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He commanded Benaiah of the bodyguards to kill Adonijah. And he ordered Abiathar to go to the place that bore him and to live in the fields. "For," he says, "all the hardships you endured with my father deliver you from death." Thus, as God had foretold to Eli, the honor of the priesthood was taken away from the house of Ithamar and fell to Zadok, who was of the lineage of Phinehas. But Joab the general, having learned these things and becoming terrified, fled to the altar, and when summoned, he said he would never come out, but would die there and nowhere else. When this was reported to the king, it persuaded him to send and kill Joab there as well. From then on, Benaiah was appointed general of the whole army, and Zadok was deemed worthy of the high priesthood. But as for Shimei, the king confined him to Jerusalem so that he might not go out of it; otherwise, he set death as his penalty. But after three years, when his slaves had fled, he went out in search of them; and when Solomon learned this, he ordered the man to be killed. And Solomon took to wife the daughter of Pharaoh, and he raised the walls of Jerusalem higher and made them stronger. But in a dream 1.121 God spoke to him and told him to ask for what he wanted; and he asked that understanding and wisdom be given to him. And God, approving of his request, promised to give him both wisdom and great understanding, such as no other before him or any after him had, and to add also what he did not ask for, wealth and victory and glory, if he would keep his commandments and his statutes. After these things, two women came to him; of whom the one said, "O king, we live with one another and no one is with us. We both gave birth to sons at the same time. And after a little while this woman, having lain upon her son, awoke and found him dead. And while I was sleeping, she placed the dead child in my arms, and taking the living one from me, she claimed it as her own. And having realized what was done, I ask for the child; but she will not give him to me." But the other woman insisted that the living child was hers, and the dead one was her opponent's; and she swore she had not committed such a wicked deed. And while those standing by were at a loss as to how the truth might be distinguished, the king ordered the living child to be cut in two with a sword and a part given to each of the women. The true mother of the infant took this hard, and she rejected the verdict, and begged that the child be given alive to her opponent; but the one falsely calling herself the mother of the child both praised the judgment and urged on the division. And the king ordered the child to be given alive to the one who had refused its division, saying, "This is his mother, who was greatly pained when the child was about to be slain." All the people took this as sure proof of the king's wisdom. 