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And I magnified my works, I built houses for myself and planted vineyards for myself and I made for myself gardens and parks, and I planted in them every kind of fruit-bearing tree. I made for myself pools of water to water from them a forest of growing trees. I acquired male and female slaves, and I had homeborn slaves, and indeed I had many possessions of herds and flocks, more than all who were before me in Jerusalem. And indeed my wisdom stood by me. And whatever my eyes asked for, I did not take from them, and I did not forbid my heart from any gladness." For he enjoyed much peace and great wealth and security and luxury; but later the extravagance and the pleasure became bitterness to him, and a cause of licentiousness. Whence he says, "I hated all my life and all my labor, because all is vanity. For I found woman more bitter than death, who is a snare and her heart a net." Indeed, it says these things: "And King Solomon was a lover of women, and he had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines. And he took Moabite and Ammonite, Syrian and Edomite, Hittite and Amorite women, from the nations of which the Lord had forbidden the sons of Israel. And it came to pass in the time of his 1.170 old age, that his heart was not with the Lord his God as was the heart of David his father, and the foreign women turned his heart away after their gods. And then Solomon built a temple to Chemosh the idol of Moab, and to Astarte the abomination of the Sidonians, and to Milcom the offense of the sons of Ammon." Now Astarte is the one called Aphrodite among the Greeks, and Chemosh was the god of the Tyrians. "And thus he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their idols. And Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did not walk after the Lord as David his father did. And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart turned away from the Lord God of Israel who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him not to go after other gods at all. And the Lord said to him, 'Because you have not kept my commandments and the ordinances which I commanded you, I will surely tear the kingdom from your hand, and will give it to your servant; nevertheless in your days I will not do this, for the sake of David my servant and your father, and for the sake of Jerusalem my city, which I have chosen.' And the Lord raised up for Solomon an adversary, Hadad the Edomite and Rezon the king of Zobah, and they were an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon. And Solomon died at the age of 73, and was buried with his father." In his time lived Homer and Hesiod.

1.171 One might wonder, and very reasonably so, just as in the case of the most divine Moses, so also in the case of this most wise Solomon, how each of them, having long ago been deemed worthy of such divine glory and providence, later—the one, having moved God to indignation and grief, fell from the promise; and the other, having roused Him to wrath and anger, was utterly deprived of the excellent labors he had previously accomplished and lost his soul in addition. For where was such intimacy and confidence toward God, and the so many and so great toils and labors and struggles of the inspired Moses? These were overlooked because of the sin at the water of contradiction, and the just man was suddenly and unforgivably deprived of entry into the land of promise, as has also been said before. And where was the divine affection for Solomon and such great grace and wisdom, and what was the benefit of that great prudence and understanding, and the preceding soberest thought and theology and natural philosophy, when at last he had fallen from an obsession with women into an obsession with idols, as has been clearly shown. For in reality there is no benefit, having begun in the spirit, to finish in the flesh. For as long as Solomon enjoyed the providence from above, he lived in peace and calm,

