163 0
From the Bible. In the Old Testament (I Kings, Chapter 3, Articles 16-28) it is said that once two women came to the wise King Solomon with a request to resolve their dispute. One of them said that they live in the same house, and they had a son of the same age. Last night, another woman in a dream accidentally strangled her son (“slept off” him) and shifted the dead one to her, and took her living son to her and now passes him off as her own. Another woman claimed the opposite: allegedly the one who accuses her did it. And each of them claimed that the living child belongs to her.
Solomon ordered a sword to be brought to him (vv. 25-26): “And the king said, Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other. And that woman, whose son was alive, answered the king, for her whole inwardness was agitated from pity for her son: O my lord! give her this child alive and do not kill him. And the other said: let it not be, neither for me, nor for you, chop. So Solomon realized which of the two women was the true mother of the child, and gave him to the one who asked to save his life.
In Russia, this plot, called "The Judgment of Solomon", was widely known, since it was often found in popular prints and in handwritten collections of moralistic literature of the 16th-16th centuries.
Allegorically:
Meanings in other dictionaries
Sun of Russian poetry
From the only notice of the death of A. S. Pushkin, which was published on January 30, 1837 in the 5th issue of Literary Additions, an appendix to the Russian Invalid newspaper. This notice, written by the writer Vladimir Fedorovich Odoevsky (1804-1869), consisted of several lines: “The sun of our poetry has set! Pushkin died, died in the prime of life, in the middle of his great career! ...
JUDGMENTS OF SOLOMON
<О ДВУХ БЛУДНИЦАХ>
(...) And at that time Solomon arranged a great feast for his people. Then two harlot women appeared before the king, and one woman said: “I am in trouble, my lord. Me and this friend of mine - we live in the same house, in which both were born. I have a son. And on the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth to a son; we live only together, and there is no one with us in our house. That night the woman's son died because she slept on him. And so, getting up in the middle of the night, she took my boy from my hand and put him to sleep on her bed, and put her dead boy to me. I got up in the morning to feed the baby and found him dead. Then I figured out that this is not my son, whom I gave birth to. And the other woman said: “No, my son is alive, but yours is dead.” And they argued before the king.
And the king said to them: “So you say this: “My son is alive, and hers is dead,” and she says: “No, mine is alive, but yours is dead.” And the king said to the servants: “Cut this living boy in two and give half of him to this one and half to that one. And the dead one, too, having cut it, give half of it to this one, and half of that one.
And the woman whose son was alive answered, for her soul was in turmoil because of her son, and said: “Let me be in trouble, my lord. Give her this boy, don't kill him." And another woman said: “Let it be neither for me nor for her! Cut it in two." The king replied: “Give the child alive to the woman who said: “Give it to her, and do not kill him.” Give it to her, for she is his mother."
Israel heard about this judgment, by which the king judged, and all the faces of the king were afraid, for they understood that he was given the meaning of God to do justice and justice.
<0 ПОМОЩИ ФАРАОНА>
Solomon took Pharaoh's daughter as his wife while building the Holy of Holies. And he sent his ambassador to him with the words: “My father-in-law! Send me help." And he chose six hundred people, having learned through astrology that they were to die that year, he wanted to test the wisdom of Solomon. When they were brought to Solomon, he saw them from afar and ordered shrouds to be sewn for all of them. He assigned his ambassador to them and sent it to Pharaoh, saying: “My father-in-law! If you have nothing to bury your dead in, then here are your robes. Bury them at your place."
THE LEGEND OF HOW KITOVRAS WAS TAKEN BY SOLOMON
When Solomon was building the Holy of Holies, he needed to ask Kitovras a question. They told him where he lives, they said - in the far desert. Then the wise Solomon decided to forge an iron chain and an iron hoop, and on it he wrote a spell in the name of God. And he sent the first of his boyars with servants, and ordered to bring wine and honey, and they took sheepskins with them. They came to the dwelling of Kitovras, to his three wells, but he was not there. And at the direction of Solomon, they poured wine and honey into those wells, and covered the well with sheepskins from above. Wine was poured into two wells, and honey into the third. They themselves, hiding, watched from the hiding place when he would come to drink water at the wells. And soon he came, clung to the water, began to drink and said: "Everyone who drinks wine does not become wiser." But he got sick of drinking water, and he said: “You are the wine that gladdens the hearts of people,” and drank all three wells. And he wanted to sleep a little, and his wine took apart, and he fell asleep soundly. The boyar, coming up, tightly shackled him around the neck, arms and legs. And, waking up, he wanted to rush. And the boyar said to him: “Lord, Solomon wrote the name of the Lord with a spell on the chains that are now on you.” He, seeing them on himself, meekly went to Jerusalem to the king.
