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The burial of King Solomon was a simple affair, in stark contrast to his opulent life. Millions of Israelites filled the city streets as a grand procession bore Solomon toward the tomb of his fathers. But the casket he lay in was a simple, stone block. No markings. No gold. No riches. Just as he had wanted.
Benaiah, Queen Rebecca and Ahazael led the procession as Levites bore the casket of their beloved king. Rehoboam, in his mid twenties, followed behind. The thousand wives and concubines took the tail of the procession, throwing flowers into the crowd and onto the ground. A sad, mournful tune sounded from silver trumpets along the way.
When they reached the Tomb of the Kings, the morning sun had just peeked over the eastern mountains, the first day of winter. A cold east wind blew against the gathered mourners. Women wept, men tore their clothes, children clung to their mothers in sadness.
The Levites gently laid the casket next to David’s. Rebecca, Benaiah, Rehoboam and Ahazael each stepped into the tomb, paying their last respects to their king. Rehoboam was the first to go, hugging his mother before leaving. Ahazael, patting the casket, turned to leave next.
Benaiah hugged the queen as well. He knelt before the casket, his hands running along its smooth surface. “I will miss you, my dearest friend. I will miss you so much.”
He rose to his feet and smiled sadly. “Until the restoration of Israel, my friend.”
Benaiah departed and left the queen standing before the casket alone. She slipped out a single, red rose from her bosom. One of the thorns pricked her finger and drew blood. A single tear fell from her eye and fell onto the rose. She kissed it and laid the flower upon the casket. Her salty tears and blood from her finger mingled upon the rose and dripped onto the casket.
“I love you, my dear husband,” Rebecca said softly through her tears. “Be at peace.”
She quietly left the tomb as the first rays of sun fell through the open doorway onto the casket, a pool of golden light on that single, red rose.
It would be a beautiful morning.
Shortly after Solomon died, as the king had predicted, Jeroboam returned from his exile in Egypt. With the support of ten angry tribes in Israel, he demanded Rehoboam, the new king, to lessen the burden of the high taxes on his people. Benaiah urged Rehoboam to lower the taxes and withdraw from the war to avoid an internal conflict. However, Rehoboam listened to the younger advisers around him, forsaking the advice Benaiah offered him, and promised Jeroboam to raise taxes even further.
Jeroboam wasted no time. In less than a week, ten tribes of Israel broke away from Jerusalem, forming their own nation to the north, making Samaria their new capitol. When Rehoboam sent his highest officer, Captain Michael, to collect tribute, the northern Israelites stoned him. In a rage, Rehoboam ordered the Judean army to attack Israel. However, Benaiah urged Rehoboam not to wage a civil war but to allow tensions to ease. Rehoboam agreed and averted a major war.
Benaiah set to work with Rebecca and High Priest Azariah to convince Rehoboam to remove the idols, altars, high places and strange wives that still filled the Royal Court. However, falling under the spell of Xyla, Rehoboam refused to remove any of the idols. As a result, Jerusalem continued to suffer humiliating defeats at the hands of the Edomites and Syrians.
Benaiah spent the rest of his life striving to turn Rehoboam to righteousness, but the more he tried, the more the young king pushed him away. Eventually Solomon’s son, in a burst of anger, ordered Benaiah to return as a prelate in Babylon. Benaiah spent his last years in the dusty, choked city, homesick for Jerusalem. He died a tired, sad, old man.
The queen died shortly thereafter, grieved at her son’s wickedness, and lonely without her husband. Most say she simply died from a broken heart.
Years later, a certain legend began to circulate among the Jews. Hezekiah, a righteous king over Jersualem, some two hundred years removed from Solomon, sent his servants to Babylon, now no longer a province of Israel. These servants found the casket of Benaiah and carried his bones back to Jerusalem. They say he was the only non-king buried in the Tomb of the Kings, laid to rest between Solomon and David.
Whether it was by chance or purpose, a daughter of Hezekiah wandered into the tomb one morning and laid a single, red rose on Benaiah’s tomb.
Legend has it . . . the rose never faded.
