דברי הימים ב', ח-יב: 'קוטני עבה ממתני אבי'? משלמה לרחבעם

[A Psalm] of Solomon. Give the king Thy judgments, O God, and Thy righteousness unto the king's son; That he may judge Thy people with righteousness, and Thy poor with justice. Let the mountains bear peace to the people, and the hills, through righteousness. May he judge the poor of the people, and save the children of the needy, And crush the oppressor. They shall fear Thee while the sun endureth, and so long as the moon, throughout all generations. May he come down like rain upon the mown grass, as showers that water the earth. In his days let the righteous flourish, and abundance of peace, till the moon be no more. May he have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the River unto the ends of the earth. Let them that dwell in the wilderness bow before him; and his enemies lick the dust. The kings of Tarshish and of the isles shall render tribute; the kings of Sheba and Seba shall offer gifts. Yea, all kings shall prostrate themselves before him; All nations shall serve him. For he will deliver the needy when he crieth; the poor also, and him that hath no helper. He will have pity on the poor and needy, And the souls of the needy he will save. He will redeem their soul from oppression and violence, And precious will their blood be in his sight. That they may live, and that he may give them of the gold of Sheba, That they may pray for him continually, Yea, bless him all the day. May he be as a rich cornfield in the land upon the top of the mountains; May his fruit rustle like Lebanon; And may they blossom out of the city like grass of the earth. May his name endure for ever; May his name be continued as long as the sun; May men also bless themselves by him; May all nations call him happy. Blessed be the LORD God, the God of Israel, Who only doeth wondrous things; And blessed be His glorious name for ever; And let the whole earth be filled with His glory. Amen, and Amen. The prayers of David the son of Jesse are ended.

When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein; and shalt say: ‘I will set a king over me, like all the nations that are round about me’; thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose; one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee; thou mayest not put a foreigner over thee, who is not thy brother. Only he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses; forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you: ‘Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.’ Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the priests the Levites. And it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the days of his life; that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, to keep all the words of this law and these statutes, to do them; that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left; to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children, in the midst of Israel.

And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea-shore. And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east, and all the wisdom of Egypt. For he was wiser than all men: than Ethan the Ezrahite, and Heman, and Calcol, and Darda, the sons of Mahol; and his fame was in all the nations round about. And he spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five. And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall; he spoke also of beasts, and of fowl, and of creeping things, and of fishes. And there came of all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, who had heard of his wisdom.

Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which the LORD said unto the children of Israel: ‘Ye shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods’; Solomon did cleave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass, when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not whole with the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the detestation of the Ammonites. And Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the detestation of Moab, in the mount that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the detestation of the children of Ammon. And so did he for all his foreign wives, who offered and sacrificed unto their gods.

In that night did God, appear unto Solomon, and said unto him: ‘Ask what I shall give thee.’ And Solomon said unto God: ‘Thou hast shown great kindness unto David my father, and hast made me king in his stead. Now, O LORD God, let Thy promise unto David my father be established; for Thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people; for who can judge this Thy people, that is so great?’ And God said to Solomon: ‘Because this was in thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honour, nor the life of them that hate thee, neither yet hast asked long life, but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge My people, over whom I have made thee king; wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee, and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honour, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like.’ So Solomon came [from his journey] to the high place that was at Gibeon, from before the tent of meeting, unto Jerusalem; and he reigned over Israel.

Nevertheless they shall be his servants; that they may know My service, and the service of the kingdoms of the countries.’ So Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem, and took away the treasures of the house of the LORD, and the treasures of the king’s house; he took all away; he took away also the shields of gold which Solomon had made. And king Rehoboam made in their stead shields of brass, and committed them to the hands of the captains of the guard, that kept the door of the king’s house. And it was so, that as oft as the king entered into the house of the LORD, the guard came and bore them, and brought them back into the guard-chamber.

Whereas thou hast been forsaken and hated, So that no man passed through thee, I will make thee an eternal excellency, A joy of many generations. Thou shalt also suck the milk of the nations, And shalt suck the breast of kings; And thou shalt know that I the LORD am thy Saviour, And I, the Mighty One of Jacob, thy Redeemer. For brass I will bring gold, And for iron I will bring silver, And for wood brass, And for stones iron; I will also make thy officers peace, And righteousness thy magistrates.

Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: Joseph collected all the silver and gold in the world and brought it to Egypt, as it is stated: “And Joseph collected all the money found in the land of Egypt and in the land of Canaan” (Genesis 47:14). I have derived only that he collected the money that was in the land of Egypt and that was in the Land of Canaan. From where do I derive that he also collected all the money that was in other lands? The verse states “And all the land came to Egypt to buy food from Joseph, because the famine was sore in all the earth” (Genesis 41:57). And when the Jewish people ascended from Egypt they took this treasure with them, as it is stated: “They despoiled [vayenatzlu] Egypt” (Exodus 12:36). The Sages explain this term. Rav Asi said: They made Egypt like this trap [metzuda] for birds, where grain is usually placed as bait, in which there is no grain. Rabbi Shimon said: They made Egypt like the depths [kimetzula] of the sea in which there are no fish. And this treasure remained in Eretz Yisrael until the time of Rehoboam, at which point Shishak, king of Egypt, came and took it from Rehoboam, as it is stated: “And it came to pass in the fifth year of king Rehoboam, that Shishak king of Egypt came up against Jerusalem. And he took the treasures of the house of the Lord, and the treasures of the king’s house; and he took away all” (I Kings 14:25–26). Zerah, king of Kush, who ruled over Egypt, later came and took it from Shishak. Asa came and took it from Zerah, king of Kush, when he defeated him in battle (II Chronicles 14) and sent it to Hadrimmon ben Tabrimmon, king of Aram (see I Kings 15). The children of Ammon came and took it from Hadrimmon ben Tabrimmon, as learned by tradition. Jehosaphat came and took it from the children of Ammon (see II Chronicles 20), and it remained in Eretz Yisrael until the reign of Ahaz. Sennacherib came and took it from Ahaz. Hezekiah came and took it from Sennacherib, and it remained in Jerusalem until the reign of Zedekiah. The Chaldeans came and took it from Zedekiah. The Persians came and took it from the Chaldeans. The Greeks came and took it from the Persians. The Romans came and took it from the Greeks, and this treasure of silver and gold still remains in Rome.