"Solomon spake three thousand proverbs; and his songs were a thousand and five", according to First Kings. Say Solomon was - as Rodgers was -- a member of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers. Anyone with a thousand songs to his credit would be in ASCAP's highest bracket along with Victor Herbert, George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, and Rogers.

     To get a handle on his earnings we need a ballpark guess how many times a day or week Solomon's songs are performed. Why the Psalms alone, which are chanted every day in monasteries as part of morning prayer and evensong, would bring in a fortune! He could live like a king. Royalties go to royalty; these would be more lucrative to King Solomon than Bingo is to the Indian Nation.   

       But then I remember taxes.

     Think of Solomon's ancestors: Methuselah, for one, lived 960 years, according to Genesis. Say he went on social security at 55 and Medicare at 65. That's 905 years the government was mailing him support checks, and 895 years he had medical coverage.

     Say Medicare claimant, Methuselah, only had arthritis.  That's taken for granted at his age.

     You figure Advil at 10 cents a pill. That's possible if Methuselah got in on a company health plan early. Say he starts out with the minimum of two pills daily for -- 500 years? Six? Seven? And the dosage increasing over the years? We're talking big money!

     The only place a government can get money like that is through taxes. I bet they didn't let Solomon claim capital gains on those 1005 songs. Straight income, highest bracket, and sock it to him!

     According to the New Yorker, lawyers and heirs are still quarreling over the Rodgers legacy. Think what Solomon's heritage would be!