Solomon and the ant — a story that combines the king's legendary wisdom with a creature so small that most people would crush it without a thought. The Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary) preserves their encounter as proof that even the smallest of God's creatures has something to teach the wisest of men.
Solomon, who could speak the language of all animals and birds (1 Kings 4:33), once engaged an ant in conversation. The ant was carrying a grain of wheat — a burden enormous relative to its tiny body, yet it marched forward without complaint.
"Where are you going with that grain?" Solomon asked. "To my storehouse," the ant replied. "I am preparing for the winter." Solomon was impressed. "And how many of you are there?" "Thousands upon thousands. And every one of us works."
Solomon tested the ant further. He offered it wealth, comfort, freedom from labor. The ant refused everything. "Why would I stop working?" it said. "Work is what I was created to do. To stop working would be to deny my purpose."
The king — who ruled an empire spanning continents, who commanded armies and collected tribute from nations — was humbled by an insect. The ant needed no palace, no throne, no wisdom from heaven. It had been given a task and it fulfilled that task without hesitation, without complaint, without the existential crises that plagued human kings.
The Book of Proverbs records Solomon's conclusion: "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways and be wise. She has no commander, no overseer, no ruler, yet she stores her provisions in summer and gathers her food at harvest" (Proverbs 6:6-8). The smallest creature taught the greatest king: the secret to life is not wisdom. It is diligence.