne was guarded by two statues of lions, and two more lions perched on each step. All the dishes in the palace were gold, even silver was not used - it seemed to the king too cheap.

The power and wealth of Solomon. Under Solomon, the kingdom of Israel extended from the Euphrates to the borders of Egypt. His peace was guarded by a strong army: one thousand four hundred war chariots, twelve thousand horsemen, a huge number of infantry. The king bought horses and chariots in Egypt and Arabia.

Solomon equipped merchant ships to distant lands: one of the ships sailed across the Red Sea to the mysterious country of Ophir for gold, precious stones and mahogany [scientists believe that this country was located somewhere on the east coast of Africa]; another ship sailed every three years from Tire across the Mediterranean to distant Tarshish [ancient kingdom in the territory of modern Spain] and brought from there gold, silver, ivory, even monkeys and peacocks for the royal menagerie. The king preferred not to fight, but to trade with all countries. He was fabulously rich: gold alone in his treasury received 666 talents per year. [talent is an ancient measure of weight, about 30 kg].

"Stick your heart to the doctrine." Solomon was considered the wisest man in the world, he knew everything about everything, and people from near and far countries came to listen to him, to marvel at his mind. Many sayings of Solomon are useful for us to know.

He taught that only constant work allows a person to live well, and idleness leads to poverty: "You will sleep a little, take a little nap, lie down a little, with folded hands, and your poverty will come, like a passer-by, and your need, like a robber" [those. completely unexpected for you].

The king believed that a person should learn all his life: "Stick your heart to the teaching and your ears to clever words." It is the attitude to knowledge that distinguishes the clever from the fool: "The heart of the rational acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks knowledge."

A person should be able to behave and always maintain restraint: "A patient person has a lot of reason, and an irritable one shows stupidity." You need to listen to what those around you say about you: "A good name is better than great wealth, and good fame is better than silver and gold." At the same time, one cannot be boastful: "Let someone else praise you, not your mouth, someone else's, and not your tongue."

Friendship plays an important role in life. To acquire it, you need to be friendly to others: “He who wants to have friends, he himself must be friendly”. But in friendship you cannot be annoying and annoying: "Do not frequent your friend's house, so that he does not get bored with you and does not hate you."

You cannot treat people badly and do evil to them - bad deeds ultimately destroy the one who does them: “He who digs a hole will fall into it, and whoever rolls a stone up, he will return to that one.”

We must pity those who are unlucky in life and, if possible, help them: “The one who gives to the beggar will not become impoverished”.

Queen of Sheba. The queen of the distant kingdom of Sheba, located in the south of Arabia, learned about the wisdom of Solomon. She, too, was a wise woman, and besides, she was curious, and decided to check whether the king of Israel was really as smart as they say.

Through the waterless desert, a heavily laden camel caravan set off for distant Palestine. The journey lasted many days, and one day the inhabitants of Jerusalem saw a magnificent procession, which was heading towards the royal palace.

Solomon received the Queen of Sheba, they talked for a long time, the queen told him all the riddles that she knew, "and Solomon explained to her all her words, and there was nothing unfamiliar to the king that he would not explain to her." The queen, delighted with the mind and charm of Solomon, the luxury of his palace, the beauty of his servants, could no longer restrain herself and exclaimed: “It is true that I heard in my land about your deeds and your wisdom! But I did not believe the words until I came and my eyes saw: and, behold, I was not even half told. You have more wisdom and wealth than I heard. Happy are your people and happy are your servants who always stand before you and hear your wisdom! Blessed be the Lord your God, who deigned to put you on the throne of Israel! The Lord, out of his eternal love for Israel, made you king to do justice and righteousness. "

The Queen of Sheba presented Solomon with one hundred and twenty talents of gold, precious stones and a lot of incense. [This was the name of the aromatic substances extracted from some plants that grew only in the south of Arabia; they cost much more than gold.] Solomon did not remain in debt: he presented the queen with rich gifts, and, in addition, gave everything that she liked and that she asked for. After a warm farewell, the queen and her servants set off on the return journey.

"King Solomon loved many foreign women." Despite his wisdom, Solomon could not keep the word he gave to God - to serve only Him alone. The fact is that in ancient times the power of the king was judged by the number of his wives. The neighboring rulers respected Solomon very much, even the powerful Egyptian pharaoh considered it an honor to become related to him and gave his daughter for Solomon. In addition to the Egyptian princess, Solomon had many other wives. According to the Bible, “King Solomon loved many foreign women, except Pharaoh's daughter, and he had seven hundred wives, and the wives perverted his heart. During the old age of Solomon's wives, they bowed his heart to other gods, and his heart was not completely devoted to the Lord, his God, as the heart of David, his father. " For his many foreign wives, Solomon built temples of their gods, and he himself began to worship not only Yahweh, but also foreign deities.

