1 Kings 11:41 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

The book of the acts of Solomon. — In 2 Chronicles 9:29 the acts of Solomon are said to be “written in the book of Nathan the prophet, and in the prophecy of Ahijah the Shilonite, and in the visions of Iddo the seer against Jeroboam the son of Nebat.” The prophets appear here in the character of annalists. The book of Nathan presumably contained only the history of the early years; that of Ahijah may have well covered most of the later reign; and the visions of Iddo “could but have dealt incidentally with the closing acts of Solomon. The narrative as given in the Book of Kings is evidently a compilation drawn from various sources, differing in various parts, both in style and in degree of detail. Thus the account of the Temple building and dedication evidently comes from some temple record; and the references to Solomon’s territory, and the arrangements of his kingdom, look like notes drawn from official archives.