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will reign after me. And behold, Adonijah has now become king, and you did not know it." Having heard these things, David, gathering the prophets and priests, anoints Solomon and seats him upon his throne. And David in his days built Zion on the height of Jerusalem, pitching a tent in it for God, in which he placed the ark. In his time, among the Greeks, Homer and Hesiod were becoming known. In the #22second year Solomon became king, being twelve years old, and ruled for 40 years. And he had seven hundred wives, both Israelite and foreign, and three hundred concubines. But he had only one male son, Rehoboam, and him by a foreigner, Naamah the Ammonitess, unworthy of the rule. He himself built the temple of Jerusalem, where David his father had pitched Zion, beginning from the second year of his reign. Therefore, in seven years he completed it. Therefore, there are #224510 years from Adam until the twentieth year of the life of Solomon. This Solomon was the second son of David by Bathsheba; for the first, the one from adultery, had died. For while he was sick, David suffered in sleeplessness, and in sackcloth and ashes praying to God for the child to live. And he issued a decree that if anyone should say that he had died, he himself would be put to death immediately. But when the child had died, his 1.162 companions came to David, sullen and downcast. But he, knowing from their appearance, said, "The child has died." And they said, "You have said it." And immediately going down, he washed and clothed himself and gave thanks to God and partook of food. And when asked the reason for the change, he said that while he was sick, he was beseeching God to raise up the child; but since he has died, what need is there for me to trouble myself? Am I able to return the soul of the child into him? That the Lord gave to Solomon very great prudence and wisdom and breadth of heart, like the sand which is by the sea. And the prudence in him was multiplied beyond all the ancients and beyond all the wise men of Egypt. Two women come to him to be judged, and the one said, "I and this woman live in one house. And I gave birth, and after the third day, she did. Her child died, since during the night she lay upon it. And behold, having risen, she took my child from my arms while I was sleeping, and laid her own dead one; and when I rose in the morning to nurse it, the dead one was found. And having examined it, I saw that it was not my child." And the other said, "No, but yours is the dead one, and mine is the living one." And Solomon said, "Cut both infants in two, and give to both women from the two children." And the woman who was the mother of the living child said, "No, lord, but give her the living child, and