Solomon's Wisdom and the One Law That Stayed Beyond Him

Rabbi Isaac opened: "All this I tested with wisdom; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me" (Ecclesiastes 7:23). It is written, "And God gave Solomon wisdom and very great understanding" and so on (1 Kings 5:9). Rabbi Levi and the rabbis. The rabbis said: He gave him wisdom equal to all of Israel. Rabbi Levi said: Just as this sand is a fence for the sea, so was wisdom a fence for Solomon. He stated a matter: knowledge you have acquired, what do you lack? Knowledge you lack, what have you acquired? "A breached city without a wall" and so on (Proverbs 25:28): like a breached city that has no wall, so is a man who has no restraint over his spirit. It is written, "And Solomon's wisdom exceeded the wisdom of all the people of the East" and so on (1 Kings 5:10). And what was the wisdom of the people of the East? That they were knowledgeable in the stars and clever with birds. Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel said: In three matters I praise the people of the East: they do not kiss on the mouth but on the hand, they do not bite into bread but cut it with a knife, and they take counsel only in an open place, as it is said of our father Jacob, "And Jacob sent and called Rachel and Leah to the field, to his flock" (Genesis 31:4), to an open place. "And than all the wisdom of Egypt" (1 Kings 5:10). And what was the wisdom of the Egyptians? You find that when Solomon wished to build the Temple, he sent to Pharaoh Necho and said to him: Send me craftsmen for wages, for I wish to build the Temple. What did he do? He gathered all his astrologers, and they foresaw men who were destined to die that year, and he sent them to him. When they came to Solomon, he foresaw by the holy spirit that they were destined to die that year, and he gave them their shrouds and sent them back, and wrote to him: Did you have no shrouds to bury your dead? Here they are, and here are their shrouds. "And he was wiser than all men" (1 Kings 5:11), this is the first Adam. And what was the wisdom of the first Adam? You find that when the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to create the first Adam, He took counsel with the ministering angels and said to them, "Let us make a human" (Genesis 1:26). They said before Him: Master of the worlds, "what is a human that You should remember him, and a son of man that You should be mindful of him?" (Psalms 8:5). He said to them: This human whom I wish to create in My world, his wisdom is greater than yours. What did He do? He gathered every beast and animal and bird and passed them before them and said to them: What are the names of these? And they did not know. Once He created the first Adam, He gathered every beast and animal and bird and passed them before him and said to him: What are the names of these? And he said: This one it is fitting to call horse, this one it is fitting to call lion, this one camel, this one ox, this one eagle, this one donkey, as it is written, "And the human gave names to all the cattle" and so on (Genesis 2:20). He said to him: And you, what is your name? He said to Him: Adam. He said: Why? Because I was created from the ground [adamah]. He said to him: And I, what is My name? He said to Him: the LORD. He said: Why? He said to Him: Because You are Lord [adon] over all Your creatures. Rabbi Aha said: The Holy One, blessed be He, said, "I am the LORD, that is My name" (Isaiah 42:8): it is My name that the first Adam called Me, it is My name that I stipulated between Myself and Myself, it is My name that I stipulated between Myself and the ministering angels. "Ethan," this is our father Abraham, as it is written, "A maskil of Ethan the Ezrahite" (Psalms 89:1). "Heman" (1 Kings 5:11), this is Moses, "Not so My servant Moses" and so on (Numbers 12:7). "And Kalkol" (1 Kings 5:11), this is Joseph, "And Joseph sustained [vaykhalkel] his father" and so on (Genesis 47:12). The Egyptians said: Did this slave become king over us only by his wisdom? What did they do? They took seventy tablets and wrote on them seventy languages and would throw them before him, and he would read each one in its language; and moreover, he would speak in the holy tongue, which they could not understand, as it is written, "A testimony in Joseph He appointed it, when he went out over the land of Egypt" and so on (Psalms 81:6). "And Darda" (1 Kings 5:11), this is the generation of the wilderness; and why is it called Darda? Because they were all full of knowledge [de'ah]. "Sons of Mahol" (1 Kings 5:11), these are Israel, children whom the Divine Presence forgave [machal] for the deed of the calf. "And he spoke three thousand parables" and so on (1 Kings 5:12). Rabbi Samuel son of Nahman said: We went through all of Scripture and did not find that Solomon prophesied more than close to eight hundred verses, yet you say three thousand parables? Rather, this teaches that every single verse he prophesied has in it