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In Ecclesiastes, the speaker says he has been king over Israel in Jerusalem. Rabbinic tradition in tractate Gittin interprets this as Solomon’s lament after Asmodeus the demon-king swallowed his ring and took his place on the throne.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Ecclesiastes 1:12
Hebrew Bible
11 No one remembers the former events, nor will anyone remember the events that are yet to happen; they will not be remembered by the future generations. 12 I, the Teacher, have been king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13 I decided to carefully and thoroughly examine all that has been accomplished on earth. I concluded: God has given people a burdensome task that keeps them occupied.
Gittin 68b
Babylonian Talmud
Rabbinic
Ashmedai said to him: Take the chain engraved with God’s name off me and give me your ring with God’s name engraved on it, and I will show you my strength. Solomon took the chain off him and he gave him his ring. Ashmedai swallowed the ring and grew until he placed one wing in the heaven and one wing on the earth. He threw Solomon a distance of four hundred parasangs. With regard to that moment Solomon said: “What profit is there for a person through all of his toil under the sun?” (Ecclesiastes 1:3). With Solomon deposed from the throne, Ashmedai took his place. With regard to the verse: “And this was my portion from all of my toil” (Ecclesiastes 2:10), the Gemara asks: What is the meaning of the expression: “And this”? This expression is always an allusion to an item that is actually in his hand or can be shown. Rav and Shmuel disagree with regard to the meaning of this phrase. One said: This is referring to Solomon’s staff that remained in his hand. And one said: This is referring to his cloak. Solomon circulated from door to door collecting charity, and wherever he arrived he would say: “I, Ecclesiastes, was king over Israel in Jerusalem” (Ecclesiastes 1:12). When he finally arrived at the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem the sages said: Now, an imbecile does not fixate on one matter all of the time, so what is this matter? Is this man perhaps telling the truth that he is Solomon? The sages said to Benayahu: Does the king require you to be with him? Benayahu said to them: No. They sent to the queens and asked: Does the king come to be with you? The queens sent a response to them: Yes, he comes. They sent a request to the queens: Check his feet to see if they are human feet. The queens sent a response to the sages: He always comes in socks [bemokei], and it is not possible to see his feet.
Date: 450-550 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
... In the rabbinic reading of Solomon’s story, his wealth doesn’t lead him astray in quite this way, but the king himself does come to question its value. The story in question is a sequel to one that we have already mentioned. After helping Solomon build the Temple, the demon Asmodeus breaks free from the king by tricking him into handing over his magic ring; then he spits the king hundreds of miles from Jerusalem. Asmodeus claims Solomon’s throne for himself, assuming his appearance, while the real Solomon embarks on a difficult three-year journey very different from the three-year journey of his ships—his punishment for having disobeyed the commandment in Deuteronomy 17 that forbade the king from acquiring too much gold and silver—and it is during this period that the king, now an outcast beggar, reflects on his former wealth and comes to regret it. This part of Solomon’s life is nowhere mentioned in 1 Kings but it does have a biblical source, the book of Ecclesiastes, which the rabbis read as a record of what happens to Solomon during his exile. ...
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