His temper was like this. He did not walk in a crooked way, but only in a straight one. And when they came to Jerusalem, they cleared the way for him and demolished the houses, for he did not go around. And they approached the widow's house, and, running out, the widow screamed, begging Kitovras: “Lord, I am a poor widow. Do not hurt me!" He bent around the corner, not stepping out of the way, and broke his rib. And said: " soft tongue breaks a bone." When they led him through the bargain, then, hearing one man say: “Are there any shoes for seven years?” Kitovras laughed. And, seeing another person, telling fortunes, he laughed. And I saw the wedding being managed, I cried. Seeing on the way a man wandering without a road, he directed him to the road. And they brought him into the court of the kings.
On the first day they did not take him to Solomon. And Kitovras said: “Why doesn’t the king call me to him?” They told him: “He drank too much yesterday.” Kitovras took the stone and laid it on another stone. Solomon was told what Kitovras had done. And the king said: "He orders me to drink drink upon drink." And the next day the king did not call him to him. And Kitovras asked: “Why don’t you take me to the king and why don’t I see his face?” And they said: "The king is unwell because he ate a lot yesterday." Then Kntovras removed the stone from the stone.
On the third day they said: "The king is calling you." He measured the rod at four cubits, went in to the king, bowed, and silently threw the rod in front of the king. The king, according to his wisdom, explained to his boyars what the rod means, and said: “God gave you the universe as your possession, but you were not satisfied, you caught me too.” And Solomon said to him: “I did not bring you on a whim, but to ask how to build the Holy of Holies. I brought you by the command of the Lord, since I am not allowed to hew stones with iron.
And Kitovras said: “There is a small cocotte bird named Shamir. The cocotte leaves its children in its nest on a stone mountain in the far desert. Solomon sent his boyar with his servants, at the direction of Kitovras, to the nest. And Kitovras gave the boyar transparent glass and ordered him to hide at the nest: “When the cocotte flies out, cover the nest with this glass.” The boyar went to the nest; and in it - small chicks, the cocotte flew away for food, - and he blocked the mouth of the nest with glass. They waited a bit, and the cocotte flew in, wanted to climb into the nest. The chicks squeak through the glass, but he cannot get to them. Then he took what he kept in a certain place, and brought it to the nest, and laid it on the glass, although he should be seated. Then the people shouted and he released it. And, taking it, the boyar brought it to Solomon.
Then Solomon asked Kitovras: “Why did you laugh when a man asked for shoes for seven years?” “I saw from him,” Kitovras answered, “that he would not live even seven days.” The king sent to check, and it turned out so. And Solomon asked: “Why did you laugh when the man was telling fortunes?” Kitovras answered: “He told people about the secret, but he himself did not know that under it was a treasure with gold.” And Solomon said, "Go and check." Checked it out and it turned out. And the king asked: “Why did you cry when you saw the wedding?” Kitovras replied: "They were saddened because the bridegroom would not live even thirty days." The king checked, and it turned out so. And the king asked: “Why did you bring a drunken man to the road?” Kitovras answered: "I heard from heaven that that man is virtuous and that he should be served."
Kitovras stayed with Solomon until the completion of the Holy of Holies. Once Solomon said to Kitovras: "Now I saw that your strength is like a human one, and not more than our strength, but the same." And Kitovras said to him: “King, if you want to see what strength I have, take off my chains and give me your ring from my hand; then you will see my strength.” Solomon removed the iron chain from him and gave him a ring. And he swallowed the ring, stretched out his wing, swung, and hit Solomon, and threw him to the end of the promised land. The wise men and scribes found out about this and sought out Solomon.
Solomon was always afraid of Kitovras at night. And the king built a bed and ordered sixty strong youths to stand around with swords. That's why the Scriptures say, "Solomon's bed, sixty brave young men from Israel and from the countries of the north."
ABOUT KITOVRAS FROM PALEA
Kitovras is a fast beast. Wise Solomon caught him by cunning. His camp is human, and his legs are cow's. The fable says that he carried his wife in his ear. Here's the trick they caught him with. His wife said to the young man, her lover, thus: “He goes around many lands day and night and comes to a certain place where there are two wells. And he, getting excited, drinks both of those wells. Solomon ordered to pour wine into one of them, and honey into the other. Kitovras rode up and drank both wells. Then he, drunk, sleeping, was caught and bound tightly, for the strength in him was great. And they brought him to King Solomon. The king asked him: “What is the most beautiful thing in this world?” He replied: "Your own will is best." And, rushing, he broke everything and galloped to his will.
