,Yaacov Shavit
An Imaginary Trio
,
,Yaacov Shavit
An Imaginary Trio
King Solomon, Jesus, and Aristotle
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,Contents
Acknowledgements IX
Introduction 1
Chapter One Biographies Correspond 15
Chapter Two Solomon and Jesus—Two Sons of God, and of David? 32
Pagan polemic 39
The Sages’ polemic 40
Christian polemic 43
Medieval Jewish Polemic 47
The Broken Dynasty: Solomon and Jesus—two sons of
David? 49
Chapter Three Solomon—His Actions and Books: Prefiguration, Typology, and
His Teachings 56
Solomon’s Temple 59
The Queen of Sheba’s Visit as a Typological Event 64
The Theological and Allegorical Interpretations of Solomon’s
Books 65
The Song of Songs 67
Proverbs 71
Ecclesiastes 73
Chapter Four The Divine Presence and a Heavenly Voice Come to Solomon’s
Aid—On Sin, Repentance, and Absolution 76
Solomon’s Sins and Downfall in Jewish Tradition 79
Heaven comes to Solomon’s Aid 84
Christianity on Solomon’s Sins and Repentance 87
Chapter Five “How is Jesus Greater than Solomon?” Solomon and Jesus as
Magicians (Healers and Exorcists) 96
Magic and Occultism 96
Magic and Healing 98
Jesus as a Healer and an Exorcist 103
The Riddle of Solomon’s Ring 109
Solomon’s After-Life as a Magician 113
,VIII Contents
Chapter Six Miracles and Wonders: Magic, Satan, and Demons 119
Sorcerers and Magicians 122
Satan and Demons 127
Asmodeus and the Demons Build the Temple 131
Chapter Seven Solomon’s Wisdom—From Hermes to Aristotle 136
Solomon’s Wisdom according to the Sages 143
Solomon’s Wisdom in the Middle Ages 145
Solomon’s Wisdom in Christian Literature 149
Jesus’ Wisdom 151
From Thoth-Hermes to Aristotle 153
Solomon and Aristotle 159
Wisdom versus Wit 168
Chapter Eight Solomon, Aristoteles Judaicus, and the Invention of a Pseudo-
Solomonic Library 172
The Invention of a Pseudo-Solomonic Library 185
Afterword 191
Bibliography 193
Name Index 230
, Acknowledgements
The research and writing of this book took place over a long, frequently inter-
rupted, period. My original idea was to write about King Solomon as a timeless
legend and myth in various cultures. Yet the more headway I made in the vast
amount of source materials, the less I could avoid acknowledging that this
was a Sisyphean task. The abundance of sources and the extensive research lit-
erature that has emerged over the last century or so regarding diverse aspects of
the figure of Solomon led me to relinquish my original plan and to limit its
scope. This book, then, is not intended to retell even a small portion of the leg-
endary traditions about Solomon.¹ Instead, it focuses on those places and in-
stances where his (imaginary) legendary biography intersects with those of
Jesus Christ and of Aristotle, the Greek philosopher. Solomon is the axis around
which this trio revolves and is the thread that binds it together. The book is based
on the premise that there exists a correspondence, both overt and implied, be-
tween these three biographies—a correspondence that has taken shape within
a vast, multifaceted field of texts for more than two thousand years.
First and foremost my thanks goes to Chaya Naor for her endeavor in trans-
lating the first version of the book. Throughout my years of research and writing,
particularly in the final stages, I have been fortunate to receive assistance, in-
sights, and input—both gentle and stern—from colleagues and friends. I am
very grateful to all of the following: Professor Sara Klein-Braslavy, Professor
Yuval Rotman, Dr. Yuval Haruvi, Dr. Maya Shabat (Pinhas), Dr. Yuval Rubovitch,
Itamar Levin, Dr. Maoz Cahana, Professor David Katz, Razia Geselson and Jean-
Luc Allouche (to whom I am grateful for his generous and indispensable help),
and to Michal Engel and Carl Yonker for improving the final version.
Without the nearly daily assistance of Avital Ginat and Irit Halavy, I could
not have brought the idea of this book to fruition.
I owe a special debt of gratitude to Professor Manfred Oeming of Heidelberg
University for the fruitful months during which he hosted me at the Wissen-
schaftlich-Theologisches Seminar and introduced me to the statues of Solomon
See Faerber (1902); George Salzberger (1907, 1912); Seymour (1924); Legends of the Jews, by
Ginzberg (1909), which as of 2003 has come out in six editions; and Bialik and Ravnitzky
(1931-1934), which since its second edition has been the most popular and influential collection
of Talmudic legends (taken largely from the Babylonian Talmud) in modern Hebrew culture. I
should also mention here the most bizarre book on this subject, by the radical American author
Moncure D. Conway (1832– 1907): Solomon and Solomonic Literature, 1899; see review by Tyler
(1990).
OpenAccess. © 2020 Yaacov Shavit, published by De Gruyter. This work is licensed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110677263-001
