Solomon

1,693 texts · Page 23 of 36

King Solomon's legendary wisdom, the building of the Temple, his mastery over demons, and the secrets of the Song of Songs.

Solomon's Grand Building Projects and Their Purpose

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

King Solomon, the wisest of all men, certainly grappled with that question. And in the book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, he gives us a glimpse into his own striving. The verse we'r...

Solomon and the Queen of Jerusalem

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The verse in question: "I made myself gardens and orchards, and I planted in them trees of every fruit" (Ecclesiastes 2:5). The rabbis weren't content with a simple reading. They w...

Pools of Water That Irrigate a Growing Forest

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The verse in question is (Ecclesiastes 2:6): “I made myself pools of water to irrigate from them a forest which grows trees.” Sounds straightforward enough. But what does it really...

Court of Solomon of Kings

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Kohelet, the book of Ecclesiastes, gives us a glimpse. In chapter 2, verse 7, it says, "I purchased myself slaves and maidservants and I had stewards. I also had great possession o...

Divine Spirit and the Lawgiver

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Kohelet, the book of Ecclesiastes traditionally attributed to Solomon, wrestles with just that. And Kohelet Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on Ecclesiastes, digs even deeper. Let's...

Covenant of Levi

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, grapples with these questions, and the rabbis of the Midrash (rabbinic interpretive commentary), specifically Kohelet Rabbah, offer some pretty fascinatin...

David — Wisdom of Solomon

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

It’s a thought that runs through the heart of Ecclesiastes, that most enigmatic of biblical books. And it pops up especially vividly in the verse from (Ecclesiastes 2:9): “I grew g...

Legend of Solomon

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with these very questions. And Kohelet Rabbah, a rabbinic commentary on Ecclesiastes, dives even deeper. one ...

Solomon Turned to Behold Wisdom and Found Folly Too

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

It grapples with the very human experience of seeking knowledge, stumbling, and trying to make sense of it all. The verse we're looking at today is (Ecclesiastes 2:12): "I turned t...

Grasping at Shadows in the Search for Meaning

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Times when clarity feels miles away, and we’re just grasping at shadows. Well, the book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew, speaks directly to that feeling. It's a book about se...

The Wisdom of the Patriarchs According to Ecclesiastes

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Kohelet Rabbah, a rabbinic commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes, grapples with this very question, using the verse, "The wise man, his eyes are in his head; but the fool walks in...

Rabbis — Abraham at the Dawn of Creation

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with these very feelings. And Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of Ecclesiastes, dives...

Moses Versus Bilam and the Contrast of Wisdom

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

That feeling of existential dread isn't new. In fact, it’s wrestled with in some of our most ancient texts. to a passage from Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretatio...

The Wise and the Wicked Meet the Same End

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

That fear, that nagging doubt, echoes in the ancient words of Kohelet Rabbah, a rabbinic commentary on the Book of Ecclesiastes. It grapples with the seeming unfairness of life, th...

A Little Folly Outweighs a Lifetime of Wisdom

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew, grapples with these very questions. And the ancient Rabbis, in their commentary on Kohelet, called Kohelet Rabbah, really dig into t...

The Wise Scholar Whose Eyes Are in His Head

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, dives into this very idea, using the verse "The wise man, his eyes are in his head, but the fo...

I Hated Life Because Everything Is Vanity

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The book of Ecclesiastes, Kohelet in Hebrew, certainly grapples with that feeling. "I hated life," it says, "because the actions performed under the sun were distressing to me; as ...

Rabbi Meir and the King

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it’s known in Hebrew, tackles this head-on. There's this passage that really hits home: "I hated all my toil that I toiled under the sun, as...

Hadrian in Solomon's Court

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

"I turned my heart to despair regarding all the toil that I toiled under the sun," it says (Ecclesiastes 2:20). It's a sentiment that resonates even today. But Kohelet Rabbah, a co...

Enosh and Creation of Simon

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Ecclesiastes has a way of stopping you cold with a single sentence, and (Ecclesiastes 2:21) is one of them: "For there is a man whose toil is with wisdom, and with knowledge, and w...

Ecclesiastes Maps the Generations of Suffering

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, certainly grapples with that feeling. It can feel bleak. But within that perceived bleakness, ancient interpreters found profound meaning. Tak...

Nothing Better Than to Eat, Drink, and Find Meaning

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

That's what some of our sages suggest when interpreting the famous verse from Ecclesiastes (Kohelet) 2:24: "There is nothing better for a man than for him to eat and drink, and ind...

Tadmor in Solomon's Court

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as we know it in Hebrew, is full of Solomon's reflections on life, often tinged with a certain weariness. And one particular verse, (Ecclesiastes 2:25), re...

