Perils of Wisdom

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Perils of Wisdom engages the biblical Solomon narrative that appears in the Book of Kings and its reception by Jewish texts from scriptural sources through the traditional commentaries of the Middle Ages. The Bible presents a complex portrait of Solomon as both the wise Temple-builder as well as an idolatrous sinner while posing the problem of how the wisest of all men to whom God spoke could have ultimately worshipped other gods. Over history, Jewish literature has had to contend with Solomon's mixed legacy. It has done so by variously ignoring the difficult aspects of his narrative, by apologizing for Solomon's conduct, or by criticizing him for his errors. Sheila Tuller Keiter examines these multiple and disparate responses to the Solomonic problem posed in Kings, teasing out the motivations for the varying portraits of Solomon. Keiter demonstrates how the critical intent of biblical works attributed to Solomon was lost over time and how these very attributions inadvertently served to repair Solomon's reputation. By systematically following the thread of exegesis through biblical, rabbinic, targumic, and medieval Jewish texts, and by examining their interplay with other ancient, Christian, and Islamic treatments of Solomon, Keiter traces the emergence and ascendance of an apologetic image of Solomon that has colored Jewish perceptions of the biblical king ever since.