Solomon as the New Adam in 1 Kings 1-11

As I was working on updating the table of contents for the Westminster Theological Journal, I came across an article that demonstrated that Yong Ho Jeon's article on the Exodus motif in 1 Kings 1-11 in no way exhausts all that can be said about the passage. John A. Davies ["'Discerning Between Good and Evil? Solomon as a New Adam in 1 Kings," Westminster Theological Journal 73.1 (Spring 2011): 39-57] argues that the author contrasts Solomon with a number of biblical characters, notable Adam. Here is his conclusion in part from page 56:

Many of the observations made above are subtle (and that is a feature of the literary artistry of the Kings narrative) and points of comparison could be made, of course, between Adam and many other biblical characters, particularly its kings, any of whom could aspire to represent the promised royal seed of Gen 3:15. However, the cumulative effect seems unmistakable: Solomon, like Adam, had everything going for him—unprecedented (and unrepeated) dominion, lavish resources, personal divine revelation and instruction, and the prospect of life to the full lived in obedient dependence on God's wisdom. As with Adam, a lot rested on his shoulders. His obedience or disobedience affected not just himself but was to have far-reaching implications for the people of God. With Solomon on the throne, the exodus could be perceived to be complete and the promised rest for God's people ushered in. A restored humanity in all their created dignity could be discerned in the figure of Solomon. We look for him to exercise his God-given privileges and functions and to mediate these to the people through his wisdom-inspired rule. His direct access to God's revelation and his role in facilitating the restoration and access of others through the restored Eden of the temple all point to the glory of what it is to be the image of God. The writer wants us at one level to be impressed, as were Solomon's contemporaries. In his combination of the creational roles of prophet, priest, and king in a way not observed before or after in the OT, Solomon was greater than all who were before him or who came after him in the estimation of the writer of Kings (1 Kgs 3:12). We perceive Solomon as the nearest we come to an ideal ruler and mediator conceived in human terms. Solomon's greatness, and that of his kingdom, outstrips that of his illustrious father in most respects.

But if Solomon is the new Adam, then he has followed the primal man in his failure to live as those invited to share God's space must live. He has set his own appetites and his autonomous wisdom above God's revealed purposes for him and his people. I have not argued that Solomon experiences a "Fall" at a specific moment, though the organization of the material warrants us in seeing a gathering pace of the negative evaluation as the account spirals down to its nadir. Rather, through much of the account, the paradise ideal (and it always is an unrealized ideal) of his reign and the sober reality are held in tension. Solomon's is a tragically marred greatness, lacking precisely the attribute of covenant faithfulness seen in his father, David, of which the writer of Kings constantly reminds us—his unswerving devotion to Yahweh (1 Kgs 3:6,14; 9:4; 11:4, 6, 33, 34, 38).

This fascinating article would repay reading in full.

Solomon's Return to Egypt in 1 Kings 1-12

My favourite biblical genre is Old Testament narrative, particularly that of Genesis and the books of Kings. Occasionally one comes across an article that demonstrates once again the exquisite literary art and subtlety of the these texts cause you to begin to frame sermons in your mind as you read them. Such an article is that  by Yong Ho Jeon, published in the latest edition of Tyndale Bulletin. Jeon summarises the fruits of the latest scholarship on 1 Kings 1-12 and brings together the best insights from this to demonstrate how the author incorporates the motifs of both "exodus" and "return to Egypt" into his description and critique of the reign of Solomon. The article will not be available online for 5 years, so here is a quote [from pp.31-32] to illustrate what I mean and hopefully, encourage you to obtain a copy of the full article:

The 'return to Egypt motif has been noticed only fragmentarily by some scholars who observe Solomon's becoming a 'Pharaoh', especially in chapter 9, where Solomon is described as imitating an Egyptian tyrant in implementing his enormous building project and [p.32] maintaining a standing army and forced labour system. In his building project, 'store cities', 'chariot cities', and 'cavalry cities' especially remind the reader of Egypt. Even though the Israelites do not go back to Egypt in a geographical sense, the Israelite kingdom itself is becoming an Egypt in a metaphorical sense. Additionally, the Israelites' complaint after Solomon's death (12:4), reveals, that Solomon loaded on them a heavy yoke and disciplined them with whips, that he exploited and oppressed them (12:4, 10-11, 14) just as Pharaoh had done to their ancestors (cf. 8:51); that is, the Israelites experienced a similar thing to their ancestors. In other words, they have been living in an 'Egypt' under Solomon's reign. However, in fact, the 'return to Egypt' motif is already observed in Solomon's becoming Pharaoh's son-in-law (3:1) at an early stage. The frequent mentions of 'Pharaoh's daughter' throughout the narrative (3:1; 7:8; 9:16, 24; 11:1), and, more directly, the mention of Solomon's making ships on the seashore of 'the Red Sea' (9:26) and sending his men to Egypt to buy Egyptian horses and chariots (10:28-29), betray the progressive development of the 'return to Egypt motif as the narrative unfolds. Furthermore, the fact that the leader of the northern ten tribes, Jeroboam, is portrayed as a new Moses who has escaped being killed by a tyrant (11:40), and at last succeeds in delivering his people from the heavy yoke of the tyrant (12:3-20), also shows that the previous condition of the Israelites was like the one to which the original Moses was sent by God to save his people.

Yong Ho Jeon, "The Retroactive Re-Evaluation Technique with Pharoah's Daughter and the Nature of Solomon's Corruption in 1 Kings 1-12," Tyndale Bulletin 62.1 (2011): 15-40.

