Solomon's Jerusalem

Week 3 Lecture 2 (1/20/11)

One very important text we examined today was 2 Samuel 7. In this text, God promises that he will build David a lasting dynasty. However, when the temple was destroyed and the city taken over by Babylonians, the Hebrews began to question their faith. Some left the religion, but most reinterpreted the passage. They believe that God promised them a future king, a son of David, whose dynasty will last forever. This gave rise to the idea of a Messiah. It is great when I learn information I can apply to my faith. I knew Jesus was called the son of David, but it is great to now know the story behind it.

For the majority of the class, we discussed Solomon's Jerusalem. King Solomon, the son of King David, was considered a very wise king who erected a temple to house the Ark of the Covenant. Many historians still question whether Solomon and David existed because there is no extra-biblical evidence of their presence. "Is absence of evidence, evidence of absence?" However, Solomon's Temple is comparable to other palaces and temples in the region during the 9th century BCE. All of the temples have a very similar blueprint: a back room, a main entrance hall, pillars in the front, and side chambers. This does not necessarily mean that the Temple or Solomon existed, but it does give some sort of evidence that the Temple might be real.