When the people settled in the promised land of Israel, they were remarkably free of governmental control. They were responsible to God and his laws, corporately and individually. There was a priestly governance of sorts in place, responsible for the sacrificial system of atonement and thanksgiving and some health matters. But there was little or no civil government, no king or bureaucracy. This is the time of the Judges, leaders raised up by God for specific purposes. And it is a time that is summed up in the second chapter of the book of Judges1 under the heading A Monotonous Cycle.
Israel forgot God and worshipped the gods of the nations around them. Then God handed them over to be ruled and exploited by the kings of the nations around them.2 Eventually the oppressed people cried out to God for aid. God took pity on them and raised up a leader, or Judge, whose exploits in battle and civil administration were blessed with success.3 This monotonous cycle was a vicious circle (Judges 2:19 NET):
When a leader died, the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one. They would follow after other gods, worshiping them and bowing down to them. They did not give up their practices or their stubborn ways.
God granted Israel’s request for a king, but instructed Samuel to warn them how a king would treat them. He would conscript their sons and daughters into his army and household service. He would confiscate their best land and vineyards to give to his favorite servants. He would demand a tenth of all they owned and could accumulate year after year for his own use. In other words, their king would treat them more or less like the foreign kings treated them when they were punished by God—all the time, without respite. More than that, when they complained to God because of their king’s oppression, God would not answer.4
But the people refused to heed Samuel’s warning. Instead they said, “No! There will be a king over us! We will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us and fight our battles.”5
Four or so generations later the people complained to Rehoboam after Solomon’s death (1 Kings 12:4 NET).
Your father made us work too hard. Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.
So Solomon, the third king of Israel, the richest and wisest king not only of Israel but of his generation, according to the Bible, became the fulfillment of God’s unheeded warning to Israel about kings, this same Solomon who was named Jedidiah6—loved by the Lord—by God himself. In that light then, it doesn’t seem so strange that Solomon’s wealth was both the fulfillment of God’s promise and a direct disobedience to God’s law. After all, the idea that wealth can be simultaneously a blessing and a curse is not completely foreign to me.
Addendum: March 12, 2020
Tables comparing Judges 2:19; 1 Samuel 8:19; 8:20 and 1 Kings 12:4 in the Tanakh, KJV and NET, and comparing Judges 2:19; 1 Samuel (Kings, Reigns) 8:19; 8:20 and 1 Kings (3 Kings, 3 Reigns) 12:4 in the Septuagint (BLB and Elpenor) follow.
| Judges 2:19 (KJV) | ||
| And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. | And it came to pass, when the judge was dead, that they returned, and corrupted themselves more than their fathers, in following other gods to serve them, and to bow down unto them; they ceased not from their own doings, nor from their stubborn way. | When a leader died, the next generation would again act more wickedly than the previous one. They would follow after other gods, worshiping them and bowing down to them. They did not give up their practices or their stubborn ways. |
| καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἀπέθνῃσκεν ὁ κριτής καὶ ἀπέστρεψαν καὶ πάλιν διέφθειραν ὑπὲρ τοὺς πατέρας αὐτῶν πορευθῆναι ὀπίσω θεῶν ἑτέρων λατρεύειν αὐτοῗς καὶ προσκυνεῗν αὐτοῗς οὐκ ἀπέρριψαν τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν καὶ οὐκ ἀπέστησαν ἀπὸ τῆς ὁδοῦ αὐτῶν τῆς σκληρᾶς | καὶ ἐγένετο ὡς ἀπέθνησκεν ὁ κριτής, καὶ ἀπέστρεψαν καὶ πάλιν διέφθειραν ὑπὲρ τοὺς πατέρας αὐτῶν πορεύεσθαι ὀπίσω θεῶν ἑτέρων, λατρεύειν αὐτοῖς καὶ προσκυνεῖν αὐτοῖς· οὐκ ἀπέρριψαν τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν, καὶ τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτῶν τὰς σκληράς |
| And it came about when the judge would die that they relapsed and again caused corruption beyond what their fathers had done, going after other gods, serving them and doing obeisance to them. They did not cast off their practices and they did not withdraw from their stubborn way. | And it came to pass when the judge died, that they went back, and again corrupted [themselves] worse than their fathers to go after other gods to serve them and to worship them: they abandoned not their devices nor their stubborn ways. |
| 1 Samuel 8:19 (KJV) | ||
| But the people refused to hearken unto the voice of Samuel; and they said: ‘Nay; but there shall be a king over us; | Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us; | But the people refused to heed Samuel’s warning. Instead they said, “No! There will be a king over us! |
| καὶ οὐκ ἠβούλετο ὁ λαὸς ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ Σαμουηλ καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ οὐχί ἀλλ᾽ ἢ βασιλεὺς ἔσται ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς | καὶ οὐκ ἐβούλετο ὁ λαὸς ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ Σαμουὴλ καὶ εἶπαν αὐτῷ· οὐχί, ἀλλ᾿ ἢ βασιλεὺς ἔσται ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς |
| And the people did not want to listen to Samouel and said to him, “No! But a king will be over us, | But the people would not hearken to Samuel; and they said to him, Nay, but there shall be a king over us. |
| 1 Samuel 8:20 (KJV) | ||
| that we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.’ | That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles. | We will be like all the other nations. Our king will judge us and lead us and fight our battles.” |
| καὶ ἐσόμεθα καὶ ἡμεῗς κατὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη καὶ δικάσει ἡμᾶς βασιλεὺς ἡμῶν καὶ ἐξελεύσεται ἔμπροσθεν ἡμῶν καὶ πολεμήσει τὸν πόλεμον ἡμῶν | καὶ ἐσόμεθα καὶ ἡμεῖς καθὰ πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ δικάσει ἡμᾶς βασιλεὺς ἡμῶν καὶ ἐξελεύσεται ἔμπροσθεν ἡμῶν καὶ πολεμήσει τὸν πόλεμον ἡμῶν |
| and we too will be like all the nations, and our king will judge us and will go out before us and fight our battle.” | And we also will be like all the nations; and our king shall judge us, and shall go out before us, and fight our battles. |
| 1 Kings 12:4 (KJV) | ||
| Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. | Thy father made our yoke grievous: now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father, and his heavy yoke which he put upon us, lighter, and we will serve thee. | “Your father made us work too hard. Now if you lighten the demands he made and don’t make us work as hard, we will serve you.” |
| ὁ πατήρ σου ἐβάρυνεν τὸν κλοιὸν ἡμῶν καὶ σὺ νῦν κούφισον ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τοῦ πατρός σου τῆς σκληρᾶς καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ κλοιοῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ βαρέος οὗ ἔδωκεν ἐφ᾽ ἡμᾶς καὶ δουλεύσομέν σοι | ὁ πατήρ σου ἐβάρυνε τὸν κλοιὸν ἡμῶν, καὶ σὺ νῦν κούφισον ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τοῦ πατρός σου τῆς σκληρᾶς καὶ ἀπὸ τοῦ κλοιοῦ αὐτοῦ τοῦ βαρέως, οὗ ἔδωκεν ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς, καὶ δουλεύσομέν σοι |
| “Your father made our collar heavy, and now you, lighten some of the hard service of your father and of his heavy collar that he placed on us, and we will be subject to you.” | Thy father made our yoke heavy; but do thou now lighten somewhat of the hard service of thy father, and of his heavy yoke which he put upon us, and we will serve thee. |
5 1 Samuel 8:19, 20 (NET)