Avimelekh — Abraham at the Dawn of Creation

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

"For to the man who is good before Him, He gave wisdom, knowledge, and joy; but to the sinner He gave the task to gather and to amass, to give to one who is good before God. This, ...

Adam and Creation of There

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet in Hebrew, grapples with this very idea, and the rabbinic commentary on it, Kohelet Rabbah, digs even deeper. It all starts with that famous li...

A Good Name at Death Outweighs a Good Birth

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

We often think of success, happiness, maybe even leaving a legacy. But what if the key lies not just in how we live, but also in how we approach death? Kohelet, or Ecclesiastes, th...

A Time to Be Born and a Time to Die Says Ecclesiastes

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Kohelet Rabbah, a fascinating collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, dives into this very idea, particularly when it comes to life, death, and the mome...

Stars and Firmament of Hezekiah

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

This question has been debated for centuries, and today, we're diving into a fascinating discussion about it from the ancient text of Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic inter...

A Time to Kill and a Time to Heal in Ecclesiastes

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, grapples with this very idea. It’s a meditation on the cyclical nature of existence, the ups and downs that define our...

A Time to Weep and a Time to Dance

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, gets it. It’s a book that doesn't shy away from the complexities, the contradictions, the sheer messiness of being hum...

A Time to Cast Stones and a Time to Gather Them

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, wrestles with these very questions. And one particular verse, (Ecclesiastes 3:5), has sparked some fascinating interpr...

Solomon and the Promised Land

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Remember the famous lines, "A time to be born, and a time to die...a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted"? (Ecclesiastes 3:2). It goes on from there. And wi...

A Time to Rend and a Time to Sew Up What Is Torn

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

King Solomon, wiser than anyone, certainly thought so. In the book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as we call it in Hebrew, he tells us, "A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to b...

A Time to Love and a Time for War Says Ecclesiastes

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The Book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet as it's known in Hebrew, certainly thought so. And the Rabbis, plumbing its depths in Kohelet Rabbah, took that idea and ran with it. Consider ...

Caleb and the Dreamer

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

A time for everything, as the saying goes. But what does that really mean? Well, one fascinating interpretation comes to us from Rabbi Yehoshua of Sikhnin, found within Kohelet Rab...

What Advantage Does the Worker Gain From Toil

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The rabbinic commentary on it, Kohelet Rabbah, digs even deeper. It all starts with the question: "What is the advantage of one who works, in that he toils?" (Ecclesiastes 3:9). It...

The Matters God Has Given Humanity to Engage

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

What does it really mean? Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, digs into this very question, using the verse from (Ecclesiastes 3:1...

Abbahu — Solomon at the Dawn of Creation

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The ancient rabbis, in Kohelet Rabbah, that treasure trove of commentary on Ecclesiastes, dive deep into this verse. Rabbi Tanhuma suggests a simple, elegant idea: the world came i...

He Made Everything Beautiful in Its Time

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The book of Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, wrestles with these very questions. And Kohelet Rabbah, the rabbinic commentary on Ecclesiastes, digs even deeper. a fascinating passage from it....

Nothing Better Than to Rejoice and Do Good

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

One particular passage in Kohelet (3:12-13) offers a surprising answer: "I know that there is nothing better for them, than to rejoice, and to do good during their lifetime. Also, ...

Elijah — Adam and Eve in Eden

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The sun rises, the seasons turn... it all seems so fixed, so unchangeable. But is it, really? Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the book of Ecclesiastes, ...

Elijah — Moses at the Dawn of Creation

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The ancient Rabbis, in their commentary called Kohelet Rabbah, dive deep into a specific verse that really makes you think: "What has been, already is, and what will be has already...

Zekharya in Heaven

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The verse from Ecclesiastes (3:16) sets the stage: “Moreover, I have seen, under the sun, in the place of judgment there is wickedness, and in the place of justice there is wickedn...

The Righteous and the Wicked Both Face God's Judgment

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The book of Ecclesiastes, or Kohelet, grapples with this very question, stating, "I said in my heart: The righteous and the wicked, God will judge, as there is a time for every pur...

Are Humans Really Better Than Animals

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Today, we're diving into a fascinating passage from Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, to explore this very dilemma. The passage ...

The Fate of Humans and Animals Is the Same

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

The Rabbis, in their infinite wisdom, unpack it even further in Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on Ecclesiastes. Specifically, we’re looking at Kohelet Rab...

Everything Returns to Dust But the Soul Returns to God

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

We find ourselves grappling with this very question in the ancient text of Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations of the Book of Ecclesiastes. The verse in questi...

Who Knows If the Human Spirit Ascends Upward

Midrash Rabbah Midrash Rabbah

Today, we're diving into a passage from Kohelet Rabbah, a collection of rabbinic interpretations on the Book of Ecclesiastes, to explore what it has to say about the ultimate fate ...