Solomon built the Great King the finest earthly dwelling in the ancient world, and then turned his heart to the gods his foreign wives brought with them from Moab and Ammon and Zidon.

He received wisdom that made kings travel from distant lands to hear him, and used it to build an administrative empire that violated every prohibition the covenant placed on Israelite kings.

He prayed one of the most theologically careful prayers in all of scripture at the temple dedication, and lived to hear the Great King announce that the kingdom would be torn from his son’s hand because of what Solomon himself had done.

Before any of that, though, there is a man on a rooftop, a woman bathing, and a prophet with a story about a stolen lamb.