test work of his reign. David had accumulated much
material for this house; Hiram, king of Tyre, furnished cedar timber
from the Lebanon mountains, and skilled workmen put up the building,
into which the Ark of the Covenant was borne. This famous structure was
not remarkable for its great size, but for the splendid manner in which
it was adorned with gold and other expensive materials. Israel's wisest
monarch was a man of letters, being the author of three thousand
proverbs and a thousand and five songs. His wisdom exceeded that of all
his contemporaries, "and all the earth sought the presence of Solomon to
hear his wisdom, which God had put in his heart." A case in point is the
visit of the Queen of Sheba, who said: "The half was not told me; thy
wisdom and prosperity exceed the fame which I heard." But the glory of
his kingdom did not last long. "It dazzled for a brief space, like the
blaze of a meteor, and then vanished away." Nehemiah says there was no
king like him, "nevertheless even him did foreign women cause to sin."

Solomon's reign ended about 975 B C., and his son, Rehoboam, was
coronated at Shechem. Jereboam, the son of Nebat, whose name is
proverbial for wickedness, returned from Egypt, whence he had fled from
Solomon, and asked the new king to make the grievous service of his
father lighter, promising to support him on that condition. Rehoboam
counseled "with the old men, that had stood before Solomon," and refused
their words, accepting the counsel of the young men that had grown up
with him. When he announced that he would make the yoke of his father
heavier, the ten northern tribes revolted, and Jereboam became king of
what is afterwards known as the house of Israel. The kingdom lasted
about two hundred and fifty years, being ruled over by nineteen kings,
but the government did not run smoothly. "Plot after plot was formed,
and first one adventurer and then another seized the throne." Besides
the internal troubles, there were numerous wars. Benhadad, of Damascus,
besieged Samaria; Hazael, king of Syria, overran the land east of the
Jordan; Moab rebelled; Pul (Tiglath-pileser), king of Assyria, invaded
the country, and carried off a large amount of tribute, probably
amounting to two millions of dollars; and thirty years later he entered
the land and carried away many captives. At a later date the people
became idolatrous, and Shalmaneser, an Assyrian king, reduced them to
subjection, and carried numbers