King David Research Paper

King David of the Israel nation created a prosperous empire for his kin to rule. In more or less of a forty-year reign, much of that time was spent expanding its borders and securing them for Israeli rule. David was a powerful king who devoted his reign to Yahweh his God, and much of his work for Yahweh was left incomplete and not started. David sought to build a temple for the Lord, a place to hold the Ark of the Covenant, and from his inability to provide such a place for God, it was left to his heir and son. His successor was chosen at the end of his reign, Solomon, the favorite of his kin and eighth son. Solomon would then lead the people of Israel during that age of prosperity, a golden age. He was a man of great wisdom and knowledge,

In the Old Testament book of 1 Kings, it is written that he prayed to Yahweh for the power of wisdom and discernment. He is then visited in a dream by Yahweh who then gives him the wisdom and knowledge that he prayed for, in return that Solomon worships and proclaims Yahweh as the one true God (NIV 1 Kings 3). The first example given of his wisdom, was a dealing of two women who wanted the proof that a baby was on of theirs (NIV 1 Kings 3:16-28). Solomon’s verdict was to take a sword and cut the baby in half (NIV 1 Kings 3:24-25). From the answer of the two women, one cried out in anguish not to cut the baby and the other didn’t react as emotionally, showing Solomon the true mother of the baby (NIV 1 Kings

In his early years of reign, he established many relationships and alliances with his neighbors. One of the most important was the King of Tyre, Hiram. Already a close ally to his father Solomon continued to hold that relationship to the Tyrian king. He would then use that relationship in the building of the temple of God, his palace, and establishing trade routes along the Red Sea. One of the most spectacular achievements during Solomon’s reign was the construction of the temple. It was the jewel of Israel and was the permanent place for the Ark of the Covenant. This was a promise made by David to God, to create a temple in which he could dwell in. Not being able to build it in his lifetime, Solomon completed that promise. Much of what was used in building came from Phoenicia, through a trade agreement with Solomon and Hiram. Having very little to pay to the Tyrian King, Solomon gave him thousands of his own people to him for services of felling wood and quarrying stone for his projects (NIV 1 Kings 5). Solomon also as a gift to the Tyrian king gave him twenty cities in Galilee (Browne