<0 ДВУГЛАВОМ МУЖЕ И ЕГО ДЕТЯХ>
Kitovras, leaving for his people, presented Solomon with a man with two heads. That man took root with Solomon. Solomon asked him: “What kind of people are you? Are you human or demon? The man replied: "I am from people living underground." And the king asked him: “Do you have the sun and the moon?” He said: “From your west the sun rises towards us, and in your east it sets. So when you have day, then we have night. And when you have night, then we have day. And the king gave him a wife. And two sons were born to him: one with two heads, and the other with one. And their father had a lot of good things. And their father died. The two-headed man said to his brother: "Let's divide the property according to the heads." A little brother said, “There are two of us. Let's divide the property in half." And they went to court before the king. The one-headed man said to the king: “We are two brothers. We must divide the property in half." And he, the two-headed one, said to the king: "I have two heads, and I want to take two shares." The king, in his wisdom, ordered vinegar to be served and said: “Are these two heads from different bodies? Poluka I vinegar on one head: if the other head does not feel, you will take two shares for two heads. And if the other head feels the pouring vinegar, it means that both these heads are from one body. Then take one share. And when vinegar poured on one head, the other squealed. And the king said: "Since you have one body, you will take one share." So King Solomon judged them.
<ЗАГАДКИ МАЛКАТОШКИ>
There was a queen of the South, a foreigner named Malkatoshka. She came to test Solomon with riddles; she was very wise. And she brought him gifts: twenty drops of gold, a lot of potions and wood that does not rot. Solomon, having heard about the arrival of the queen, sat down in a hall with a floor of transparent glass on a platform, wanting to test her. And she, seeing that the king was sitting in the water, picked up her clothes before him. And he saw that she was beautiful in face, but her body was as hairy as a brush. With this hair she bewitched the men who were with her. Solomon said to his wise men: "Prepare a bath and an ointment with a potion and anoint her body so that her hair falls out." And the wise men and the scribes told him to go with her. Having conceived from him, she went to her own land and gave birth to a son, and this was Nebuchadnezzar.
That was her riddle to Solomon. She gathered the boys and girls dressed in the same clothes and said to the king: "Determine according to your wisdom which are boys and which are girls." The king, in his wisdom, ordered the fruits to be brought, and they poured them out before them. The boys began to pick up clothes in the floors, and the girls in the sleeves. And Solomon said, "These are the boys, and these are the girls." Because of this, she marveled at his cunning.
On the next day, she gathered the youths, circumcised and uncircumcised, and said to Solomon: "Select which are circumcised and which are uncircumcised." The king ordered the bishop to bring in a holy crown, on which was written the word of the Lord, with which Balaam was turned away from sorcery. The circumcised youths stood up, but the uncircumcised fell before the crown. She was very surprised by this.
The wise men thought of it to the cunning Solomon: “We have a well far from the city. Guess with your wisdom how you can drag him to the city? The cunning Solomons, realizing that this could not be, told them: “Weave a rope out of bran, and we will drag your well into the city.”
And again the wise men thought of it: “If the field is overgrown with knives, how can you reap it?” They were answered: "A donkey's horn." And her wise men said: “Where are the horns of the donkey?” They answered: “Where will knives give birth to beer?”
They also thought: “If the salt rots, how can you salt it?” They said: "Taking the womb of a mule, it must be salted." And they said: “But where does the mule give birth?” They answered: "Where the salt rots."
And the queen, seeing the mansions that had been made, and the abundance of food, and how his people were sitting, and how his servants were standing, and their garments, and the drink, and the sacrifices that they brought to the house of God, said: “True is the speech that I heard in my land for your wisdom. And I had no faith in the speeches until I came and saw with my own eyes. Turns out I wasn't even told half of it. Good for your husbands who hear your wisdom."
King Solomon gave this queen the name Malkatoshka and everything she asked for. And she went to her land with her people.
