Sin: David vs. Solomon

Who sinned worse?

David or Solomon

Solomon’s father had disobeyed the lord with all his heart, but Solomon disobeyed and did what the lord hated. 1Kings11:6 (CEV)

The lord god of Israel had appeared to Solomon two times and warned him… 1Kings11:9- (CEV)


I get the impression that Solomon’s taking foreign wives, worship of foreign gods and allowing his wives to erect temples to those foreign gods (and for those temples to flourish in his kingdom) is not the “did what the lord hated” in 1Kings:6, but, the disobedience despite TWO appearances personally and direct is perhaps “what the lord hated”. Granted, the OT god is jealous and vengeful (at superficial account, at least).

At any rate, David committed adultery and then murdered the husband (and some other soldiers) with the help of the murderer Joab to keep her for himself. Joab had already been sworn off by David (as a result of Joab’s murdering an enemy general like a thief, in vengeance for the death of Joab’s relative), so I find his involvement in the whole event considerable as well.

I find it odd that god blames Solomon for the loss of his throne (~10/12) when this was already decided because of David’s actions. I also find it odd that Solomon recognized Jeroboam before god spoke to Jeroboam, whereas David was chosen before Saul knew of his exceptional quality. Ironically, Solomon tries to kill Jeroboam, as Saul tried to kill David; this should probably be considered paramount to his primary disobedience.

Perhaps another book sheds light on this obscure moral scale or, at least, comparison. I’ve been flipping to this passage a few times lately and have been thinking about it. Perhaps the OT through the eyes of Jesus (if someone would care to embark on such an interpretation) could shed additional light upon what or how we might see the greater fall.

I must vote David. I can’t imagine worse than murdering one’s own soldiers, in combat no less, and considering Uriah’s loyalty to his fellow men. I don’t understand how god puts the blame for the loss of the northern kingdom on Solomon, except to muddy the Law of Moses (no punishing children for the actions of their parents [violated routinely in the OT, from Egypt to Joshua and beyond]).


Unless Job is David, Solomon seems to suffer much worse than David. Both Hadad and Rezon were enemies of Israel while Solomon was king, and they caused him a lot of trouble. (1Kings11:25). Sup wit dat? Everything was peachy keen for David, but Solomon’s kingdom gets trashed (and, apparently, divided) because he married foreign women, and does and allows people to worship foreign gods. That’s worse?


We might also consider that Solomon basically didn’t do crap aside from answering one question like Cpt. Kirk.



I realize there is a ton of stuff in this OP (and many relevant passages beyond my recollection); feel free to tackle any piece.

hmmm......i'm quite fond of the song of solomon. solomon did indeed do a lot more than decide one child's fate, even if he might not have penned the song of solomon.

I didn't mean deciding a child's fate. I meant when he answered the lord's question "what do you want" with "wisdom to help people", instead of "riches, fame and long life" (1Kings3:5+). To which child do you refer?

ecofarm said:

I didn't mean deciding a child's fate. I meant when he answered the lord's question "what do you want" with "wisdom to help people", instead of "riches, fame and long life". To which child do you refer?

Click to expand...

ok.....my misunderstanding. of course, the story about the 2 women claiming one child.

Ah, of course. An excellent episode and the bible passage still moves me. Thanks.

"Please don't kill my son," the baby's mother screamed. "Your majesty, I love him very much, but give him to her, just don't kill him." (1Kings3:26, CEV).

Was David’s respect for not killing the chosen king self-serving? I think we must say yes, and the only redemption of it is that he had faith that he was, at least probably, the next chosen king. I think it’s easy to be all “HEY! Nobody should kill the chosen king no matter what!” when you’re up next. I’m not giving him credit for respecting god on that one. When he killed the dude who claimed to kill Saul, that dude was lying; and I figure, without his lie, David would have done wrong (thus ~“you have done it yourself”).

Did he refuse to stand with the lord? When did the lord say “no killing my chosen king”. He practically told David to do it when David was selected prior to Saul’s death, but David didn’t do it because it would set a bad precedent for his own rule. In this way, he had refused to be an instrument of god for his own good. Look at what it resulted in… him being chased around like a dog. It seems god maybe was telling him something. It’s reminiscent of Samuel’s cowardice (“I’m the only one, so I must flee!”), except Sam was to be sacrificed while David was to fight, essentially.

Should we count this as one of David’s sins?

I confused Sam and Eli. Well, that's embarrassing.