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καὶ ἐμεγάλυνα τὰ ποιήματά μου, ᾠκοδόμησά μοι οἴκους καὶ ἐφύτευσά μοι ἀμπελῶνας καὶ ἐποίησά μοι κήπους καὶ παρα δείσους, καὶ ἐφύτευσα ἐν αὐτοῖς ξύλον πάγκαρπον. ἐποίησά μοι κολυμβήθρας ὑδάτων τοῦ ποτίσαι ἀπ' αὐτῶν δρυμῶνα βλαστόντα ξύλα. ἐκτησάμην δούλους καὶ παιδίσκας, καὶ οἰκογενεῖς ἐγένοντό μοι, καί γε κτήσεις βουκολίου καὶ ποιμνίου ἐγένοντό μοι πολλαί, ὑπὲρ πάντας τοὺς γενομένους ἔμπροσθέν μου ἐν Ἱερουσαλήμ. καί γε σοφία μου ἐστάθη μοι. καὶ πᾶν ὃ ἂν ᾔτησαν οἱ ὀφθαλμοί μου, οὐκ ἀφεῖλον ἀπ' αὐτῶν, καὶ οὐκ ἐπεκώλυσα τὴν καρδίαν μου ἀπὸ πάσης εὐφροσύνης." καὶ γὰρ πολλῆς εἰρήνης καὶ πολυολ βίας ἀδείας τε καὶ τρυφῆς ἀπέλαυσεν· ἀλλ' ὕστερον εἰς πικρίαν ἡ σπατάλη καὶ ἡ ἡδονὴ γέγονεν αὐτῷ, καὶ ὑπόθεσις ἀκολασίας. ὅθεν φησίν "ἐμίσησα σύμπασαν τὴν ζωήν μου καὶ πάντα τὸν μόχθον μου, ὅτι πάντα ματαιότης. εὗρον γὰρ πικρότερον ὑπὲρ τὸν θάνατον τὴν γυναῖκα, ἥτις ἐστὶ θήρευμα καὶ σαγήνη καρ δίας." ταῦτά τοί φησι "καὶ ὁ βασιλεὺς Σολομῶν ἦν φιλογύ ναιος, καὶ ἦσαν αὐτῷ ἄρχουσαι ἑπτακόσιαι καὶ παλλακαὶ τρια κόσιαι. καὶ ἔλαβε γυναῖκας Μωαβίτιδας καὶ Ἀμανίτιδας, Σύρας καὶ Ἰδουμαίας, Χετταίας καὶ Ἀμορραίας, ἐκ τῶν ἐθνῶν ὧν ἀπεῖπε κύριος τοῖς υἱοῖς Ἰσραήλ. καὶ ἐγένετο ἐν καιρῷ γήρως 1.170 αὐτοῦ, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ἡ καρδία μετὰ κυρίου θεοῦ αὐτοῦ καθὼς καὶ ἡ καρδία ∆αβὶδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ, καὶ ἐξέκλιναν αἱ ἀλλότριαι γυναῖκες τὴν καρδίαν αὐτοῦ ὀπίσω θεῶν αὐτῶν. καὶ τότε ᾠκο δόμησε Σολομῶν ναὸν τῷ Χαμὼς εἰδώλῳ Μωάβ, καὶ τῇ Ἀστάρτῃ βδελύγματι Σιδονίων, καὶ τῷ Μελχὼμ προσοχθίσματι υἱῶν Ἀμών." ἡ μὲν οὖν Ἀστάρτη ἐστὶν ἡ παρ' Ἕλλησιν Ἀφροδίτη λεγομένη, ὁδὲ Χαμὼς θεὸς ἦν Τυρίων. "καὶ οὕτως ἐποίησε ταῖς ἀλλοφύλοις αὐτοῦ γυναιξὶ πάσαις, αἵτινες ἐθυμίων καὶ ἔθυον τοῖς εἰδώλοις αὐτῶν. καὶ ἐποίησε Σολομῶν τὸ πονηρὸν ἐνώπιον κυρίου, καὶ οὐκ ἐπορεύθη ὀπίσω κυρίου ὡς ∆αβὶδ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ. καὶ ὠργί σθη κύριος ἐπὶ Σολομῶν, ὅτι ἐξέκλινεν ἡ καρδία αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ κυ ρίου θεοῦ Ἰσραὴλ τοῦ ὀφθέντος αὐτῷ δὶς καὶ ἐντειλαμένου αὐτῷ μὴ πορεύεσθαι ὀπίσω θεῶν ἑτέρων τὸ παράπαν. καὶ εἶπε κύριος πρὸς αὐτόν "ἀνθ' ὧν οὐκ ἐφύλαξάς μου τὰς ἐντολὰς καὶ τὰ προστάγματα ἃ ἐνετειλάμην σοι, διαρρήσσων διαρρήξω τὴν βασι λείαν ἐκ χειρός σου, καὶ δώσω αὐτὴν τῷ δούλῳ σου· πλὴν ἐν ταῖς ἡμέραις σοῦ τοῦτο οὐ ποιήσω, διὰ ∆αβὶδ τὸν δοῦλόν μου καὶ πατέρα σου, καὶ διὰ Ἱερουσαλὴμ τὴν πόλιν μου, ἣν ἐξελεξά μην. καὶ ἤγειρε κύριος τῷ Σολομῶντι Σατὰν Ἄδερ τὸν Ἰδουμαῖον καὶ τὸν Ἐδρααζὰρ βασιλέα Σουβᾶ, καὶ ἦσαν τῷ Ἰσραὴλ Σατὰν πάσας τὰς ἡμέρας Σολομῶντος. καὶ ἀπέθανε Σολομῶν ἐτῶν ογʹ, καὶ ἐτάφη μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ." ἐφ' οὗ ἦν Ὅμη ρος καὶ Ἡσίοδος.

1.171 Θαυμάσειε δ' ἄν τις καὶ μάλα εἰκότως, ὥσπερ ἐπὶ τοῦ θειοτάτου Μωϋσέως, οὕτω καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦδε τοῦ σοφωτάτου Σολο μῶντος, πῶς ἑκάτερος αὐτῶν τοσαύτης πάλαι θείας δόξης καὶ προμηθείας ἀξιωθεὶς ὕστερον ὁ μὲν εἰς ἀγανάκτησιν καὶ λύπην τὸν θεὸν κινήσας τῆς ἐπαγγελίας ἐξέπεσεν, ὁ δὲ εἰς ὀργὴν καὶ θυ μὸν ἐγείρας αὐτὸν τούς τε προειργασμένους ἀρίστους πόνους ἄρ δην ἐζημίωτο καὶ τὴν ψυχὴν προσαπώλεσε. ποῦ γὰρ ἡ τοιαύτη πρὸς θεὸν οἰκείωσις καὶ παρρησία καὶ οἱ τοσοῦτοι καὶ τηλικοῦτοι πόνοι καὶ κόποι καὶ ἀγῶνες τοῦ θεσπεσίου Μωϋσέως; οἵτινες διὰ τὴν ἐπὶ τοῦ ὕδατος τῆς ἀντιλογίας ἁμαρτίαν παρωράθησαν, καὶ τῆς εἰς τὴν γῆν τῆς ἐπαγγελίας εἰσόδου ἀθρόως ὁ δίκαιος καὶ ἀσυγχωρήτως ἀπεστέρητο, καθὼς καὶ ἔμπροσθεν εἴρηται. ποῦ δὲ καὶ ἡ πρὸς τὸν Σολομῶντα θεία φιλοστοργία καὶ ἡ τοσαύτη χάρις τε καὶ σοφία, καὶ τίς ἡ ὠφέλεια τῆς πολλῆς ἐκείνης φρονή σεως καὶ συνέσεως, καὶ ἡ προλαβοῦσα τοιαύτη νηφαλιωτάτη ἔννοια καὶ θεολογία καὶ φυσιολογία, ἔσχατον ἐκ γυναικομανίας εἰς εἰδωλομανίαν ἐκπεπτωκότος, ὡς σαφῶς δεδήλωται. τῷ ὄντι γὰρ οὐδὲν ὄφελος, ἐναρξάμενον πνεύματι σαρκὶ ἐπιτελέσαι. ἕως μὲν γὰρ ἀπήλαυε Σολομῶν τῆς ἄνωθεν προμηθείας, ἐν εἰρήνῃ καὶ γαλήνῃ διῆγε,