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Solomon was the son of David and the king who built the Temple in Jerusalem. He has four names across the traditions. In channeled history he also appears as a much later Solomon, head of the Essene order.
Names
Solomon is the main English name, from the Hebrew שְׁלֹמֹה (Shlomo or Shelomoh). It means “peaceful”, and it is the name the Hebrew Bible uses for the king who built the Temple.
His second Hebrew name is Jedidiah, “beloved of the Lord”. God gave it through the prophet Nathan at his birth.
And he sent by the hand of Nathan the prophet; and he called his name Jedidiah, because of the LORD.
2 Samuel 12:25, King James Version
Nathan named the child Jedidiah, the private name next to the throne name Solomon.
In Arabic the name is Sulaimān (سُلَيْمَان), also written Sulaymān, Sulayman or Suleiman. It is the form in the Quran and in Islamic tradition, where Solomon is a prophet and king, Sulaymān ibn Dāwūd, son of David. The name comes from the same root as Shlomo and is also linked to “peace”. Sulaimān and Sulayman are the same name, spelled with and without the macron.
Solomon, a worthy soul, head of the Essene order
Anna, the grandmother of Jesus, speaks through Claire Heartsong in the book Anna, Grandmother of Jesus. She describes a Solomon who led the Essenes in her own time. This is a channeled claim, not a historical record. The excerpt is short, for review and study.
I took my departure to Egypt in 510 BC. First, there was Solomon, a worthy soul, head of the Essene order, who took the name of his forefather, Solomon the Wise. He was approaching nigh 500 years lived within his body. His days were soon to be accomplished, and he was preparing now for his transition to higher planes. I was deeply honoured to be with him as he took his journey back to his Creator Source, several years after my return.
Anna, grandmother of Jesus
Anna says this Solomon was named after Solomon the Wise and lived close to 500 years in one body.
The ring, the jinn and Bilqis
In one legend the angel Gabriel gives Solomon a luminous ring. With it he rules the winds, the animals, the birds and the jinn. The jinn build him a palace of marble and pearls from the sea and prepare great feasts.
A hoopoe tells Solomon about Bilqis, the queen of Saba (Sheba), and he invites her to Jerusalem. She comes to test his wisdom and stays. The jinn fear that a marriage and an heir would make their service last longer.
A jinn named Zabwa spreads the rumour that Bilqis has jinn blood, which would show in hairy legs and strange feet. Solomon builds a glass floor over water that looks like a pond. Bilqis lifts her skirts to cross it, and Solomon sees her legs but says nothing.
In this version Bilqis takes up the faith in one God and marries Solomon. Their son is Rehoboam, marked by long arms as a sign of leadership. This differs from 1 Kings 14:21, which names Rehoboam’s mother as Naamah an Ammonitess. Bilqis dies after some years, and Solomon buries her in Palmyra in Syria, a city linked with the jinn and said to have been built on his order.
In the Kabbalah
The Jewish Encyclopedia of 1906 records how the Kabbalists grew the old story of Solomon’s eagle.
"Solomon used to sail through the air on a throne of light placed on an eagle, which brought him near the heavenly yeshibah as well as to the dark mountains behind which the fallen angels 'Uzza and 'Azzael were chained. The eagle would rest on the chains; and Solomon, by means of a ring on which God's name was engraved, would compel the two angels to reveal every mystery he desired to know."
Jewish Encyclopedia, 1906, article "Solomon", section "Solomon's Eagle", jewishencyclopedia.com
With a ring engraved with God’s name, Solomon made the fallen angels Uzza and Azzael (Azazel) tell him their secrets.
In the Bible
1 Kings 1 to 11 tells his life. He takes the throne and receives David’s last instructions. He asks God for wisdom, builds the Temple and his palace, and dedicates the Temple. The Queen of Sheba visits him. Chapter 11 tells of his wives, his idolatry and his fall.
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
1 Kings 11:3, King James Version
Solomon’s many wives turned his heart to other gods.
2 Chronicles 1 to 9 tells the same story with more weight on his wisdom, wealth and building. It covers his request for wisdom, the building of the Temple, the Ark brought into it (the Ark and Solomon), his prayer of dedication, his other works and the visit of the Queen of Sheba.
The books ascribed to Solomon
Tradition gives him three books. Proverbs opens with his name.
The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;
Proverbs 1:1, King James Version
Proverbs names Solomon as its author in its first line.
Ecclesiastes is often attributed to him. It reflects on the meaning of life and the human experience, and it opens with “The words of the Preacher, the son of David, king in Jerusalem” (Ecclesiastes 1:1). The Song of Solomon, or Song of Songs, is a collection of love poems that opens “The song of songs, which is Solomon’s” (Song of Solomon 1:1).
In the New Testament
Jesus uses Solomon in his teaching on worry and trust in God.
And yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.
Matthew 6:29, King James Version
Jesus says the lilies are dressed better than Solomon in all his glory.
He also recalls the visit of the Queen of Sheba. Luke 11:31 has nearly the same words.
The queen of the south shall rise up in the judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it: for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and, behold, a greater than Solomon is here.
Matthew 12:42, King James Version
The Queen of Sheba travelled far for Solomon’s wisdom, and Jesus calls himself greater.
Stephen names Solomon in his speech before the Sanhedrin.
But Solomon built him an house.
Acts 7:47, King James Version
Stephen credits Solomon with building the house of God.
