Note 2 — Chapter XVIII · The Last Solomon.

Ewald compares the omission of the name of Moses for so many centuries with the omission of Solomon’s name. (Geschichte des Volkes Israel, Bk. ii.). Such omissions do not, he says, cast doubt on the historic character of either. The descriptive references to Solomon during the time when his name is suppressed are more continuous, and more historical. The utterance of Solomon’s name was probably at first avoided through Jahvist horror of his supposed idolatry and worldliness, but as he was addressed in a psalm as “God,” and as superstitions about his demon-commanding power grew, it seems not improbable that there was some fear of using his name, akin to the fear of uttering the proper name of God or of any evil power.