<0 НАСЛЕДСТВЕ ТРЕХ БРАТЬЕВ>
In the days of Solomon there lived a man who had three sons. Dying, this man called them to him and said to them: “I have a treasure in the ground. In that place, he said, three vessels are stacked on top of each other. After my death, let the elder take the upper one, the middle one the middle one, and the younger one the lower one.” After the death of his father, his sons opened this treasure in the presence of people. And it turned out that the upper vessel was full of gold, the middle one was full of bones, and the lower one was full of earth. These brothers began to quarrel, saying: “You are a son, since you take gold, and we are not sons?” And they went to the judgment of Solomon. And Solomon judged them: what is gold - to the elder, that of cattle and servants - to the middle one, judging by the bones; but as for vineyards, cornfields, and grain, to lesser. And he said to them: "Your father was clever man and divided you while you were alive."
<0 ТРЕХ ПУТНИКАХ>
Once three men were walking their own way, carrying gold in their belts. Stopping to rest in a deserted place, they conferred and decided: "Let's hide the gold in a cache: if robbers attack, we will run away, but it will be saved." After digging a hole, they all put their belts in a hiding place. In the middle of the night, when two friends fell asleep, the third, harboring an evil thought, got up and hid the belts in another place. And when they, having rested, came to the hiding place to take their belts, then, having found them, they all cried out at once; but the villain yelled much louder than the other two. And they all returned home. And they said: "Let's go to Solomon and tell him about our trouble." And they came to Solomon and said: “We don’t know, king, whether the beast took it, whether it was a bird or an angel. Explain to us, king." And he, in his wisdom, said to them: “I will find you tomorrow. But since you are travelers, I beg you: explain to me: “A certain young man, having become engaged to a beautiful girl, gave her wedding ring without the knowledge of her father and mother. This young man went to another land and got married there. And the father gave the girl in marriage. And when the bridegroom wanted to come in to her, the girl screamed and said: “Out of shame, I did not tell my father that I was betrothed to another. Fear God, go to my betrothed, ask him for permission: let me be your wife according to his word. The young man gathered and, taking a lot of goods and a girl, went there, and he allowed him: “Let her be your wife, since you have taken her.” The bridegroom says to her: "Let's go back and arrange a wedding again." And when they were walking back, they met a certain rapist with his people and captured him with both the girl and the good. And this robber wanted to do violence to the girl, and she screamed and told the robber that she had gone for permission and had not yet been in bed with her husband. The robber was surprised and said to her husband: “Take your wife and go with your goods.” And Solomon said: “I told you about this girl and young man. Tell me now, you people who have lost their belts: who is better - a young man, or a girl, or a robber? One replied: “The girl is good because she told about her engagement.” Another said: "The young man is good because he waited until permission." The third said: “The robber is the best, because he returned the girl and let him go. And there was no need to give back.” Then Solomon said in response: “Friend, you are hungry for someone else's good. You took all the belts." The same said: “The king-lord, indeed it is so. I won't hide from you."
<0 FEMALE SENSE>
And then the wise Solomon, wanting to experience the meaning of the feminine, the world, called his boyar named Dekir and said to him: “I like you very much. And I will love you even more if you fulfill my desire: kill your wife, and I will give my best daughter for you. I told him the same thing a few days later. And Dekir did not want to do this. And finally he said: "I will fulfill your will, king." The king gave him his sword with the words: "Chop off your wife's head when she falls asleep, so that she does not dissuade you with her speeches." He went and found his wife sleeping, and on either side of her were two children. And he, looking at his wife and at his sleeping children, said in his heart: “If I strike my friend like this with a sword, then I will grieve my children.” The king called him to him and asked him, saying: “Have you fulfilled my will regarding your wife?” He replied: “I could not, my lord the king, fulfill it.”
The king sent him as an ambassador to another city and, calling his wife, said to her: “I like you much more than all women. If you do what I command you, I will make you queen. Slaughter your husband, who is sleeping on the bed, and this is your sword. In response, the wife said: "I am glad, king, that you order so." Solomon, understanding with his wisdom her husband - that he did not want to kill his wife - gave him a sharp sword; and realizing his wife - that she wants to kill her husband, he gave her a blunt sword, pretending that it was sharp, saying: "Slay your husband sleeping on your bed with this sword." She put the sword on her husband's chest and began to drive it along his throat, thinking that he was sharp. And he quickly jumped up, believing that some enemies had attacked, and seeing that his wife was holding a sword, “why,” he said, “my friend, did you decide to kill me?” In response to her husband, the wife said: "The language of man convinced me that I should kill you." He wanted to call people, and then he realized that Solomon had taught her.
Solomon, having heard about this, entered this verse in the Collection, saying: "He found one man among thousands, but he did not find a woman in the whole world."