1.122 And he surpassed all who came before him in wisdom and understanding. And he composed three thousand proverbs and five thousand odes, and he wrote about everything from the cedar to the hyssop, and he examined and philosophized about the nature of animals, both land and air and sea creatures, and their peculiarities, and he devised incantations against demons for the benefit of men; and he left behind methods of exorcisms, by which demons were driven out. And Josephus says this therapy is effective to this day; and he narrates such a thing, confirming the account. He says that Eleazar, one of his countrymen, possessed a certain ring having under its seal a root from those which Solomon had indicated. And that he would bring this to the nostrils of the one possessed by a demon, and by its smell the demon would be drawn out through the nostrils of the sufferer. Then, mentioning Solomon, he would speak the incantations which he had composed and exorcise the demon never to return to the man. He says that Eleazar did this in the presence of Vespasian and his sons; and giving proof of his power against demons, he would place a cup full of water, and command the demon as it was coming out of the sufferer to overturn it; and the cup would be overturned with no one seeing the one who overturned it. And he began the

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σωματοφυλάκων Βαναίᾳ κτεῖναι τὸν ̓Αδωνίαν προσέταξε. τῷ δὲ ̓Αβιάθαρ εἰς τὴν ἐνεγκαμένην πορευθῆναι ἐπέταξε καὶ διάγειν ἐν τοῖς ἀγροῖς. "θανάτου γάρ" φησι "ῥύεταί σε ὁπόσα μου συνέκαμες τῷ πατρί." καθὼς ουν τῷ ̓Ηλεὶ προείρηκεν ὁ θεός, ἀφῄρητο ἡ τῆς ἱερωσύνης τιμὴ ἐξ οικου ̓Ιθάμαρ καὶ πρὸς Σαδὼκ μεταπέπτωκεν, ἐκ τοῦ γένους οντα τοῦ Φινεές. ὁ δὲ στρατηγὸς ̓Ιωὰβ ταῦτα μαθὼν καὶ περιδεὴς γεγονὼς τῷ θυσιαστηρίῳ προσπέφευγε, καὶ καλούμενος οὐκ αν ποτε ἐξελθεῖν ειπεν, ἀλλ' αὐτοῦ τεθνήξεσθαι καὶ οὐκ αλλοθι. τοῦτο τῷ βασιλεῖ ἀγγελθὲν πέπεικε στεῖλαι κἀκεῖ τὸν ̓Ιωὰβ ἀνελεῖν. ἐντεῦθεν Βαναίας μὲν πάσης τῆς δυνάμεως προκεχείριστο στρατηγός, Σαδὼκ δὲ τῆς ἀρχιερωσύνης ἠξίωτο. τὸν δέ γε Σεμεεὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς ἐν ̔Ιερουσαλὴμ περιώρισεν ωστε ταύτης μὴ ἐξιέναι· εἰ δ' ου, θάνατον αὐτῷ τὸ ἐπιτίμιον εταξεν. ὁ δὲ μετὰ ετη τρία δούλων αὐτοῦ φυγόντων ἐπὶ ζήτησιν αὐτῶν ἐξελήλυθε· καὶ τοῦτο γνοὺς Σολομὼν ἀναιρεθῆναι τὸν ανδρα ἐκέλευσεν. Αγεται δὲ Σολομὼν εἰς γυναῖκα θυγατέρα Φαραώ, καὶ τὰ τείχη τῶν ̔Ιεροσολύμων ἐπὶ μεῖζον ηρε καὶ ὀχυρώτερα κατεσκεύασε. καθ' υπνους δὲ χρηματίσας 1.121 αὐτῷ ὁ θεὸς ειπεν αὐτῷ αἰτῆσαι ο βούλοιτο· ὁ δὲ σύνεσιν καὶ φρόνησιν