Second Book of Samuel 21-24, First Book of Kings 1-11

David attempts to solve all Israel's problems forever.  It doesn't quite work.  The darn Philistines appear again.  David grows weary.  A second Goliath, representative of a remnant of giants...

Then there's the song of David, which seems to reflect heavily on later Christian theology, not to mention love of that common Books of Samuel theme, warfare.  It's very similar language to the psalms, like what they were based on.  Although war itself will remain a focus of the narrative for some time, it no longer seems quite the driving force of Israel's future.    Although there is, again, much love for it.

God's wrath is kindled again, although David is able to appease him after a selection of three punishments ends with classical biblical plague.  No overt smiting.  End of Second Book of Samuel.

The beginning of First Book of Kings sees David in old age given a concubine to help keep his increasingly frail body warm.  First Kings makes it clear they don't have sex, though, in case you wanted to know.  Mutinous behavior continues, this time with another son, who is also described as exceptionally handsome (I guess this is where all our modern literature gets the idea from).  Nathan quickly gets Bathsheba to put Solomon under protection, because he's the clear threat to the usurper.  David has a signature mule, which Solomon symbolically rides to drive the point home (reminiscent of Jesus on Palm Sunday).  He's soon anointed to make it official that he's the one who's king and David successor.  Like his father before him, Solomon pursues a policy of forgiveness against his rivals.  David implores him to also keep his other traditions alive.  Then the old king dies.

Solomon begins consolidating his power, settling old affairs such as finally dealing with Joab (read: executing him).  He makes a marriage alliance with Egypt, which is growing in biblical importance again.  It only figures, because this is only the start of many allusions to past events.  He also begins building up Jerusalem, making it truly fit for a king.

God grants him the choice of three extraordinary favors, and Solomon famously chooses wisdom, so he gets all of them anyway.  Then follows another anecdote you'll certainly recognize, the wise act of figuring out who the real mother is when a dispute arises, threatening to split the child in two.  It's the example everyone uses, and I guess it's the one the Bible does, too.  In short order the later psalms and proverbs are attributed to him.  Preparations for the temple are made.  Clearly Solomon was thought of in great terms by the later Hebrews, as pretty much everything their is to know about his reign is recorded in minute detail, far greater than even similar work that had been done in the Books of Samuel.  These are the most important books after the Moses cycle to the Jewish faith, and they're also the most important ones to Christian faith from the Old Testament.

It's also perhaps significant that the extreme detail that God related to Moses concerning the ark in the first place is more than represented in explaining the temple's many opulent features.

For the record, First Kings records the amount of time since the exile from Egypt to the time of Solomon at 480 years.  That's about for us modern readers the whole American continent history from Columbus to our day.

God keeps reiterating that if Solomon remains on the straight and narrow everything will be perfect for Israel.  Of course he does!

It took 7 years to complete work on the temple.  There's a great ceremony to commemorate the ark's journey to its final resting place in the temple.  It's at this point that the reader may realize that the true main character of the Bible to this point has been the ark, which has been present from Moses to Solomon.  The promise God made David that it would be Solomon who saw the building of the temple is a little like when Moses was told it would be Joshua who entered the promised land.  It wasn't until David had the idea that the temple was even considered a final destination.  God had been content to let the ark travel freely through Israel.  There are more echoes of Moses, although it's compassion and forgiveness that God prefers these days, rather than his old policy of smiting first and asking questions later (you know, basically).  It tends to read like a reflection of later New Testament theology.

I know, I keep saying that.  It's there, what else can I say?

It took 20 years in all, including Solomon's own elaborate lodgings, to complete construction work.

The Queen of Sheba shows up to test Solomon, and he passes it.  Although, on a related note or not, his many romantic conquests really start to take their toll on him.  He starts putting other gods before, or at least alongside, God.  This does not please God, who revokes his charter and then agrees to let the Hebrews keep Jerusalem but nothing else.

A new enemy (the first of several) arises, Hadad, who once had occasion to hide out in Egypt.  The same is true of Jeroboam (who in his earlier days received a prophecy that he would one day inherit a part of Solomon's kingdom, which led Solomon to try and eliminate him).  All this fleeing to Egypt evokes both Joseph in the past and Mary and the other Joseph in the future.  A third enemy is Rezon.

There's a strong indication that Solomon, like Adam before him, was always meant to fall.  Probably the Jewish people would much have preferred a permanent and considerable kingdom, but that's just not something that happened.  A good thing always ends.  Call it a proverb.

Solomon reigned for 40 years, and then he died.