Solomon succeeded to the throne of David ahead of his time. He had been tenth in line for succession, but upon the death of David he outmaneuvered the tribal choice and his other half-brothers and took the throne. The accession of Solomon set a pattern for the establishment of royal authority over Israel--a legitimate saint would anoint the new king; the king would set his capital in a new city (in this case Jerusalem); and the king would establish a cult under royal patronage. David was depicted as a devout man who did heroic things. The persona of Solomon as developed in the scriptures is subtly different from this, though Solomon is also seen as a benevolent and successful ruler.
The writers of the biblical accounts had interests other than strictly depicting history, and they allowed their interests in one ruler or another to determine the degree of attention they would lavish on each. The compilers of Genesis-II Kings, for instance, were not as interested in Saul's reign as they were in David's so that we are told very little about Saul's kingdom (Miller and Hayes 129). Solomon and his reign are presented in somewhat different ways according to which chronicler is considered. Solomon's reign might be seen as the "golden age" of Israelite and Judean history, and he is depicted in Genesis-II Kings as exceedingly wise, exceptionally wealthy, and extremely powerful as a ruler. The Chronicler neutralizes all the negative aspects of Solomon's reign and elaborate on his role as Temple builder and cofounder with David of the Jerusalem cult. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song of Songs credit him for his wisdom. However, a closer reading of the scriptures may show that some of these positive aspects are overstated--the wealthy Solomon developed money problems and had to concede twenty cities in Galilee, the powerful Solomon was troubled by adversaries at home, and the wise Solomon exploited his people through forced labor and ot...