ῃτησε δοθῆναι αὐτῷ. καὶ ὁ θεὸς ἀποδεξάμενος αὐτὸν τῆς αἰτήσεως, καὶ σοφίαν δώσειν αὐτῷ καὶ μέγαν νοῦν ἐπηγγείλατο ὡς οὐχ ἑτέρῳ πρὸ αὐτοῦ η τινι τῶν μετ' αὐτόν, προσθεῖναι δὲ καὶ απερ οὐκ ῃτησε, πλοῦτον καὶ νίκην καὶ ευκλειαν, εἰ φυλάξει τὰς αὐτοῦ ἐντολὰς καὶ τὰ δικαιώματα. Μετὰ ταῦτα δύο προσῆλθον αὐτῷ γυναῖκες· ων ἡ μία "βασιλεῦ" εφη, "ἀλλήλαις ἡμεῖς συνῳκοῦμεν καὶ οὐδεὶς μεθ' ἡμῶν. ἐτέκομεν δὲ αμφω κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν καιρὸν αρρενα. καὶ μετὰ μικρὸν αυτη τῷ αὐτῆς ἐπιπεσοῦσα υἱῷ νεκρὸν διυπνισθεῖσα ευρεν αὐτόν. καὶ τὸ μὲν τεθνηκὸς ὑπνούσης ἐμοῦ ὑποτίθησι ταῖς ἀγκάλαις μου, τὸ δὲ ζῶν ἐξ ἐμοῦ ἀφελοῦσα ὡς ἑαυτῆς ᾠκειώσατο. καὶ γνοῦσα τὸ δρᾶμα ζητῶ τὸν παῖδα· ἡ δέ μοι οὐ δίδωσιν." ἡ δ' ἑτέρα τὸ ζῶν ειναι τὸ ἑαυτῆς παιδίον ἀπισχυρίζετο, τῆς δ' ἀντιδίκου τὸ τεθνηκός· καὶ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον κακουργίας μὴ προβῆναι διώμνυτο. ἀπορούντων δὲ τῶν περιεστηκότων πῶς αν διευκρινηθείη τὸ ἀληθές, ὁ βασιλεὺς διχῇ τμηθῆναι μαχαίρᾳ τὸ παιδίον τὸ ζῶν ἐκέλευσε καὶ ἀνὰ μέρος δοθῆναι ἑκατέρᾳ τῶν γυναικῶν. τοῦτο ἡ μὲν ἀληθὴς τοῦ βρέφους μήτηρ βαρέως ηνεγκε, καὶ παρῃτεῖτο τὴν ψῆφον, καὶ δοθῆναι ζῶν τὸ παιδίον τῇ ἀντιδίκῳ ἱκέτευεν· ἡ δὲ ψευδῶς ἑαυτὴν μητέρα τοῦ παιδὸς ὀνομάζουσα καὶ ἐπῄνει τὴν κρίσιν καὶ ἐπέσπευδε τὴν διαίρεσιν. καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς δοθῆναι ζῶν τὸ παιδίον προσέταξε τῇ παραιτουμένῃ τὴν ἐκείνου διαίρεσιν, "αυτη" φήσας "ἡ τούτου μήτηρ ἐστίν, η τοῦ παιδὸς σφαγῆναι μέλλοντος ὑπερήλγησε." τοῦτο πᾶς ὁ λαὸς ἀκριβὲς τεκμήριον εσχηκε τῆς τοῦ βασιλέως φρονήσεως. 1.122 Πάντας δὲ τοὺς πρὶν εἰς σοφίαν καὶ φρόνησιν ὑπερβέβηκε. συνέταξε δὲ τρισχιλίας παραβολὰς καὶ πεντακισχιλίας ᾠδάς, καὶ ἀπὸ τῆς κέδρου εως ὑσσώπου συνεγράψατο, καὶ περὶ φύσεως ζῴων τῶν τε πεζῶν καὶ ἀερίων καὶ τῶν νηκτῶν καὶ τῶν ἰδιωμάτων αὐτῶν ἐξήτασε καὶ ἐφιλοσόφησε, καὶ κατὰ τῶν δαιμόνων ἐξεύρηκεν ἐπῳδὰς εἰς ἀνθρώπων ὠφέλειαν· καὶ τρόπους κατέλιπεν ἐξορκώσεων, αις τὰ δαιμόνια ἐδιώκοντο. καὶ ταύτην τὴν θεραπείαν φησὶν ὁ ̓Ιώσηπος μέχρις ἐκείνου ἰσχύειν· καί τι διηγεῖται τοιοῦτον, τὸν λόγον πιστούμενος. ̓Ελεάζαρ τῶν ὁμοφύλων λέγει κεκτῆσθαί τινα δακτύλιον εχοντα ὑπὸ τὴν σφραγῖδα ῥίζαν ἐξ ων ὑπέδειξε Σολομών. καὶ τοῦτον ταῖς ῥισὶ τοῦ δαιμονῶντος προσφέρειν, καὶ τῇ ὀσφρήσει διὰ τῶν μυκτήρων τοῦ πάσχοντος ἐξέλκεσθαι τὸ δαιμόνιον. ειτα τοῦ Σολομῶντος μεμνημένον ἐπῳδάς τε λέγειν ἐξ ων ἐκεῖνος συνέθετο καὶ ἐξορκοῦν τὸ δαιμόνιον μηκέτι ἐπανελθεῖν εἰς τὸν ανθρωπον. τοῦτο καὶ Οὐεσπασιανοῦ καὶ τῶν υἱῶν ἐκείνου ἐνώπιον λέγει ποιῆσαι τὸν ̓Ελεάζαρ· καὶ διδόντα τῆς κατὰ τῶν δαιμόνων ἰσχύος ἀπόδειξιν τιθέναι ποτήριον πλῆρες υδατος, καὶ ἐπιτάσσειν τῷ δαίμονι ἐξερχομένῳ τοῦ πάσχοντος ἀνατρέψαι αὐτό· καὶ ἀνατρέπεσθαι τὸ ποτήριον μηδενὸς ὁρῶντος τὸν ἀνατρέποντα. Ηρξατο δὲ τῆς