ESV 1 Kings 3:9
Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people,
that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern
this your great people?”
Why is this ponderable?
The Seal of Solomon (or Ring of Solomon; Arabic: خاتم سليمان Khātam Sulaymān) is the signet ring attributed to King Solomon
in medieval Jewish tradition and in Islamic and Western occultism. It
was often depicted in either a pentagram or hexagram shape; the latter
also known as the Star of David in Jewish tradition. Although not mentioned explicitly in the Bible, it was widely believed that just as God conferred blessings on Israel through physical objects such as the stone tablets, the Arc of the Covenant, and the staff of Moses, Soloman's understanding mind was conferred by a signet ring.
"Solomon is represented as having authority over spirits, animals, wind, and water, all of which obeyed his orders by virtue of a magic ring set with the four jewels given him by the angels that had power over these four realms. [...] It was Solomon's custom to take off the ring when he was about to wash, and to give it to one of his wives, Amina, to hold. On one occasion, when the ring was in Amina's keeping, the rebellious spirit Sakhr took on Solomon's form and obtained the ring. He then seated himself on the throne and ruled for forty days, during which time the real king wandered about the country, poor and forlorn. On the fortieth day, Sakhr dropped the ring into the sea; there it was swallowed by a fish, which was caught by a poor fisherman and given to Solomon for his supper. Solomon cut open the fish, found the ring, and returned to power. His forty days' exile had been sent in punishment for the idolatry practiced in his house for forty days, although unknown to him, by one of his wives" Baiḍawi, ii. 187; Ṭabri, "Annales," ed. De Goeje, i. 592 et seq.)."
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