Shame On You Solomon!
Dan Barker wrote:
“How many regular sexual partners did King Solomon have?…One thousand sexual partners. –At least one thousand. Another fine example of family values from one of God’s favorites.”
He then refers to 1st Kings 11:1-3 which refers to Solomon’s seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. He then states:
“Notice that this lifestyle is never denounced by God, Jesus, or the biblical writers. Solomon, supposedly an ancestor of Jesus, was praised by Jesus: ‘all his glory’ (Matthew 6:29), ‘wisdom of Solomon’ (Matthew 12:42). Jesus compared himself (not so humbly) to Solomon’s greatness: ‘a greater than Solomon is here.’ (Luke 11:31)“1
Dan Barker does not bother pointing out that Solomon’s actions were condemned the moment that he took more than one wife since Bible states, “You shall set a king over you,” and among some things that Israeli kings were not to do was, “Nor shall he multiply wives to himself” (Deuteronomy 17:15, 17). The fact is that while Solomon and some other kings had many wives and many concubines they were actually breaking the Law when they did so.
Dan Barker’s subsequent citations give away his lack of basic biblical knowledge. Moreover, in his zeal to besmirch the Bible he appears to not carefully, not casually, consider the very texts that he cited nor even the fractions of verses that he quoted above. The Bible, being as honest as it is, points out all of Solomon’s personal shortcomings. Yet, despite that, he was a great, mighty and renowned king. This is the reason for the references to “all his glory” and not “all his wives.” The “wisdom of Solomon” since his wisdom was renowned, very wise men can sometimes do very unwise things. Dan Barker’s attempts at pointing out Solomon faults pale in comparison to Solomon’s own pointing out of his own faults-see the book of Ecclesiastes. Jesus compared Himself to certain aspects of Solomon’s character. Even so, to compare does not mean to make equal, Jesus is stating precisely what He is quoting as stating, “a greater than Solomon is here.”