<0 СЛУГЕ И СЫНЕ>
In the days of Solomon there was a rich man in Babylon, but he had no children. Having lived half his days, he adopted a servant boy. And having equipped, he sent him with good things from Babylon to commercial affairs. The same one, having come to Jerusalem, got hold of it there. And he fell into the number of the boyars of Solomon, sitting at a dinner with the king.
In the meantime, a son was born to the master of his house. And when the boy was thirteen years old, his father died. And his mother said to him: “Son, I heard about your father’s serf, that he got rich in Jerusalem. Go and find him." He came to Jerusalem and asked about a man by name, what was the name of this servant. And he was very famous. He was told that he was at Solomon's for dinner. And the youth entered the royal hall, asked: “Who is such and such a boyar here?” He replied, "It's me." Approaching, the lad hit him in the face and said: “You are my serf! Do not be afraid, sitting, but go to work! And give me your good." And the king was angry, and he was annoyed. Turning to Solomon, the youth said: “If this servant of my father is not mine, king, then because I hit him with my hand, I will receive a blow with a sword that will kill me.” The stricken one, in turn, said: “I am the master's son, and this is my father's servant and mine. I have witnesses in Babylon." The king said, “I will not believe the witnesses. I’d rather send my ambassador to Babylon - let him take the humerus from the coffin of his father there, and she will tell me which of you is the son and which is the servant. And you stay here." And the king sent his trusted ambassador, and he brought the humerus. In his wisdom, the tsar ordered the bone to be washed clean, seated his boyar and all the wise men, boyars and scribes in front of him and said to the person who knows how to bleed: "Bleed this boyar." He did it. Then the king ordered to put the bone in warm blood. He explained the meaning of the command to his boyars, saying: “If this is his son, then his blood will cling to the bones of his father. If he does not cling, then he is a slave. And they took the bone out of the blood, and the bone was white as before. Then the king commanded to pour the blood of the youth into another vessel. And having washed the bone, they put it in the blood of the young man. And the bone was saturated with blood. And the king said to his boyars: “See with your own eyes what this bone says: “This one is my son, and that one is a slave.” So the king judged them.
<О ЦАРЕ АДАРИАНЕ>
After that, Solomon began to tell his boyars: “There was Adrian the Tsar, and he ordered his boyars to call him god. And, not wanting to, the boyars said: “Our Tsar! Do you think in your heart that there was no god before you? We will call you the highest king among kings if you take the Jerusalem which is above and the Holy of Holies.” And he, gathering with many soldiers, went and took Jerusalem, and returned back, and said to them: “Just as God will do what he commands and says, so I did. Now call me god." He had three philosophers. The first one answered him, saying: “If you want to be called a god, keep in mind: a boyar cannot be called a king, being in the royal palace, until he comes out. So you too, if you want to be called a god, come out of the whole universe and there call yourself a god.”
And the other said: "You cannot be called a god." The king asked: "Why?" He replied: "Jeremiah the prophet says: 'The gods that did not create the heavens and the earth, let them perish.' If you want to die, king, call yourself a god."
And the third said: “My lord, the king! Help me soon!" The king asked: "What is the matter with you?" And the philosopher said: “My boat, three versts from here, is ready to sink, and all my goods are on it,” and the king said: “Do not be afraid. I will send people and they will bring her.” And the philosopher said: “Why do you, king, bother your people? Send a gentle wind, let it save her.” The same, understanding, remained silent displeasedly and went to rest to his queen.
And the queen said: "The philosophers have deceived you, king, by telling you that you cannot be called a god." Wanting to console him in that sadness, she said: “You are a king, you are rich, you are worthy of great honor. Do, - she said, - one thing, and then be called a god. The king asked: “What kind?” And the queen answered: "God's property, which you have, return." He asked: "What property?" The queen said: “Return your soul, which God has put into your body and then be called God. He objected: "If there is no soul in me, in my body, how shall I be called a god?" The queen said to him: "If you do not own your soul, then you cannot call yourself a god."
<О ПОХИЩЕННОЙ ЦАРЕВНЕ>
King Solomon asked the princess for himself. And they didn't give it to him. Then Solomon said to the demons: "Go and take that princess and bring her to me." And the demons, having gone, snatched her away at the crossing, when she was walking from her mother's chambers, put her in a ship and rushed across the sea.