two or three meanings, as you say, "A golden ring and an ornament of fine gold" (Proverbs 25:12). And the rabbis said: three thousand parables on each verse, and one thousand and five meanings on each parable; "And his song was" is not written, but rather "And his song [shiro] was" (1 Kings 5:12), the remainder [shiyuro] of the parable. "And he spoke about the trees" (1 Kings 5:13). Is it possible for a person to speak about the trees, "from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that comes out of the wall" (1 Kings 5:13)? Rather, Solomon said: Why is this leper purified by the highest of the high and the lowest of the low? Because if a person exalts himself like a cedar, he is stricken with leprosy, and once he lowers himself like hyssop, he is healed with hyssop. "And he spoke about the beasts and about the birds" (1 Kings 5:13). Is it possible for a person to speak about the beasts and the birds? Rather, Solomon said: Why is the beast permitted with two signs and the bird permitted with one sign? Because the beast was created from the dry land, while concerning the bird one verse says from the dry land and one verse says from the sea: one verse says from the dry land, "And the LORD God formed from the ground every beast of the field" and so on (Genesis 2:19); and one verse says from the sea, "And God said, let the waters swarm" and so on (Genesis 1:20). Bar Kappara said: the bird was created from the mud of the sea. Rabbi Abun in the name of Rabbi Samuel of Cappadocia: even so, the feet of the rooster resemble the scales of a fish. "And about the creeping things" (1 Kings 5:13). Is it possible for a person to speak about the creeping things? Rather, Solomon said: Why is one who traps or wounds the eight creeping things stated in the Torah liable, while one who wounds the rest of the swarming and creeping things is exempt? Because these have hides. "And about the fish" (1 Kings 5:13). Is it possible for a person to speak about the fish? Rather, Solomon said: Why do beast and animal and bird require slaughter, while fish do not require slaughter? Jacob, a man of Kefar Gibboraya, ruled in Tyre that fish require slaughter. Rabbi Haggai heard and sent and brought him. He said to him: From where do you derive this? He said to him: From this, as it is written, "And God said, let the waters swarm with swarms of living creatures, and birds" (Genesis 1:20); just as the bird requires slaughter, so the fish require slaughter. He said: Stretch him out to be flogged. He said: A man who speaks a matter of Torah is flogged? He said to him: You did not derive it well. He said to him: What is it? He said to him: From this, as it is written, "Shall flocks and herds be slaughtered for them, and it suffice for them?" (Numbers 11:22); if it had said "shall all the fish of the sea be slaughtered for them," it would be as you say, but it says, "shall they be gathered for them, and it suffice for them" (Numbers 11:22). He said to him: Strike your blows well, for it is good in measure. Jacob of Kefar Naboraya ruled in Tyre that the son of a non-Jewish woman may be circumcised on the Sabbath. Rabbi Haggai heard and sent and brought him. He said to him: From where do you derive this? He said to him: From this, as it is written, "And they declared their pedigrees by their families, by their fathers' houses" (Numbers 1:18), and it is written, "And at eight days old every male among you shall be circumcised" and so on (Genesis 17:12). He said: Stretch him out to be flogged. He said: A man who speaks a matter of Torah is flogged? He said to him: You did not derive it well. He said to him: From where? He said to him: Lie down and listen. He said to him: If a Gentile comes to you and says, I wish to become a Jew on condition that I be circumcised on the Sabbath day or on the fast day of the Day of Atonement, do we desecrate it for him? He said: We do not desecrate the Sabbath and the Day of Atonement except for the son of an Israelite alone. He said to him: From where? He said to him: From this, as it is written, "And now let us make a covenant with our God to put away all the wives and those born from them" and so on (Ezra 10:3). He said to him: And from the Writings you flog me? He said to him: It is written there, "And let it be done according to the Torah" (Ezra 10:3). He said to him: According to which Torah? He said to him: According to what Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai, "You shall not intermarry with them, your daughter you shall not give to his son" and so on, "for he will turn away your son from following Me" and so on (Deuteronomy 7:3, 4); your son from an Israelite woman is called your son, your son from a Gentile woman is not called your son. He said to him: Strike your blows well, for it is good in measure. Solomon said: All these I grasped, but this portion of the heifer, when I touched it, I expounded it and investigated it; I said, I will be wise, but it was far from me (Ecclesiastes 7:23).