Let us note some of the causes of this power and prosperity:
I. The growth of the people.—The people are said, in Solomon’s reign, to have numbered five millions, or five hundred to every square mile. Compare with our present population. The army was of vast numbers. See Joab’s report, 2d Samuel, 24:9.
II. The character of the king.—He was (a) a statesman; he ignored tribal lines; he recognized the value of extended commercial relations; he opened intercourse with foreign nations, 1st Kings, 4:34; he made a powerful foreign alliance, 1st Kings, 9:16; he built a navy, 1st Kings, 9:26; he attended personally to the affairs of his kingdom, 2d Chron., 8:17; he fortified his outposts, 1st Kings, 9:17-19; he centralized the religious worship by building the magnificent temple at Jerusalem; he built permanent buildings for the seat of the nation’s capital. (b) A lover of Liberal Arts.—He was a poet himself, 1st Kings 4:32. Literature affords nothing more gorgeous in imagery than the Song of Songs; he was famed for his conversational powers; he engaged in conversational controversies with the most noted of his time—see his riddles as preserved in Proverbs 6:6, and 30:15-16-18; he was a lover of architecture—witness his building; he was a lover of music, inherited from his father, and the musical service of the temple was one of its most attractive features.
III. The character of his court.—All his counselors were men of note. Let the student see what he can find from the Bible as to the worth of his high priest, Zadok; his nearest friend, Zabud; his chief priest, Azariah, son of Zadok; his captain of the guard, Azariah, son of Nathan; his general in chief, Benaiah; his historian, Jehoshaphat; and his grand vizier, Ahishar.
IV. David’s work.—This was (a) a widely extended kingdom; (b) a centralized government; (c) peace with all the world. His son’s name, Solomon, Shelomoh, Peace.
V. The country’s external relations.—(a) By Ezion-Geber a water route was opened to the far east. Traces of this commerce with India can be found in their language. See Stanley, “Jewish Church,” Vol. I.
(b) By Damascus, a land route to the far interior highlands.
(c) By the Mediterranean traffic with Spain—in ships of Tarshish.
(d) By Tyre, commerce with Phœnicia.