And then the princess saw that the man was drinking water, and behind him the water was coming out. She asked: "Explain to me what it is." And the demons said: “He will explain to you to whom we are taking you.” They go further and see - a man, wandering in the water, asks for water, and the waves knock him down. And the princess said: “My dear matchmakers, explain this to me: why is that man, wandering in the water, asking for water?” And they said: “He will explain to you who we are taking you to.” And they drove by, and they see - a man is reaping hay, walking, and two goats, following him, are eating grass: what he reaps, they eat. And the princess said: “Explain to me, my unloving matchmakers, explain to me: why don’t those goats eat uncut grass?” And the demons told her: “He will explain to you to whom we are taking you.”
And they rushed her to the city. One demon went and told Solomon the king: "They brought you a bride." The king, having mounted his horse, went ashore. And the princess said to him: “Today I am yours, king. But explain this to me: a man drank water, and behind him it came out. The king said, “Why are you surprised at this? After all, this is the royal house: it enters here, it leaves from here. And the princess asked: “And now explain to me what it is: one person, wandering in the water, asks for water, and the waves knock him down?” Solomon replied: “O bride! Why are you surprised by this, bride? After all, this is a servant of the kings: he judges one lawsuit, and looks for another lawsuit in order to make the king's heart good. - “And here's another thing you explain to me: a man reaps grass, and what he reaps, two goats, following him, eat. Why don't those goats that got into the hay eat the uncut grass? And the king said: “Bride! Why are you surprised? If a person takes another wife with other people's children, then what he earns, they will eat. And he has nothing for himself. And now go, bride, to my rest.
However, not only Holy Bible is the main source of information about the life and reign of Solomon, the third Jewish king, the ruler of the united kingdom of Israel in the period of its highest prosperity, namely the tenth century BC. In addition, his name is mentioned in the writings of some authors of antiquity.
Solomon is the third Jewish king, the ruler of the united kingdom of Israel. And besides, Solomon is an integral character of both the Christian and Islamic religions, who left a deep mark on the culture different peoples. Shlomo, Solomon, Suleiman - this name in its various sounds is known not only to every Jew, Christian and Muslim, it is familiar to almost everyone, even those far from religion. Since this image has always attracted writers and poets, artists and sculptors who sang his wisdom and justice in their works and brought the life story of this amazing person to this day.
King David. Author: Gvechino. Solomon was the youngest son of King David, who before ascending the throne was a simple warrior under King Seoul. But having shown himself to be trustworthy, courageous and resourceful, he became the second Jewish king. And the mother was the beautiful Bathsheba, who at first sight conquered the king with her beauty. For her sake, David made big sin, for which he paid all his life: he took possession of her, and then sent her husband to certain death in order to take Bathsheba as his wife.
Bathsheba. (1832). Tretyakov Gallery. Author: Karl Bryullov. King David died at the age of 70, passing the throne to Solomon, although he was one of his younger sons. But that was the will of God.
King David hands over the scepter to Solomon. Author: Cornelis de Vos. Solomon was often credited with fantastic qualities: understanding the language of animals, power over genies. Scenes from the life and deeds of Solomon are found in miniatures of Byzantine manuscripts, in stained-glass windows and sculptures of medieval temples, on paintings, as well as in the works of writers.
"Everything passes"
Although great king Solomon had great wisdom and cunning, his life was not calm. It is said that the king wore magic ring, which in the storms of life brought him into balance and acted as an elixir that healed wounds. An inscription was carved on the ring: "Everything passes ...", which had a continuation on the inside: "This too will pass."
Ring of Solomon. Especially many legends have been preserved about his amazing witty decisions in various court cases. He always found a clever way out of a difficult or delicate situation. The Old Testament describes an event that formed the basis of the parable of the wise judge and the mother who was ready to give own child just to keep him alive.
Judgment of King Solomon. (1854). Author: Nikolay Ge Once, two women came to King Solomon for advice, asking them to resolve their dispute. One of them said that they live in the same house, and that they had a baby each, whom both of them had recently given birth to. And last night, in a dream, a neighbor accidentally crushed her child and shifted the dead one to her, and she took her living son to her and now passes him off as her own. And that now this woman refutes this accusation and claims that the living child belongs to her. And while one was telling this story, the other was trying to prove in a dispute that the child was really hers.
Judgment of Solomon. (1710). Author: Louis Boulogne Jr. After listening to both of them, King Solomon ordered the sword to be brought, which was immediately executed. Without a moment's hesitation, King Solomon said:
"Let both be satisfied. Cut the living child in half and give each half of the baby."
One of the women, hearing his words, changed her face and pleaded:
"Give the child to my neighbor, she is his mother, just don't kill him!"