Yahweh's wrath. Then the angry Yahweh said to Solomon: “Because this is done with you, and you did not keep my covenant, I will tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant. But in your days I will not do it for the sake of your father David; I will pluck him out of your son's hand. And I will not pluck away the whole kingdom; one tribe I will give to your son for the sake of David, my servant, and for the sake of Jerusalem, which I have chosen. "

And so it happened. Solomon ruled for forty years, like David, and after his death, the one kingdom of Israel disintegrated. The northern part of Palestine retained the name Israel; the city of Samaria became the capital of this state. In the place of the southern half of Solomon's kingdom, there remained a state called Judea - after the name of the tribe of the descendants of Judah, the son of Jacob. Jerusalem remained the capital of Judea, the descendants of David and Solomon ruled there.

The beloved anointed of God, the author of immortal biblical parables, the legendary ruler of the united kingdom of Israel during its heyday, the son of King David - the great and wise King Solomon. During his reign, the most important Jewish shrine, the Jerusalem Temple, was built. King Solomon is also traditionally considered the author of the source of poetic skill - the book "Song of Songs" and a collection of philosophical reflections - "The Book of Ecclesiastes." There are many legends about this historical figure. One of them says that once two women came to the king for advice and brought a small child. Each of them claimed to be her child. To find out which of them is lying and which is right, Solomon advised to cut the baby in two and give each woman half. Of course, the wise king did not even think to kill the child, but in such a cunning way he found out which of them was the real mother.

Although the great King Solomon possessed great wisdom, his life was not calm. Rumor has it that the king wore a ring, which in the storms of life brought him into balance and acted as an elixir to heal wounds. There was an inscription on the ring: "Everything passes ...", which had a continuation from the inside: "This will also pass."

Passing the beggars - get lost.
Passing by young people - do not get angry.
Passing the old ones - bow down.
Sit down as you pass the cemeteries.
Passing memory - remember.
As you pass your mother, stand up.
Passing relatives - remember.
Passing knowledge - take it.
Passing by laziness - shudder.
Passing by the idle - create.
As you pass by the fallen, remember.
Passing the wise - wait.
Passing by the stupid - do not listen.
Passing happiness - rejoice.
Passing the generous - take a bite.
Passing honor - keep it.
Passing by the debt - do not hide.
Passing by the word - hold.
Passing feelings - do not be shy.
Passing women - do not flatter.
Passing the glory - don't be fooled.
Passing the truth - do not lie.
Passing by sinners - hope.
Passing by passion - go away.
Passing a quarrel - do not quarrel.
Passing flattery - be silent.
Passing conscience - be afraid.
Passing by drunkenness - do not drink.
Passing anger - humble yourself.
Passing grief - cry.
Passing the pain - take heart.
Passing lies - do not be silent.
When passing by a thief, do not sneak.
Passing the impudent ones - tell them.
Passing the orphans - rub yourself.
Passing by the authorities - do not believe.
Passing death - do not be afraid.
Passing life - live.
Passing by God - open up.

I’ll probably hang these rules somewhere in a prominent place and refer to them when I don’t know what to do in a given situation. Have you learned anything from these statements? Share this invaluable wisdom with your friends!

Everything has its own hour and time for every work under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die. A time to destroy and a time to build.

Time to scatter stones and time to stack stones. A time to be silent and a time to speak.

He promised - do it! It is better not to promise than to promise and not to fulfill.

It is better to be together than to be alone, for if they fall, they will lift each other, but grief, if one falls, and there is no other to lift him, and if two lie, they are warm, so how can one get warm?

A wise wife builds her house, and a foolish one destroys it with her own hands.

I saw: there is no greater good than to rejoice in one's deeds, for this is the share of a person, for who will bring him to see what will happen after?

There is no man who has power over the wind - and there is no power over the hour of death, and there is no vacation in the war, and the wickedness of the wicked will not help out.

He who keeps his mouth safeguards his soul, and who widely dissolves his mouth is trouble.

Riches will not help in the day of anger, but righteousness will save you from death.

Like a gold ring in a pig's nose, a woman is beautiful and reckless.

