King Solomon's Wisdom
Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Sophia
This week on Goddess Bible Study, we will keep it pretty simple with part II of King Solomon and dive into some of his wisdom texts. He is famous for writing the Biblical books of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs, as well as the Apocryphal book, Wisdom of Solomon, and some psalms.
King Solomon inspired poets, philosophers, theologians, and magicians for centuries. Some of the most profound literature in the Biblical tradition is attributed to him.
King Solomon was a goddess worshiper, the Bible tells us. He is the conduit through which the visceral pagan goddess traditions were transmuted into the ephemeral wisdom traditions of Sophia.
Sophia is the one aspect of the feminine divine that is acceptable in the Abrahamic faiths, and she lies at the heart of every Western esoteric tradition, from the Gnostics and Kabalah to the Freemasons.
Most of these texts were written long after King Solomon’s time, in the post-exilic and Hellenistic periods, though some of the earliest Proverbs and psalms may have come from the First Temple. Magical texts about Solomon continued to be written for another thousand years in the Islamic world and Medieval Europe.
There is no evidence that King Solomon personally wrote anything, since there is no evidence of literacy in the time period he was alive (10th century BCE). The court of a historical King Solomon, if he even existed, was likely operating in the oral tradition.
Written Hebrew was a new language in the Iron Age, and first appears in the historical record a century after Solomon. Perhaps his court had some role in early Hebrew writing, which was copied from the Phoenicians, who were friends of Solomon, but the Bible itself does not say so.
The Bible makes no mention of Solomon writing anything at all, and if he helped invent a new form of writing, they probably would have given him credit.
I am content to believe that there was a historical King Solomon and a First Temple in Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE, but I do not believe most of the legends about him are historical. His wealth, his wives, and his wisdom serve a variety of symbolic and theological purposes in the Bible.
King Solomon is a literary figure who represents the Yahwists’ greatest mythological and propagandistic glory, a united kingdom overflowing with wealth and great achievements that likely never existed in real life.
Yet King Solomon has inspired some of the deepest philosophy for thousands of years. We will let these samples speak for themselves.
These are rare passages from the Bible in which the Goddess speaks, even if she is somewhat veiled.
Wisdom is Sophia, and Shakti, the Divine Mother.
Proverbs
BLESSED IS HE WHO FINDS WISDOM:
Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding, for she is more profitable than silver and yields better returns than gold. She is more precious than rubies; nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are pleasant ways, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who take hold of her; those who hold her fast will be blessed.
– Proverbs 3:13-18
By wisdom Yahweh laid the earth’s foundations, by understanding he set the heavens in place; by his knowledge the watery depths were divided, and the clouds let drop the dew. My son, do not let wisdom and understanding out of your sight, preserve sound judgment and discretion; they will be life for you, an ornament to grace your neck.
– Proverbs 3:19-21
EXCELLENCE OF WISDOM:
Does not wisdom call out? Does not understanding raise her voice? At the highest point along the way, where the paths meet, she takes her stand; beside the gate leading into the city, at the entrance, she cries aloud:
“To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it. Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true, for my lips detest wickedness.
All the words of my mouth are just; none of them is crooked or perverse. To the discerning all of them are right; they are upright to those who have found knowledge. Choose my instruction instead of silver, knowledge rather than choice gold, for wisdom is more precious than rubies, and nothing you desire can compare with her.
“I, wisdom, dwell together with prudence; I possess knowledge and discretion. To fear Yahweh is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech. Counsel and sound judgment are mine; I have insight, I have power. By me kings reign and rulers issue decrees that are just; by me princes govern, and nobles – all who rule on earth.
I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me. With me are riches and honor, enduring wealth and prosperity. My fruit is better than fine gold; what I yield surpasses choice silver. I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice, bestowing a rich inheritance on those who love me and making their treasuries full.
“Yahweh brought me forth as the first of his works, before his deeds of old; I was formed long ages ago, at the very beginning, when the world came to be.
When there were no watery depths, I was given birth, when there were no springs overflowing with water; before the mountains were settled in place, before the hills, I was given birth before he made the world or its fields or any of the dust of the earth.
I was there when he set the heavens in place, when he marked out the horizon on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above and fixed securely the fountains of the deep, when he gave the sea its boundary so the waters would not overstep his command, and when he marked out the foundations of the earth.
Then I was constantly at his side. I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing always in his presence, rejoicing in his whole world and delighting in mankind.