The other, on the contrary, agreed with the decision of the king:
"Chop it, let neither her nor me get it",
She said decisively.
Judgment of Slomon. (1854) Novgorod state museum. "Do not kill the child, but give it to the first woman: she real mother".
Of course, the wise king did not even think of destroying the baby, but in such a cunning way he found out which of the two was telling a lie.
Solomon always invested justice in any disputes in his decisions. Actually, from Solomon it went that the main figure of any court is the judge, and it is he who must determine the degree of guilt and punishment for the triumph of truth.
King Solomon in old age. Author: Gustave Dore To all the benefactors of King Solomon, he was also the author of a source of poetic skill - the book "Song of Songs" and a collection philosophical reflections- Books of Ecclesiastes. IN modern interpretation the rules of Solomon, verified by wisdom, look like this:
Passing by the poor - share.
Passing by the young - do not be angry.
Passing by the old ones - bow down.
Passing by cemeteries - sit down.
Passing memory - remember.
When you pass by your mother, stand up.
Passing by relatives - remember.
Passing by knowledge - take it.
Passing by laziness - shudder.
Passing by the idle - create.
Passing by the fallen - remember.
Passing by the wise - wait.
Passing stupid - do not listen.
Passing by happiness - rejoice.
Passing by the generous - have a bite.
Passing by honor - keep.
Passing by debt - do not hide.
Passing by the word - hold.
Passing by feelings - do not be shy.
Passing by women - do not flatter.
Passing by glory - do not amuse yourself.
Passing by the truth - do not lie.
Passing by sinners - hope.
Passing by passion - go away.
Passing by a quarrel - do not quarrel.
Passing by flattery - be silent.
Passing by conscience - be afraid.
Passing by drunkenness - do not drink.
Passing by anger - humble yourself.
Passing by grief - cry.
Passing by the pain - take heart.
Passing by lies - do not be silent.
Passing by a thief - do not sneak.
Passing by impudent - say.
Passing by the orphans - spend money.
Passing by the authorities - do not believe.
Passing by death - do not be afraid.
Passing by life - live.
Passing by God - open up.
Idolatry of Solomon. (1668). Author: Giovanni Pissarro However, as they say, "there is a hole for an old woman"... According to the scriptures of the Bible, Solomon was very loving and had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines. And in his declining years, it so happened that Solomon, for the sake of one of his beloved wives, built a pagan altar and several temples in Jerusalem, thereby violating the vow given to God - to serve him faithfully.
King Solomon brings sacrifice to idols. (17th century). Author: Sebastian Bourdon. It was this vow that was the key to the wisdom, wealth and glory of Solomon. The wrath of the Almighty affected the well-being of the united kingdom, and soon after the death of the 52-year-old king, an economic and political crisis began, after which the country split into two parts.
There is such popular expression- Solomon's Judgment. Sometimes also used - solomonic solution. Of course, first we look at the dictionary of phraseological units ...
Solomon's decision: about a witty, unexpected solution to a case, a clever way out of a difficult situation.
Phraseologism "Judgment of Solomon" - is used in the meaning: the court is wise and quick. It is based on a biblical myth.
Reading the myth
17 And one woman said, O my lord! I and this woman live in the same house; and I gave birth with her in this house;
19 And the woman's son died in the night, for she slept him;
21 In the morning I got up to feed my son, and behold, he was dead; and when I looked at him in the morning, it was not my son whom I gave birth to.
22 And the other woman said, No, my son is alive, and your son is dead. And she told her: no, your son is dead, but mine is alive. And they spoke thus before the king.
24 And the king said, Give me a sword. And they brought the sword to the king.
25 And the king said, Cut the living child in two, and give half to one and half to the other.
26 And the woman, whose living son was, answered the king, for all her inward parts were agitated with pity for her son: O my lord! give her this child alive and do not kill him. And the other said: let it not be either for me or for you, cut it down.
27 And the king answered and said, Give this living child, and do not kill him: she is his mother.
The most primitive representatives ancient people did not understand at all - what was it?
“At this decision, all the people secretly laughed at the king, who allegedly acted in this case in a completely childish way” (Josephus Flavius).
This ultra-naive point of view was well portrayed by Mark Twain in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Conversation between Huck and runaway slave Jim:
I don't believe he was a sage. He acted quite stupidly at times. Do you remember how he ordered the baby to be cut in half?
- Well, yes, the widow told me about it.
