And he spoke three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five.
Scripture measures Solomon's reign here by output, not by battles or buildings: 3,000 proverbs and 1,005 songs. The numbers raise two questions. Where did such output come from? And why does the Bible keep so little of it?
One writer asks how a single man could write so many books. He points to what God gave him:
It is not hard to imagine the Holy Spirit using the same vessel for His power in writing all these books. Nor did a man ever live who could be a more fitting instrument than Solomon, if God so pleased. For He gave him "wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore."
The book of Proverbs is far shorter than three thousand sayings. That gap is deliberate:
"Three thousand proverbs" covers far more than the inspired collection, just as the songs he uttered far exceed those meant to last. Inspiration selected by design.
The same writer applies this principle to the New Testament:
What we have is a selection made by the Holy Spirit — a principle just as true of the "signs" our Lord worked (John 20:30-31; John 21:24-25). Every Scripture is of God's special design.
Of the songs, almost nothing survives:
Solomon was a Preacher (Ecclesiastes) and a Moralist (Proverbs). He was also a song-composer (Song of Solomon). He wrote 1,005 songs. All have perished except this one, which is called "The Song of Songs" because it stands above the rest. That is, unless we count inside the 1,005 the two Psalms, 72 and 127, credited to Solomon.
One writer explains why that surviving song carries such a title:
Why call this precious little book "The Song of Songs"? Just because it is Solomon's — or rather Christ's, who will in due time be King in Jerusalem, in true Solomon glory. On the same principle He is called "King of kings, and Lord of lords." Pre-eminence in all things is His. There are many sweet songs in Scripture... It is said of Solomon himself that "his songs were 1,005"; but this one he calls "The Song of Songs." It far surpassed them all.
Vast knowledge is not the same as faithful use of it. One writer asks hard questions about what Solomon did with it:
Solomon is also responsible for the right use of the wisdom God gave him... He asked for wisdom and knowledge so that he might judge and rule God's people rightly, and God approved his request. And the Lord added riches, wealth and honour such as no other king had. He was wiser than all men. He spoke three thousand proverbs and one thousand and five songs. He spoke of trees, from the cedar in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall. He spoke also of animals, birds, creeping things and fish. Amazing knowledge! But was this wealth of knowledge needed to govern Israel according to the law?... Did he not waste that power, that wisdom with which he was so richly endowed?
Another writer notes what Solomon was importing as his kingdom grew rich:
As the material prosperity of his kingdom grew, we are told his imports were "gold, silver, ivory, apes, and peacocks" (1 Kings 10:22)... For a man unrivalled on earth for wisdom, this is a descent from the sublime to the ridiculous... Apes stand for folly, and peacocks for vanity.
Solomon's wisdom points past him. One writer turns from Solomon to the One he calls the greater Solomon:
Not a question brought to Jesus on earth puzzled Him. The wisdom of the true Solomon, the Greater than Solomon, could meet and answer every hard question. Nor is it different now, for Christ, risen from the dead and glorified in heaven, "became to us wisdom from God" (1 Cor. 1:30). There is not a question the troubled, anxious sinner can bring to Him that He will not answer in wisdom and in grace.
- Source. The 3,000 proverbs were not Solomon's own achievement. God gave him understanding "like the sand on the seashore." That made him a fitting instrument.
- Selection. Scripture keeps far less than he produced. Inspiration chose by design. The same principle decided which of Christ's signs John's Gospel records.
- Survival. Of 1,005 songs, only one remains. It is called "The Song of Songs" because it surpassed them all. One writer adds that Psalms 72 and 127 may belong inside that number.
- Stewardship. The gift left him accountable. Writers ask whether he used or wasted such wisdom, and note where he ended — importing apes and peacocks, folly and vanity.
- Substitute. Solomon's wisdom slipped into folly. Christ, the "Greater than Solomon," "became to us wisdom from God," and still answers every hard question brought to Him.
And he spoke of the trees, from the cedar-tree that is on Lebanon even to the hyssop that springs out of the wall; he spoke also of cattle, and of fowls, and of creeping things, and of fishes.
This verse closes the record of Solomon's God-given wisdom by showing how far it reached. Where did that wisdom come from, what do the two named plants stand for, and did it do Solomon any lasting good?
Solomon did not build this knowledge up by study. It came to him as a gift, and writers are careful about what kind of wisdom it was.
Solomon's wisdom was given by God, but it was natural wisdom. It was the wisdom he needed to rule his kingdom well and to look into the realm of nature. It showed before men in all that he accomplished and discovered. We see his wisdom shown in his discovery of the true mother of the living child in 1 Kings 3:16-27, and in the "hard questions" that he answered for the queen of Sheba.
The two plants mark opposite ends of a scale.
Solomon "spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of the wall." I take that to mean: from the greatest thing in the plant kingdom to the smallest, with everything else included between the two.
Hyssop is the small end of that scale.
Hyssop is a plant used in Israel's ceremonies. It is often linked with cedar wood and scarlet, and it was used in sprinkling those who were unclean. It springs out of the wall, which shows how small it is. Yet some of its stems may have been long enough to serve as the reed for the sponge that gave the Lord vinegar on the cross… The hyssop stands in contrast to the tall cedar. It is a symbol of man's littleness.
What Solomon knew was not a list of names.
His wisdom held sway over all these things, from the cedar to the hyssop, from the beasts to the fishes. He understood their life and the reason for their being. He knew how they relate to each other and to the whole of creation. He saw the examples God was giving through them for the moral life of mankind, and he spoke of all these things. Modern science, with all its high claims, is nothing but darkness compared with these certainties. But Solomon did not have universal dominion over all this. That is kept for a Greater than Solomon, for the Second Adam.
Cedar and hyssop meet again in Scripture, at a sacrifice. Read alongside this verse, the pairing carries a verdict on man.
Three things were thrown into the fire and burned with the sacrifice: cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet. In Scripture cedar wood stands for the greatness of man and hyssop for his littleness. They are the two extremes that make up the natural man, and the two extremes of his wisdom and knowledge too (1 Kings 4:33). All of it is only fit for the fire. Man, however you look at him, finds his end and his judgment in the cross of Christ.
However far Solomon's grasp of creation went, commentators do not treat it as final.
The great King knew creation itself… But this knowledge of creation was not perfect. It still reminds us of a glorious time to come. The secrets of nature, lost through the fall of man, will be restored through Him who will set groaning creation free (Rom. 8:21).
Solomon later weighed all this learning himself.
He was a great botanist, an ornithologist and zoologist. He traced God's wonders in nature, which the natural man can so easily do. But what about all this wisdom? Did it satisfy his soul? We listen to his answer: "I perceived that this also is vexation of spirit." The more knowledge, the more sorrow.
(Where the older translation reads "vexation of spirit," the ESV has "a striving after wind.")
- Given — Solomon's grasp of trees, beasts, birds and fish came from God, not from his own study. It was real wisdom, but wisdom for life in this world.
- Wide — naming the cedar and the hyssop is a way of naming everything. It takes in the largest tree, the smallest wall-plant, and all the rest between.
- Deep — he knew what creatures are, why they exist, and what God teaches us through them.
- Judged — the same two plants went into the fire at a sacrifice. Man's greatness and his smallness both meet their end at the cross.
- Unfinished — his knowledge was not perfect, and it never satisfied him. The secrets of creation wait for a Greater than Solomon, who will set groaning creation free.