The Throne and Throne Room of King Solomon

The sages taught: Solomon ruled over the heavenly worlds and the earthly worlds, as it says: Then Solomon sat upon the throne of the Lord as king (1 Chronicles 29:23) [b. Megillah 11b]. R. Yoḥanan said: Did he actually sit on God’s throne? Rather, the Holy One placed him on the throne and made him king over the heavenly and the earthly worlds. He also made him a throne on earth that was a replica of the throne of honor in heaven. Just as the throne in heaven contained the forms of four creatures—a human, a lion, an ox, and an eagle—so Solomon’s throne contained the forms of four creatures—a human, a lion, an ox, and an eagle.

And R. Ḥiyya taught: Solomon built his throne in the form of the throne of honor by means of the Holy Spirit, with the form of the wheelwork and cherubs behind the throne and the form of animals and wheels placed before the throne. And sixty warriors were placed there [see Song of Songs 3:7], and he had on his forehead the sixty letters of the verses beginning with: Bless you (Numbers 6:24–26). R. Eleazar said: He also fastened precious stones and jewels to it, like the very sky for purity. He also held animals captive in the throne, wild beasts and birds, impure ones opposite pure ones—a lion opposite an ox. R. Eleazar said: The form of a lion’s face stood with its front legs raised opposite the ox’s horns, and the ox’s horns pointed out in his direction like two augers. R. Yoḥanan said: King Solomon set up two thrones, one to the right and one to the left; a lamb on the right and a wolf on the left; a gazelle on the right and a bear on the left; a roebuck on the right and an elephant on the left; a wild ox on the right and a garfit [meaning uncertain] on the left. At the very end he placed a human and, opposite him, a demon. And on top he placed a ziz [a fantastical bird] and, opposite it, an eagle, and he placed a dove and, opposite it, a hawk. [ . . . ]

R. Eleazar said: What was the manner in which Solomon would sit on his throne? He would take the Torah and examine it and prepare to judge the Israelites.

At that moment the lion would roar: You shall not respect persons in judgment (Deuteronomy 1:17), and the ox would say deferentially: Nor shall you favor a poor man in his cause (Exodus 23:3).

The deer would respond: For the judgment is God’s (Deuteronomy 1:17), and the leopard would growl angrily: Justice, justice shall you follow (Deuteronomy 16:20).

The lamb would pipe up and say: And they shall judge the people with righteous judgment (Deuteronomy 16:18), and the wolf would shout out as an oath: For every matter of trespass [ . . . he whom God shall condemn shall pay double unto his neighbor] (Exodus 22:8).

The gazelle calls out truthfully: And they shall judge the people with righteous judgment, and the bear raises his voice: Judge righteously (Deuteronomy 1:16).

The roebuck became frightened and said: You shalt not wrest judgment (Deuteronomy 16:19), and the elephant warned, using Moses’ praise: He executed the righteousness of the Lord and His ordinances with Israel (Deuteronomy 33:21).

The wild ox called out: These are the rules (Exodus 21:1), and the garfit would say: You must judge between a man and his neighbor (Exodus 18:16)—you, the king, must judge between one person and another.

In the end, they all would stand, human and demon together, and say as one, “Magistrates and officials (Deuteronomy 16:18), and you, O king! God has appointed you as king and judge to rule over and to judge His people, Israel. Judge them with justice and in truth so that God will enhance your peace and the peace of His nation, Israel, for the world stands on three things: on judgment, on truth, and on peace [m. Avot 1:18].” [ . . . ]

R. Yoḥanan was asked, “Why did the lions and the other animals shout out before him?” He said to them, “In those days there were four court-imposed death penalties, and they wanted to ensure that no one would be killed without reason. The king would rule in a case, and the lions would lick the soles of his feet, and the holy spirit would whistle and say, ‘But King Solomon shall be blessed (1 Kings 2:45),’ and those standing around would respond in unison and say, ‘The rule of David’s house is established!’”

Upon twelve oxen (2 Chronicles 4:4)—these refer to the twelve prefects who provided sustenance for the king and his household, each one for a single month, as it says: Solomon had twelve officers (1 Kings 4:7), and each one of them had eighteen thousand lords, and each lord had chiefs of thousands, who had chiefs of hundreds, who had chiefs of fifties, who had chiefs of tens. They would provide the king and his household with all their needs, leaving nothing out—each one responsible for his month. The daily food for his table consisted of thirty kors [a measure of volume] of semolina and sixty kors of ordinary flour; ten fattened oxen that were fed dough mixed with oil and given milk to drink; twenty oxen that were fed grass mixed with barley; one hundred fattened sheep, one hundred gazelles, and thirty deer; twenty roebucks together with goats and fowl and fish; and all types of delicacies without number, as it says: And Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty measures of fine flour, and threescore measures of meal; ten fat oxen, and twenty oxen out of the pastures, and a hundred sheep, beside harts, and gazelles, and roebucks, and fatted fowl (1 Kings 5:2–3). [ . . . ]

And what was the length of the hippodrome? Three parasangs by three parasangs. There was also one parasang in the middle that was made up of two rows of thicket, with all manner of animals and birds contained there. The horses would run in circles around them, and they would do so eight times during the day. The students asked R. Zeira: On which day did the [events in the] hippodrome take place? R. Zeira said: At the end of the month. R. Yosi said: On the new moon. Abaye said: On the second day of the month. R. Yoḥanan said: On the third of the month, because on the other days the king would make a diksomin [welcome reception]. At the end of the month, he would make it for the scholars and their students and the priests and the Levites. On the new moon, he would make it for all of Israel living in Jerusalem. On the second of the month, he made it for everyone who came from the cities and towns and all of the nations. And on the third of the month, he made the hippodrome. [ . . . ]

R. Yoḥanan said: There were four dimotiyot [stands] in the king’s hippodrome, each containing four thousand people. Each dimot was made up of networks held up by capitals supported by iron, copper, and gold. Every capital had on it seven stands, one above the other, and four tiers, one above the other. Every tier held one hundred men. Each dimot had two doors made of olive wood, inlaid with a wide variety of gold vessels and precious stones and pearls, and cherubs and rising columns inlaid with gold. Their light would shine to places far beyond Jerusalem. Before each dimot, a flute and a pipe were played above, while others played the flute according to their liking.