may he not die." But the other said, "Let it be neither hers nor mine; 1.163 divide it." And the king answered, "Give the living child to the woman who was not willing for it to die, because it is her child." That Solomon spoke concerning the trees, from the cedar of Lebanon even to the hyssop that comes forth from the wall, and concerning the cattle and the reptiles and the birds and the fish, their powers and their workings, as Josephus testifies. But he also devised incantations and exorcisms against demons, which some of the Jews, using them, drove them out; for they would prepare the sufferer to smell, by placing under his nose, a certain ring having a seal and a root from those which Solomon indicated, by the power of which the demon was immediately drawn out. And a sign of this was a cup full of water or some other vessel, which the fleeing demon would certainly shatter. Therefore, after Solomon finished the house of the Lord, he dedicated it, having sacrificed 22 thousand oxen and 120 thousand sheep, and he made a great feast for seven days. And on the eighth day, having blessed the people, he sent them away. And after he had prayed for the people and the temple, the Lord appeared to him, saying, "I have heard the voice of your prayer, and I have consecrated this house which you have built, to place my name there for

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βασιλεύσει μετ' ἐμέ. καὶ ἰδοὺ νῦν Ἀδωνίας ἐβασίλευσε, καὶ σὺ οὐκ ἔγνως." ταῦτα ἀκούσας ∆αβίδ, ἀθροί σας τοὺς προφήτας καὶ ἱερεῖς, χρίει Σολομῶντα καὶ καθίζει ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ. ᾠκοδόμησε δὲ ∆αβὶδ ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τῆς ἀκρωρείας Ἱερουσαλὴμ τὴν Σιών, σκηνὴν ἐν αὐτῇ τῷ θεῷ πηξάμενος, ἐν ᾗ τὴν κιβωτὸν ἀπέθετο. ἐπὶ τούτου παρ' Ἕλλησιν Ὅμηρος καὶ Ἡσίοδος ἐγνωρίζοντο. Τῷ δὲ #22δυοʹ ἔτει Σολομῶν ἐβασίλευσε δωδεκαετὴς ὤν, καὶ κρατεῖ ἔτη μʹ. εἶχε δὲ γυναῖκας Ἰσραηλίτιδας καὶ ἐθνικὰς ἑπτα κοσίας καὶ παλλακὰς τριακοσίας. ἕνα δὲ μόνον ἄρρενα υἱὸν ἔσχε τὸν Ῥοβοάμ, καὶ τοῦτον ἐξ ἀλλοφύλης Ναάβας τῆς Ἀμανίτιδος, ἀνάξιον τῆς ἀρχῆς. αὐτὸς τὸν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ναὸν ᾠκοδόμησεν, ἔνθα ∆αβὶδ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ τὴν Σιὼν ἐπήξατο, ἀρξάμενος ἀπὸ τοῦ δευτέρου ἔτους τῆς αὐτοῦ βασιλείας. ἐν ἔτεσιν οὖν ἑπτὰ τε λειοῖ αὐτόν. εἰσὶν οὖν ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ ἕως εἰκοστοῦ χρόνου τῆς ζωῆς Σολομῶντος ἔτη #22δφιʹ. οὗτος ὁ Σολομῶν δεύτερος υἱὸς τοῦ ∆αβὶδ ἐκ τῆς Βηρσαβεὲ γέγονεν· ὁ γὰρ πρῶτος, ὁ ἀπὸ μοιχείας, τέθνηκε. καὶ γὰρ ἀρρωστοῦντος αὐτοῦ ἐκακοπάθει ∆αβὶδ ἐν ἀγρυπνίᾳ, καὶ σάκκῳ καὶ σποδῷ προσευχόμενος τῷ θεῷ ἐπὶ τῷ ζῆσαι τὸ παιδίον. καὶ ῥῆμα ἐξέθετο ὡς εἴ τις εἴπῃ ὅτι ἐτελεύτησεν, εὐθὺς ἀποθα νεῖται αὐτός. τεθνηκότος δὲ τοῦ παιδὸς εἰσῆλθον