劇情介紹
David, now an old man, is still king of Israel. Among his sons, the ambitious Adonijah and the clever Solomon. The two young men are fierce rivals, since both are prospective heirs to the throne and only one can be successful. During a hunting expedition, Adonijah challenges his younger brother Solomon to a chariot race. While Solomon, though brave, still retains a modicum of caution, the daredevil Adonijah is eager to win at all costs -- and loses control of his chariot. Solomon takes the seriously injured Adonijah back to Jerusalem. On the way there they meet the attractive Abishag, who despite her youth is versed in the use of healing herbs. She actually succeeds in helping the prince. Adonijah falls in love with Abishag -- but Bathsheba arranges things so that she works for David, hoping that her youth, her beauty and her healing powers will soothe the old king's suffering. Several members of the influential priesthood and also the respected army general Joab, who served David loyally for many years, support Adonijah's claim to the throne-- even though David has still not made any decision with regard to a potential successor. The battle-experienced Joab regards Solomon as an indecisive weakling, under whose leadership the kingdom would soon fall apart. When the prophet Nathan finds out about Adonijah's conspiracy he informs Bathsheba and Solomon, who urge David to take immediate action. And so it comes to pass that preparations to anoint the future king of Israel are made both at the Spring of Enrogel, where Adonijah and his men are encamped, as well as in Jerusalem. The festive procession for Adonijah has already been assembled and the people enticed with delicious delicacies to cheer him on, when the news of Solomon's coronation reaches Enrogel. The people promptly acknowledge the will of King David and stream off to Jerusalem in their hordes to greet Solomon, their future ruler. Adonijah remains behind with a handful of loyal followers. He realizes that he has lost -- for the time being. Humbly he places his life in his brother's hands. Adonijah is forgiven on one condition: that he always remai ns loyal to his brother Solom on. The great K ing David is dead, an d his son Solomon has succeede d him as th e rightful ruler o f Israel . Adonijah now has a req uest to make of Baths heba: h e wants t o marry Abisha g. Solomon h ears about this seemingly i nnocent wish, a nd recogniz es it as a renewed p loy on b ehalf of h is brothe r to recl aim the throne -- Adon ijah&am p;#39;s mar riage to the l ast woman to sh are King Da vid&# 39;s be d would strengthe n his politica l positio n considera bly. Solomon k nows th at he has to act quic kly and de cisively if he is to secure his own power. He has h is brothe r Adonijah and the latte r's cl osest as sociate Joab executed . After this radical dec ision, Solomo n withdraws to present sacr ifices. In a dr eam the Lo rd appea rs to him a nd grants him the ful fillment of a w ish, whateve r it may be. So lomon merely asks for wi sdom -- in or der to beco me a good rule r and ju dge. War with E gypt is loo ming. To a rm his ki ngdom aga inst the territo rial am bitions of its p owerful neighbors, Solomon not only in troduce s several ref orms but al so deci des to marry the dau ghter of th e pharaoh. The Egyptian prince ss does not re main So lomon& #39;s onl y wife, howe ver: as time goes by the king marries numer ous noble women from many d ifferent cou ntries fo r politica l and economic reasons. In this way he preser ves peace for his people, and cre ates great prosperity . By allowi ng the women t o continue prac ticing their do mestic custom s and rel igious ri tuals in Jeru salem as well, he comes int o regular conf lict wi th the prie sthood, w ho see the foreign religio ns as e ndangering Isra el& #39;s sole cov enant wi th the Lord. T he wisdom gra nted to So lomon by God becomes fully evident w hen the ki ng sits in judgmen t. One day two harlots e ach claim to be mother of t he same bab y. Solomon&a mp;#39;s d ecision seems utterly c ruel: he s ays that the child sho uld be cut in two so that each woman receives h alf. Solom on can no w determine who the real mother is fro m her reactio n: she will no t allow her child to be harmed. Sol omon han ds the ch ild back to its true m other am id cheers of ap proval. One of the most i mportant t asks ha nded down to Solo mon by his father David is buildi ng the great Temple to house the Ark of th e Covena nt. It has to be lar ger and mo re magnificen t than a ll other templ es in th e world, and Solomon n ow sets about fulf illing his fa ther' s wish. He p laces Je roboam in charge of the Israelite work ers as chi ef overs eer. Seven y ears later, t he work i s complete d. The expensive con struction m aterial s have been b rought from far-of f lands, and the people of Israel have p aid excee dingly high ta xes without c omplaint in o rder to finance the co nstructi on work. The Ark of the Covenant can now finally be taken to the Temple i n a triumphant procession. A fter so many ye ars of wanderi ng, the Israel ites&am p;#39; most sacred po ssession now has a fixed home o f its own. P eople stream to Jerusale m from across the entire c ountry to cele brate the great d ay. Abishag, now m arried, c omes too and br ings her family . Solomon h as decided to m ingle among th e people i n disguise , and he an d Abishag are overjoy ed when they accident ally meet again after so many yea rs. The T emple makes Jerusalem and its king fa mous th roughout t he world. Even the dark -skinned Queen of Sheb a sets off with a large re tinue to visit the wis e and cultivat ed Solomon and admire his m agnificen t city. The admirat ion tur ns out to be mutual: Solomon, captiva ted by her beauty, falls deeply i n love with her. The two of them have a c hild, Meneli k, but one day the Queen of Sheba decides t o leave. S he does not want Me nelik to be dep rived of the re gal digni ty await ing him in his ho me country. So lomon st ays behind, wi th a heav y heart. The king has now achieve d everything h e set his heart on, but with the passi ng of the y ears the wis e Solomon gr adually becomes a m elancholy, skeptical old man who regul arly questio ns his very exi stence. Ma terial t hings seem to represent the only reali ty for him. H e also refu ses to adop t any kind of s teady po licy, especial ly in religi ous matte rs. With his foreign wives, Solomon sac rifices to foreign go ds, and thi s incurs th e wrath of the priesthoo d. The lo yal Jer oboam appe als to his king&#3 9;s cons cience, but to no avai l. Duri ng one of Solom on' s sorti es in di sguise among his people, a simpl e farmer rem inds him of the fi rst of the Ten Commandme nts rev ealed by th e Lord to Mo ses: " You shall have no o ther god s before me. " At anot her decis ive moment, God Himsel f speaks to So lomon and announ ces the p unishme nt for h is sinf ulness: the k ingdom will collapse afte r Solomo n' s death . The ki ng has grown old and weary. He has lost touch wi th the peo ple of I srael, who are suff ering fr om heavy taxation and fo rced labor. Solomon has t reated his long-standing companion Jeroboam, to whom he entr usted the admi nistration of t he northe rn tribes, with murderous anger ever since a prophet predicted the division of the kin gdom to him. The king no longer ha s the stre ngth to change things -- he jus t leaves them as they are. T he conseq uences of t his become clear shortly after his death. Solo mon's son and s uccesso r Rehob oam treats the count ry's leaders wi th arroga nce, a nd prov okes the division of the kingd om into two parts: t he only tri be still loyal t o him is that o f Judah, wh ile all the othe rs unite under Jeroboa m. The pro phecy has been fulfilled . The kingdom t hat Solomon received fr om his father David, and inv ested wit h such mi ght and magnificenc e, is now div ided.詳情
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