The prudent one sees trouble and takes cover, while the inexperienced go ahead and are punished.

Anger is cruel, rage is indomitable; but who can resist jealousy?

There is still hope for those who are between the living.

Wisdom is more useful than stupidity, just as light is more useful than darkness.

But the same fate will befall both the wise and the foolish.

And when you laugh, sometimes your heart hurts, and the end of joy is sadness.

Pride will come, shame will come; but with the humble wisdom.

King Solomon is the wisest man of his time. He reflected on absolutely all aspects of life in order to understand their essence and meaning. He did not bypass the topic of relations between a man and a woman. How should their life, responsibilities and communication be structured so that there is happiness, peace and love?

A loved one is a jewel

A good wife - who will find her?It is more expensive than precious stones.
Proverbs 31:10

First, Solomon draws the attention of men that a diamond is a good life partner. It must be purposefully sought, as seekers seek treasure. What should women do at this time? Develop yourself and say once "Yes" to the one who found you :)

Absolute trust

Her husband believes her with all his heart, with her he will not be at a loss. She brings him good, not evil all the days of your life.
Proverbs 31: 11-12

There must be trust between loved ones: when you do not control another person for treason, lies or other betrayal. You need to trust each other and always pay with good, that is, do not even allow yourself to think bad about who you are going through life with. In actions, all the more you need to act kindly.

Loving and trusting relationships, according to Solomon, even affect financial success! A man who is confident in his woman will never be at a loss!

The qualities of an ideal woman

She chooses wool and linen and willingly works with his own hands. She is like merchant ships - gets its bread from afar. She gets up in the dark prepares food for his family and gives the maids work. Looks at the field and buys it; planting a vineyard on what she earned. Gets to work with fervor, her hands are strong for her labors. She understands that her trade is profitable; her lamp does not go out at night. He puts his hands on the spinning wheel, her fingers are holding the spindle. For the poor man she opens her palm and stretches out his hands to the needy. In the snow, he is not afraid for his family: her whole family dresses in scarlet clothes. She makes bedspreads for her bed dresses in thin linen and purple. Thin linen and purple - that is, clothes made from fabrics that were expensive for that time .. She makes linen clothes and sells them and supplies the merchants with belts. Dressed with strength and dignity and she looks cheerfully into tomorrow. She speaks with wisdom and good instruction in her tongue.She looks after the affairs of her family she does not eat the bread of idleness. 28Her children get up and call her blessed, also the husband - and praises her: “There are many good wives, but you have surpassed them all. "
Proverbs 31: 13-29

The qualities of the ideal housewife are described here. Of course, you do not need to take everything literally (after all, the time is not right now), but useful principles can be learned.

So, men and women, attention! The qualities of an ideal wife according to King Solomon:

• Hardworking
• Selective (values ​​quality)
• Enterprising
• Knows how to negotiate
• Strategic
• Owns time management
• Proactive
• Influential
• Attentive
• Talented
• Caring
• Energetic
• Playing sports
• Generous
• Thoughtful
• Knows his own worth
• Has sales and communication skills
• Positive
• Cheerful
• Wise
• Conscious
• Pleasant
• I want to praise and love her

Even more qualities can be distinguished, but these are the most important. How do you?)

An atmosphere of love creates success

Her husband is respected at the city gates.
Proverbs 31:23

In ancient times, the gates of the city were the center of all social life, discussions of the main issues and legal proceedings with the elders of the country took place around them.

A man who is next to a correct and wise woman is always respected. It is her mind and desire to create an atmosphere of love and care at home that helps her man achieve goals and climb the ladder of influence.

The main secret of a happy relationship

Beauty is deceiving and beauty is fleeting but a woman who fears the Lord is praiseworthy. Give her the reward she deserves let her works glorify her at the city gates.
Proverbs 31: 30-31

Solomon does not focus on a woman's appearance: her beauty, grace, or seductive figure. He, as a wise man, understood that this is all temporary, the main thing is the heart of the person who is next to you.

The relationship will be special when both man and woman honor God. When they sincerely try to fulfill His commandments, love Him and love each other. This is the most valuable thing!

Want to know more about the wisdom of Solomon? Read new book Itzhak Pintosevich "This is the whole man" - extended comments on the book "Coelet" ("Ecclesiastes"). These are deep and incredibly wise sayings about the earthly and spiritual, supported by a modern view and practical tasks from Yitzchak. You will find out who a person is, what his soul needs, and how to build your life the way God wants.