πρὸς ∆αβὶδ οἱ 1.162 συνήθεις στυγνοὶ καὶ κατηφεῖς. ὁ δὲ γνοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ σχήματος εἶπε "τέθνηκε τὸ παιδίον." οἱ δὲ εἶπον "σὺ εἶπας." καὶ εὐθὺς κατελθὼν ἐλούσατο καὶ ἠμφιάσατο καὶ ηὐχαρίστησε τῷ θεῷ καὶ μετέλαβε τροφῆς. ἐρωτώμενος δὲ τὴν αἰτίαν τῆς ἐναλλαγῆς εἶπεν ὅτι ἀσθενοῦντος αὐτοῦ ἐδυσώπει τὸν θεὸν ἀναστῆναι τὸν παῖδα· ἐπεὶ δὲ τετελεύτηκε, τίς ἡ χρεία κοποῦσθαί με; μὴ δυνηθῶ ἀνα στρέψαι τὴν ψυχὴν τοῦ παιδίου ἐν αὐτῷ; Ὅτι ἔδωκε κύριος τῷ Σολομῶντι φρόνησιν καὶ σοφίαν πολ λὴν σφόδρα καὶ πλάτος καρδίας, ὡσεὶ ἄμμος ἡ παρὰ τὴν θάλασ σαν. καὶ ἐπληθύνθη ἐν αὐτῷ ἡ φρόνησις ὑπὲρ πάντας ἀρχαίους καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντας φρονίμους Αἰγύπτου. ἔρχονται πρὸς αὐτὸν γυ ναῖκες δύο δικασθῆναι, καὶ εἶπεν ἡ μία "ἐγὼ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη οἰκοῦμεν ἐν οἴκῳ ἑνί. καὶ ἐγὼ μὲν ἔτεκον, καὶ μετὰ τρίτην αὕτη. ταύτης τὸ παιδίον τέθνηκεν, ἐπεὶ τὴν νύκτα ἐπεκοιμήθη αὐτῷ. καὶ ἰδοὺ ἀναστᾶσα ἔλαβε τὸ ἐμὸν παιδίον ἐκ τῆς ἀγκάλης μου ὑπνούσης, καὶ τέθεικε τὸ ἑαυτῆς τεθνηκός· ἐμοῦ δὲ τὸ πρωῒ ἀνα στάσης θηλάσαι αὐτό, εὑρέθη τὸ τεθνηκός. καὶ καταμαθοῦσα εἶδον ὡς οὐκ ἔστι τὸ παιδίον μου." καὶ εἶπεν ἡ ἑτέρα "οὐχί, ἀλλὰ σόν ἐστι τὸ τεθνηκός, ἐμὸν δὲ τὸ ζῶν." καὶ εἶπε Σολο μῶν "διχοτομήσατε ἀμφότερα τὰ βρέφη, καὶ δότε ἀμφοτέραις ταῖς γυναιξὶν ἀπὸ τῶν δύο παιδίων." καὶ εἶπεν ἡ γυνὴ ἡ μήτηρ τοῦ ζῶντος "μή, κύριε, ἀλλὰ δότε αὐτῇ τὸ παιδίον τὸ ζῶν, καὶ μὴ ἀποθάνῃ." ἡ δὲ ἑτέρα εἶπε "μήτε αὐτῇ μήτε ἐμοὶ ἔστω· 1.163 διέλετε αὐτό." καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ βασιλεύς "δότε τὸ παιδίον τὸ ζῶν τῇ μὴ θελησάσῃ γυναικὶ ἀποθανεῖν αὐτό, ὅτι αὐτῆς ἐστὶ τέκνον." Ὅτι ἐλάλησε Σολομῶν περὶ τῶν ξύλων τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς κέδρου τοῦ Λιβάνου καὶ ἕως τῆς ὑσώπου τῆς ἐκπορευομένης διὰ τοῦ τεί χους, καὶ περὶ τῶν κτηνῶν καὶ τῶν ἑρπετῶν καὶ τῶν πετεινῶν καὶ τῶν ἰχθύων, τὰς δυνάμεις καὶ τὰς ἐνεργείας αὐτῶν, καθὼς Ἰώσηπος μαρτυρεῖ. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπῳδὰς καὶ ἐξορκισμοὺς κατὰ δαι μόνων ἐπενόησεν, αἷς χρώμενοί τινες Ἰουδαῖοι τούτους ἐξήλαυ νον· δακτύλιον γὰρ ἔχοντά τινα σφραγῖδα καὶ ῥίζαν ἐξ ὧν ὑπέ δειξε Σολομῶν, ἐν ῥινὶ ὑποθέντες ὀσφραίνεσθαι τὸν πάσχοντα παρεσκεύαζον, ὧν τῇ δυνάμει εὐθὺς τὸ δαιμόνιον ἐξέλκεσθαι. σημεῖον δὲ τούτου ἦν ποτήριον μεστὸν ὕδατος ἢ ἕτερόν τι ἀγγεῖον, ὃ πάντως συνέτριβε φεῦγον τὸ δαιμόνιον. Μετὰ γοῦν τὸ συντελέσαι τὸν οἶκον κυρίου Σολομῶν ἐνε καίνισεν αὐτόν, θύσας μόσχους χιλιάδας κβʹ καὶ πρόβατα χιλιά δας ρκʹ, καὶ ἐποίησε μεγάλην ἑορτὴν ἡμέρας ἑπτά. τῇ δὲ ὀγδόῃ ἡμέρᾳ εὐλογήσας τὸν λαὸν ἐξαπέστειλε. καὶ μετὰ τὸ προσεύξα σθαι αὐτὸν ὑπὲρ τοῦ λαοῦ καὶ τοῦ ναοῦ ὤφθη αὐτῷ ὁ κύριος λέ γων "ἤκουσα τῆς φωνῆς τῆς προσευχῆς σου, καὶ ἡγίακα τὸν οἶκον τοῦτον ὃν ᾠκοδόμησας, τοῦ θέσθαι τὸ ὄνομά μου ἐκεῖ εἰς