reports, records of legal cases and administrative state and temple archives of a kind known to have been kept by all contemporary kingdoms. The situation at the outset of Solomon’s rule is briefly covered under three headings: (a) political, (b) economic (v. 2) and (c) religious (v. 3). The outworking will be shown later by the historian, who emphasizes the part played by wisdom (see Additional note). Such wisdom is the hallmark of a just king, and his God-inspired