A Wise King is Never Responsible

In the Baptist churches I attended growing up, King Solomon’s name was synonymous with wisdom. Prayers that mentioned his name often were said to invoke a request of “grant me the wisdom of King Solomon” so that difficult situations could negotiated successfully. Other aspects of his character or details about his reign as King that may have been less savory were either neglected or horribly glossed over. Granted, proclaiming to young children or even youth such details about the life of King Solomon may not be age appropriate information – would not want to experience those outraged phone calls from concerned parents!

This idea was not only taught by Sunday School Teachers, but reinforced by other texts and authors within the Biblical narrative. Thus, it was interesting to read an account of the Biblical narrative in Nehemia that the author is publically acknowledging that King Solomon sinned. The author writes that “Was it not because of marriages like these that Solomon king of Israel sinned? Among the many nations there was no like him. He was loved by his God, and God made him king over all Israel, but even he was led into sin by foreign women” (Nehemiah 13:26, NIV). To have the Biblical text acknowledge that even a mighty and wise King like Solomon sinned was initially an intriguing read.

However, after a second glance it was quite disheartening to read that the text did not necessarily hold King Solomon accountable for his sins. Instead the text blames the King’s “foreign wives” as responsible for leading him astray, that King Solomon was merely the victim of such women. He “sinned”, but it wasn’t his fault. Thus, King Solomon’s reputation as a wise and just King is preserved!

This type of excusing the sinful behavior of a male Biblical character by blaming the female characters in the story is not a new rhetorical or literary device. One must wonder at the cause for such blind hero worship that a character’s fault cannot be processed within the greater context of their story. That to “save” the reputation of the character, a scapegoat must be found and more often than not that person a nearby female character. No wonder female characters within the Biblical narrative have not been seen as the “heroes” within their stories – they weren’t just being blamed for their sins but also at times for the sins of the male characters around them. Considering the rhetoric that Solomon was a wise and just King, I wonder how he would have reacted to such an unjust form blame.