- Exactly! Don't think of anything stupid! I ask you: where is half a dollar good for? After all, you can't buy anything for it. And what is half the child good for? Yes, I wouldn’t give anything for a million halves.
“Well, Jim, you didn’t understand at all what the point was, by God, you didn’t understand.
- Well, her, your essence! The bottom line is what habits this Solomon has. Take, for example, a person who has only one child or two - is such a person really going to throw children? No, he won't, he can't afford it. He knows that children are to be cherished. And if he has five million children running around the house, then, of course, it's different. He doesn't care that a baby is cut in two, like a kitten. There will still be a lot left.
Mark Twain, as always, is brilliant, light and at the same time wise, ironic and cheerful. Poor Jim didn't understand King Solomon at all. He thought at the most primitive level, and believed that the king was really going to distribute half the baby to the women. But even in the traditional interpretation - Solomon quickly and effectively determined who the real mother is - there are unclear things. Why didn't he ask, for example, the fathers of these children? Perhaps fathers would be able to determine where is whose child, more objectively. Well, not fathers (it is not known whether men are able to distinguish between two newborns), but other witnesses. They did not live in the void, there were people around. But he did not do this, and did not even try, but reacted the way he did - a provocation. And I got an answer right away. But what question? Is it accurate to the question "whose child"?
And here it is not.
Solomon made no attempt at all to determine which of the women was the biological mother. It didn't interest him. As a legendary just judge, he had to find out not this - but that with whom the child will be better. Solomon, although he lived in rather barbaric and inhumanistic times 3500 years ago, it was important who would take better care of the child. He could ask for information about financial situation and the size of the living space, whether they are going to educate him in the right faith, unleash crowds of scribes and officials on women who would find out for months who should be awarded the child ...
But he figured it out brilliantly and with lightning speed: one woman cared first of all about the life of the child, and the second - about how to win the argument. And it didn't depend on who he really was. This is what he defined: the good of the child.
It must be assumed that this benefited the child and he ended up with a caring mother instead of a heartless scandalous arguer who was ready to sacrifice his life - if only he would not get to someone else.
Solomon's decision is a wise decision, an act, in a broader sense, wisdom.Solomon - king of Israel in 965-928 BC - a period when Israel was strong and independent state. Whether it’s because, or maybe it’s just a coincidence, Solomon entered the history of not only the Jews, but the whole world as the standard of a wise ruler, and his very name became a household name in the concept of “Wisdom”.
Solomon's decision example
Sayings of King Solomon
- Let another praise you, and not your mouth; a stranger, and not your tongue
- Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins.
- Whoever repays good with evil, evil will not depart from his house.
- He cuts his legs, he suffers trouble who gives a verbal order to a fool.
- The feeble-minded expresses contempt for his neighbor; But man of sense is silent.
- Three things are incomprehensible to me, and four I do not understand: the path of an eagle in the sky, the path of a serpent on a rock, the path of a ship in the sea, and the path of a man to a woman's heart.
- Better is a piece of dry bread, and peace with it, than a house full of slaughtered cattle, with contention.
- Whoever speaks evil of his father and his mother, the lamp will go out in the midst of deep darkness.
- Do not move the old boundary that your fathers drew.
- Not the agile get a successful run, not the brave - victory, not the wise - bread, and not the prudent - wealth, and not the skillful - goodwill, but time and chance for all of them.
- What happens to the righteous is what the deeds of the wicked would merit, and to the wicked what the deeds of the righteous would merit.
- Stupidity has been placed in high positions, while the worthy remain below
- Fear God and keep His commandments, for God will bring every deed into judgment,
and everything secret, whether it is good or bad - It is better to live in a desert land than with a quarrelsome and angry woman.
- A lazy hand makes poor, but a diligent hand makes rich. He who gathers during the summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during the harvest is a dissolute son.
- The foolish believes every word, but the prudent is attentive to his ways.
- A merry heart is good as medicine, but a despondent spirit dries the bones.
King Solomon's Mines
It is believed that King Solomon was incredibly wealthy. This was facilitated by his economic abilities. He bought horses in Cilicia (according to Wikipedia, the southeastern region of Asia Minor) and sold them to Mesopotamia and Egypt, resold war chariots bought in Egypt to other countries, built a port in the Gulf of Aqabad and established a successful maritime trade, explored deposits of copper ore in Jordan, became almost a monopolist in its trade and made huge profits. These mines became the prototype of the legendary, supposedly gold and silver mines of King Solomon, about the search for which in 1885 he created a novel English writer Henry Rider Haggard.
