Menyelek
Menyelek, known also as Bayna-Lehkem, was the son of Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. She gave birth to him nine months and five days after leaving the king, and later sent the youth to Solomon with a suitable retinue. The people who saw him thought him the perfect likeness of Solomon and treated him as their king. Solomon then had him anointed with the holy oil of kingship and made him king of Ethiopia.
The Kebra Nagast further tells how Solomon received a vision of the sun lighting Judah before departing to shine on Ethiopia without return. Menyelek carried the Ark of the Covenant to Ethiopia as he took up his rule there.
Biography
- Occupation
- King of Ethiopia
- Father
- Solomon
- Mother
- Makeda, the Queen of Sheba
- Era
- United Monarchy
Family
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Menyelek in Kebra Nagast 1
The Kebra Nagast 1:3
And the Son said, " I will put on the body of Adam," and the Holy Spirit said, " I will dwell in the heart[s] of the Pro...
3nd the Son said, " I will put on the body of Adam," and the Holy Spirit said, " I will dwell in the heart[s] of the Prophets and the Righteous "; and this common agreement and covenant was [fulfilled] in Zion, the City of their Glory. And David said, " Remember Thine agreement which Thou didst make of old for salvation, the rod of Thine inheritance, in Mount Zion wherein Thou dost dwell." And He made Adam in His own image and likeness, so that He might remove Satan because of his pride, together with his host, and might establish Adam — His own plant — together with the righteous, His children, for His praises.
Menyelek in Kebra Nagast 32
The Kebra Nagast 32:6
I am thy father and thy mother; seek not to know any more." And the boy went forth from her presence, and sat down. And ...
6 am thy father and thy mother; seek not to know any more." And the boy went forth from her presence, and sat down. And a second time, and a third time he asked her, and he importuned her to tell him. One day, however, she told him, saying, " His country is far away, and the road thither is very difficult; wouldst thou not rather be here? " And the youth Bayna-Lehkem was handsome, and his whole body and his members, and the bearing of his shoulders resembled those of King Solomon his father, and his eyes, and his legs, and his whole gait resembled those of Solomon the King.
Menyelek in Kebra Nagast 63
The Kebra Nagast 63:9
And as the deep sea draweth down into its depths the man who cannot swim, until the water overwhelmeth him and destroyet...
9nd as the deep sea draweth down into its depths the man who cannot swim, until the water overwhelmeth him and destroyeth his life, even so did that woman wish to submerge Solomon the King.
Did You Know?
In these chapters he is called Bayna-Lehkem, the name his mother gave him, and later David, the name given at his anointing.
At twelve he asked the boys educated with him who his father was, and they answered, 'Solomon the King'.
By the age of twenty-two he was skilled in war, in horsemanship and in the hunting and trapping of wild beasts.
On seeing him Solomon said that his father David had renewed his youth and risen from the dead.
He refused to stay in Jerusalem because his mother had made him swear to return quickly and not to marry there.