“Now then, my children, listen to me; blessed are those who keep my ways. Listen to my instruction and be wise; do not disregard it.
Blessed are those who listen to me, watching daily at my doors, waiting at my doorway. For those who find me find life and receive favor from Yahweh. But those who fail to find me harm themselves; all who hate me love death.”
– Proverbs 8:1-36
Wisdom reposes in the heart of the discerning and even among fools she lets herself be known.
– Proverbs 14:33
The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, for the ears of the wise seek it out.
– Proverbs 18:15
The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.
– Proverbs 19:8
Ecclesiastes
Contemporary Biblical scholars believe the book of Ecclesiastes was written in the Hellenistic period around 250 BCE and reflects Hellenistic philosophy, though some may be from the earlier Persian period.
From much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.
– Ecclesiastes 1:18
Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income.
– Ecclesiastes 5:10
Do not say, “Why were the old days better than these?” For it is not wise to ask such questions. Wisdom, like an inheritance, is a good thing and benefits those who see the sun. Wisdom is a shelter as money is a shelter, but the advantage of knowledge is this: Wisdom preserves those who have it.
– Ecclesiastes 7:10-12
There is something else meaningless that occurs on earth: the righteous who get what the wicked deserve, and the wicked who get what the righteous deserve. This too, I say, is meaningless.
So I commend the enjoyment of life because there is nothing better for a person under the sun than to eat and drink and be glad. Then joy will accompany them in their toil all the days of the life God has given them under the sun.
– Ecclesiastes 8:14-15
No one can comprehend what goes on under the sun. Despite all their efforts to search it out, no one can discover its meaning. Even if the wise claim they know, they cannot really comprehend it.
– Ecclesiastes 8:17
I have seen something else under the sun: The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.
Moreover, no one knows when their hour will come: As fish are caught in a cruel net, or birds are taken in a snare, so people are trapped by evil times that fall unexpectedly upon them.
– Ecclesiastes 9:11-12
Generations come and generations go, but the earth remains forever.
– Ecclesiastes 1:4
All streams flow into the sea, yet the sea is never full. To the place the streams come from, there they return again.
– Ecclesiastes 1:7
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
– Ecclesiastes 1:9
Wisdom of Solomon
The Wisdom of Solomon is a Jewish work believed to have been written in the first century BCE in Alexandria, Egypt. It is one of the Apocryphal books of the Bible and would have been embraced in the Gnostic traditions.
The Wisdom of Solomon reflects core beliefs of Hellenistic philosophy at the time when Sophia, wisdom, was elevated as the feminine aspect of God’s glory and the bride of God.
The text is in Greek, so it was certainly not written by King Solomon personally, it is a synthesis of Greek and Jewish philosophical thought and dedicated to the father of the wisdom traditions.
This sample is a short passage from a much longer book.
I learned both what is secret and what is manifest,
for wisdom, the fashioner of all things, taught me.
There is in her a spirit that is intelligent,
holy, unique, manifold,
subtle, mobile, clear,
unpolluted, distinct, invulnerable,
loving the good, keen, irresistible,
beneficent, humane, steadfast, sure,
free from anxiety, all-powerful, overseeing all,
and penetrating through all spirits
that are intelligent and pure and most subtle.
For wisdom is more mobile than any motion;
because of her pureness she pervades and penetrates all things.
For she is a breath of the power of God,
and a pure emanation of the glory of the Almighty;
therefore nothing defiled gains entrance into her.
For she is a reflection of eternal light,
a spotless mirror of the working of God,
and an image of his goodness.
Although she is but one, she can do all things,
and while remaining in herself, she renews all things;
in every generation she passes into holy souls
and makes them friends of God, and prophets;
for God loves nothing so much as the man who lives with wisdom.
She is more beautiful than the sun, and excels every constellation of the stars.
Compared with the light she is found to be superior,
for it is succeeded by the night, but against wisdom evil does not prevail.
–Wisdom of Solomon, 7:21-30 (RSV, Apocrypha)
We will continue with King Solomon for a few more weeks. Next, we have his great wealth and building projects, especially the First Temple, and also the Song of Songs. Then we will conclude the discussion of King Solomon with some extra-Biblical material, including the Ethiopian legends of the Queen of Sheba, the Kebra Negast, and the Ark of the Covenant, the Freemasons, as well as Arab legends such as the Ring of Andaleeb, and other magical texts.
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