Lifespan of Solomon

914 words long.

Published on 2024-05-07

To solve one of the riddles in Ecclesiastes, you need to know the year when Solomon was born and the year the temple was dedicated. In the chapter "Solomon's Sundial" in Peace, like Solomon Never Knew, these verses of Ecclesiastes pose that riddle:

A man may have a hundred children and live many years;

yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy

his prosperity and does not receive proper burial,

I say that a stillborn child is better off than he.

It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness,

and in darkness its name is shrouded. Though it

never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest

than does that man— even if he lives

a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy

his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place?

- Ecclesiastes 6:3-6, NIV

Solomon is the man who is imagining himself to live for "a thousand years twice over". If he had, what year would that be? Knowing that year, you can solve the riddle. Archaeology and many Bible references enable us to say with some confidence that the temple was dedicated in 960 BC. However, if you try to figure out when Solomon was born, you will draw a blank.

Guess My Age

Here are some guesses of Solomon's lifespan that I have dug up:

• Josephus: 94 years
• Pastor D Thornton: 64 years (max)
• Pulpit commentary: 60 years
• Matthew Poole: 60 years
• Gabriel Otjssani (Catholic Answers): 58 years
• Wikipedia: 55 years
• Jewish tradition: 52 years

Of all the answers, the one that I find most persuasive is from Pastor Thornton.

Pastor D Thornton's Analysis

Here is his analysis, restated. His original article is in answer to this question: How old was Solomon when he became king?

• Zero year: David reigned 40 years. First seven years were in Hebron.
• Add 7 years: David conquered Jerusalem, and moved Ark to Jerusalem in his 7th year.
• Add 3 years: "In the course of time" (2 Samuel 10:1) Time passed before the battle with the Ammonites, when David defeated the Arameans and subjugated them so they would not help the Ammonites any more.
• Add 1 year: "In the spring" (2 Samuel 11:1) The next year after the defeat of the Arameans, when David cohabited with Bathsheba.

Using the reasonable assumptions of three and one years for the last two intervals respectively, we have the adultery with Bathsheba in the 11th year of David's reign.

• Add 1 year: Bathsheba's first child with David born and died in David's 12th year, or later.

Bathsheba bore four surviving sons for David (1 Chronicles 3:5). The order of names matches that in 2 Samuel 5:14, so they are likely in chronological order.

• Add 1 year: Bathsheba's first living son, Shammua, born in 13th year of David's reign or later.
• Add 1 year: Bathsheba's second son, Shobab - 14th year or later.
• Add 1 year: Bathsheba's third son, Nathan - 15th year or later.
• Add 1 year: Bathsheba's fourth son, Solomon - 16th year, at the earliest.

Since David reigned for 40 years, if Solomon was born in the 16th year, Solomon would be 24 years old or younger when he became king.

Summary:

• 7 years in Hebron
• + 3 (in the course of time)
• + 1 (adultery)
• + 1 (lost child)
• + 4 (Solomon is 4th son of Bathsheba)
• = 16th year of David's reign earliest that Solomon could be born.
• 40 - 16 = 24 = oldest age of Solomon when David died.

The Answer

Thornton's analysis gives us an upper limit of twenty-four years for Solomon's age when he became king. It is highly likely that at least one of these intervals was longer than expected. Therefore my estimate is twenty-three years and a few months. Add in the length of Solomon's reign of forty-years, and you get the answer to the question:

Solomon lived to an age of sixty-three (63) years and a few months.

The Athenian sophist Protagoras once said, "Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not". This is usually shortened to:

Man is the measure of all things

In the riddle at the top of this article, Solomon measures out a span of time from his birth, using himself as a yardstick. What if this is a clue? If Solomon lived sixty-three years and a few months, what happens if you equate each year of Solomon's life with a century? That would yield a span between 6,300 and 6,400 years. My best estimate of the date of Creation is 4020 BC. If you add 6,300 years to the Creation, you get the year 2280 AD. Add in the "months" and you get a year between 2280 and 2380 AD. What if God used Solomon's life as a yardstick? Will the end of time fall between those two years?

The chapter A Grand Father Clock & a Silver Cord in Peace, like Solomon Never Knew tackles that crazy idea in depth. It is not so crazy. The whole structure of Ecclesiastes points us to a life with 49 years of growth (chapters 1 to 9), 13 years as a mature and productive worker (chapters 10 & the beginning of 11), a year of physical and mental decline (chapter 12), and before the end of the sixty-fourth year, death.

Enjoy your prosperity and may you receive a proper burial...