Alan R. Millard on Archaeology and Ancient Israel

The following article is now on-line:

Alan R. Millard, "Archaeology and Ancient Israel," Faith & Thought 108.1, 2 (1981): 53-62.

Alan Millard's articles are always engaging and this one is no exception. For more information about Solomon's gold see:

Alan Millard, "Solomon in all his Glory (Laing Lecture for 1979)," Vox Evangelica 12 (1981): 5-18.

Vox Evangelica Volume 12 (1981) now on-line

The following articles are now on-line in PDF format:

Alan Millard, "Solomon in all his Glory (Laing Lecture for 1979)," Vox Evangelica 12 (1981): 5-18.

Most studies of Solomon concentrate on his wisdom rather than his wealth. In this article Professor Millard demonstrates that the account of the great wealth attributed to him is quite credible.

Richard T. France, "The Worship of Jesus (Laing Lecture for 1980)," Vox Evangelica 12 (1981): 19-33.

A helpful study of how the worship of Jesus in the Gospels demonstrates how the early church understood his nature.

John W. Baigent, "Jesus as Priest," Vox Evangelica 12 (1981): 34-44.

The article concludes (in part):

Ideas are expressed in various parts of the NT which do indeed bear a distinct affinity to the high priest concept of Hebrews. Some statements could imply that the author had the beginnings of such a concept, or are consonant with the possibility that he held such a concept. Some statements could even have sparked off, or been the spring-board for, the development of the high priest concept of Hebrews. But no reference which we have examined compels us to attribute to the writer a priestly concept of Jesus. Certainly we are unable to follow those who think that a sacrificial interpretation of the death of Christ necessarily involves the idea of his priesthood. This assumes that when a person uses a metaphor (e.g. sacrifice) he inevitably has all aspects of the picture in mind. It is clearly not the case. We cannot resist the impression that those who claim to find a priestly view of Jesus in other parts of the NT have imported the idea from Hebrews and read it back into these passages.

M. Max B. Turner, "Spirit Endowment in Luke-Acts: Some Linguistic Considerations," Vox Evangelica 12 (1981): 45-63.

Donald Guthrie, "The Lamb in the Structure of the Book of Revelation," Vox Evangelica 12 (1981): 64-71.

A.N.S. Lane, "Did Calvin believe in Freewill?" Vox Evangelica 12 (1981): 72-90.

Vox Evangelica Volume 8 (1973) now on-line

The following articles are now available in PDF:

Donald J. Wiseman, "Law and Order in Old Testament Times," Vox Evangelica 8 (1973): 5-21.

Leslie C. Allen, "Micah's Social Concern," Vox Evangelica 8 (1973): 22-32.

Arthur E. Cundall, "The United Monarchy: Fact or Fiction?" Vox Evangelica 8 (1973): 33-39.

Arthur Cundall, who wrote the Tyndale OT Commentary on Judges, always has something insightful to say about the period of the Judges and the Monarchy and this article is no exception. He concludes:

We conclude our study with a few brief observations concerning the differences in organisation between Judah and Israel at this point. The accession of Rehoboam in Judah appears to have been automatic, with the principle of dynastic rule through the Davidic covenant being firmly accepted. This did not obtain in the north, however. Rehoboam presented himself at Shechem, subsequently the first capital of Jeroboam’s kingdom and already a vitally important covenantal centre (cf. Deut. 27; Josh. 24; Judg. 9:6), for the acceptance of the northern tribes, possibly by acclamation (cf. 1 Sam. 10:24; 2 Kgs. 11:12). That he regarded it, mistakenly, as a mere formality, is incidental; what is important is that his accession involved a negotiated convenantal agreement with ‘the assembly of Israel’, a constituted body which still functioned in spite of almost eighty years of ‘united monarchy’ under David and Solomon (cf. the negotiations of 2 Sam. 3:17-21; 5:3 which reveal a similar pattern). Constitutionally, there were still two kingdoms, not one, and the renewed cry of 1 Kgs. 12:16 (cf. 2 Sam. 20:1) shows how deep­-seated was the hostility and desire for independence of the northern tribes. There was a ‘united monarchy’ in the sense that one king ruled over Israel as well as Judah, but any essential unity was conspicuously lacking.

Donald Guthrie, "The New Testament Approach to Social Responsibility," Vox Evangelica 8 (1973): 40-59.

Derek J. Tidball, "Some Contemporary Evangelicals and Social Thinking," Vox Evangelica 8 (1973): 60-79.

The final two articles are particularly relevant today with the recent release of the film Amazing Grace about the campaign of William Wilberforce to abolish slavery.

Volume 9 is scheduled to appear about mid April. For the next few weeks I will be republishing (among others) a series of articles from Evangelical Quarterly by F.F. Bruce, Richard Bauckham and John Oswalt.

Vox Evangelica Volume 6 (1969) now on-line

The following articles are now on-line in PDF:

David R. Jackson, "Education and Entertainment: Some Aspects of Life in New Testament Times," Vox Evangelica 6 (1969): 4-31.

I found this the most interesting of the articles in this issue. Based, as it is, on a careful study of classical sources it seems likley to have enduring value.

Arthur C. Cundall, "Sacral Kingship--The Old Testament Background," Vox Evangelica 6 (1969): 31-41.

Leslie C. Allen, "Amos, Prophet of Solidarity," Vox Evangelica 6 (1969): 42-53.

Geoffrey W. Grogan, "Christ and His People: An Exegetical and Theological Study of Henbrews 2: 5-18," Vox Evangelica 6 (1969): 54-71.

J. Clements Connell, "A review article on Jurgen Moltmann's Theology of Hope (S.C.M.)," Vox Evangelica 6 (1969): 72-77.