1 Kings 11:43

And Solomon slept with his fathers,.... Died as they did: and was buried in the city of David his father; not in Bethlehem, but Zion, 1 Kings 2:10 and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead; of whom more in the following chapter.

And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead. Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.

Slept with his fathers: this expression is promiscuously used concerning good and bad, and signifies only that they died as their fathers did. But hence interpreters question, whether Solomon was saved, or damned? That he was damned, some believe upon this only argument, that he died without repentance; which they gather, 1. Because his repentance is not mentioned in his history. 2. Because if he had repented, he would have abolished the monuments of idolatry which he had erected; which that he did not they gather from , of which (God assisting) I shall speak upon that place. But to the former many things may be said: 1. We read nothing of the repentance of Adam, Noah, after his drunkenness, Lot, Samson, Asa, &c.; shall we therefore conclude they were all damned? The silence of the Scripture is a very weak argument in matters of history. 2. If he did repent, yet the silence of the Scripture about it in this history was not without wise reasons; as, among others, that his eternal condition being thus far left doubtful, his example might have the greater influence for the terror and caution of future offenders. 3. His repentance is sufficiently implied in this, (to omit divers other passages,) that after Solomon’ s death the way of Solomon is mentioned with honour, and joined with the way of David, . But it seems to be put out of dispute by the Book of Ecclesiastes, which (by the general consent both of Jewish and Christian interpreters) was written by Solomon, and that after his fall, as is evident, not only from the unanimous testimony of the Hebrew writers, who thence conclude that he did repent, and was saved; but also from the whole strain of that book, which was written long after he had finished all his works, and after he had liberally drunk of all sorts of sensual pleasures, and sadly experienced the bitter effects of his love of women, , &c; which makes it more than probable, that as David wrote Psalms 51, so Solomon wrote this book, as a public testimony and profession of his repentance. And this argument is so cogent, that those interpreters who are of the other opinion confess it, if Solomon did write this book after his fall, which they pretend he wrote before it; but they offer not any argument to prove it. And therefore we have reason to conclude that Solomon did repent, and was saved.

1 Kings 11:43 And Solomon slept with his fathers, and was buried in the city of David his father: and Rehoboam his son reigned in his stead.Ver. 43. And Rehoboam his son.] Who was both a fool and unfortunate; as Solomon feared, and hinted as much. Yet afterwards this Epimetheus is said to deal wisely.

Verse 43. Solomon slept with his fathers] He died in almost the flower of his age, and, it appears unregretted. His government was no blessing to Israel; and laid, by its exactions and oppressions, the foundation of that schism which was so fatal to the unhappy people of Israel and Judah, and was the most powerful procuring cause of the miseries which have fallen upon the Jewish people from that time until now. I. IT may now be necessary to give a more distinct outline of the character of this king. 1. In his infancy and youth he had the high honour of being peculiarly loved by the Lord; and he had a name given him by the express authority of God himself, which to himself and others must ever call to remembrance this peculiar favour of the Most High. There is little doubt that he was a most amiable youth, and his whole conduct appeared to justify the high expectations that were formed of him. 2. He ascended the Israelitish throne at a time the most favourable for the cultivation of those arts so necessary to the comfort and improvement of life. Among all the surrounding nations Israel had not one open enemy; there was neither adversary, nor evil occurrent, 1Kg 5:4. He had rest on every side, and from the universal and profound peace which he enjoyed, the very important name Jedidiah, "beloved of the Lord" which was given him by Divine authority was changed to that of Solomon, the Peaceable, 2 Samuel 12:24-25, which at once indicated the state of the country, and the character of his own mild, pacific mind. 3. To the dying charge of his pious father relative to the building a temple for the Lord, he paid the most punctual attention. He was fond of architecture, as we may learn from the account that is given of his numerous buildings and improvements; and yet it does not appear that he at all excelled in architectural knowledge. Hiram, the amiable king of Tyre, and his excellent workmen, were the grand directors and executors of the whole. By his public buildings he doubtless rendered Jerusalem highly respectable; but his passion for such works was not on the whole an advantage to his subjects, as it obliged him to have recourse to a burdensome system of taxation, which at first oppressed and exasperated his people, and ultimately led to the fatal separation of Israel and Judah. 4. That he improved the trade and commerce of his country is sufficiently evident: by his public buildings vast multitudes were employed; and knowledge in the most beneficial arts must have been greatly increased, and the spirit of industry highly cultivated. Commerce does not appear to have been much regarded, if even known, in Israel, previously to the days of Solomon. The most celebrated maritime power then in the world was that of the Tyrians.

43. And Solomon slept with his fathers] The LXX. (Vat.) continues ‘and they buried him in the city of David his father,’ and then joins on the words of 1 Kings 12:2 about Jeroboam hearing of Solomon’s death in Egypt, adding, what is not found there, that ‘he made ready and came into his own city, into the land Sarira, which is mount Ephraim.’

43. Was buried in the city of David — See note on 1 Kings 2:10. The precedent of burying David in the holy city was followed in the burial of his descendants. Compare 1 Kings 14:31; 1 Kings 15:8, etc.