Comments In Respect Of The Close Of Solomon's Reign (1 Kings 11:41-43).
It will be noted that some of the information which will in future be given at the commencement of a king's reign here comes at the end of Solomon's reign (see also 1 Kings 11:6). This will also partially be so with Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:21-22; 1 Kings 14:29-31) and Jeroboam (1 Kings 14:19-20). Thus the forthcoming regular pattern was not established by the author until after the deaths of these three kings. Its basis was that God had made two covenants, one that pertained to the kings of Judah (the Davidic covenant) and one that pertained to the kings of Israel (the covenant with Jeroboam - 1 Kings 11:37-38), with the kings of both Israel and Judah thus committed to obey YHWH and walk in His ways. And the continuing principle is that the kings were judged in the light of these covenants, and of how their fathers had behaved towards them Thus the kings of Judah are often compared against David, who had walked rightly before YHWH, and the kings of Israel in comparison with Jeroboam, who had grievously sinned and broken His covenant. This indicates that this framework was very much the creation of the main author of Kings, rather than simply a carrying forward of the practise found in Samuel (1 Samuel 13:1; 2 Samuel 5:4-5), although no doubt his reading of Samuel gave him something of the idea.
Analysis.
a Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the Book of the Acts of Solomon? (1 Kings 11:41).
b And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years. (1 Kings 11:42).
a And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place (1 Kings 11:43).
Note that in ‘a' we have the beginning of Solomon's obituary, and in the parallel the end of it. Centrally in ‘b' we have the declaration concerning his reign.
‘ Now the rest of the acts of Solomon, and all that he did, and his wisdom, are they not written in the book of the acts of Solomon?'
Here we are given details of the main source from which the prophetic author had obtained much of his information. Two things are in mind, Solomon's doings and his wisdom. He had a reputation for wisdom, and much had been written about it. But the author was not concerned with his wisdom, but with how it had been worked out in his life. While for a time it had seemed that he would live up to his promise, in the end his behaviour had let him down. This was a sign sadly of his lack of true wisdom, for ‘the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil that is understanding'. So in the end it had not mattered how wise he was. What mattered was whether he had lived in accordance with that wisdom, and our author has made clear that he did not, condemning him in the end as one who had ‘done evil in the sight of YHWH', and as one who had not followed in the steps of his father David (1 Kings 11:6).
For all of us a book of our acts are being written in Heaven (Revelation 20:12). And in the end we too will be judged by our actions, and especially by how we responded to the Lamb, and whether our names were written in His book of life (Revelation 20:15). By this we too demonstrate whether we are really wise.
‘ And the time that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel was forty years.'
Solomon reigned in Jerusalem for the whole of his adult life, and he reigned for forty years. The ‘forty years' indicates a full and complete reign which had not been cut off early, and in view of the fact that Solomon began to reign as a young man and, after a period of consolidation, spent twenty years over building the Temple and the palace complex, it is almost certainly fairly accurate, although it is not to be pressed. The number is a round number and the main idea is of the completeness of his reign. YHWH had not cut him off early. This indication of the length of reign will in future be given in the opening formula.
‘ And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father, and Rehoboam his son reigned in his place.'
This rather stereotyped statement indicates the bare facts concerning his death and his successor. Its pattern will be constantly repeated. Solomon died and was buried in the city of David, and eventually Rehoboam reigned in Jerusalem in his place, (although it would be over a very much diminished kingdom). The description of a king's burial will usually indicate that he came to a peaceful end, although certainly not in the case of Ahab (1 Kings 22:37; 1 Kings 22:40).