נַעַר קָטֹן. בֶּן שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה שָׁנָה הָיָה, וְזֶה לְךָ הַחֶשְׁבּוֹן, וַיִּקְרָא שְׁמוֹ יְדִידְיָה, בּוֹ בַּפֶּרֶק עִנָּה אַמְנוֹן אֶת תָּמָר, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: וַיְהִי אַחֲרֵי כֵן וּלְאַבְשָׁלוֹם אָחוֹת, מִקֵּץ שְׁנָתַיִם יָמִים וַיִּהְיוּ גֹזְזִים לְאַבְשָׁלוֹם וְהָרַג אֶת אַמְנוֹן, וְאַבְשָׁלוֹם בָּרַח וַיֵּלֶךְ גְּשׁוּרָה, וַיְהִי שָׁם שָׁלשׁ שָׁנִים, הֲרֵי חָמֵשׁ שָׁנִים, וְשָׁב אַבְשָׁלוֹם לִירוּשָׁלַיִם, וַיֵּשֶׁב בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם שְׁנָתַיִם, הֲרֵי שֶׁבַע לִשְׁלֹמֹה, וּמָרַד בְּאָבִיו וְנֶהֱרַג, אַחַר זֹאת: וַיְהִי רָעָב בִּימֵי דָוִד שָׁלשׁ שָׁנִים, הֲרֵי עֶשֶׂר, בְּאַחַת עֶשְׂרֵה מָנָה אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל, וַיָּשׁוּטוּ בְּכָל הָאָרֶץ תִּשְׁעָה חֳדָשִׁים, בִּשְׁנַת מוֹתוֹ תִּקֵּן מִשְׁמָרוֹת, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: בִּשְׁנַת הָאַרְבָּעִים לְמַלְכוּת דָּוִיד נִדְרָשׁוּ, הֲרֵי שְׁתֵּים עֶשְׂרֵה לַמֶּלֶךְ שְׁלֹמֹה. A small lad. He was twelve years old. And this is how [his age] is calculated: “And he called his name Yedidyah.”10II Shmuel 12:25. At the same time Amnon raped Tamar, as it is stated, “And it was after this, and Avsholom [the son of Dovid] had a sister.”11Ibid., 13:1. At the end of, “two years, and Avsholom had sheep shearers,”12Ibid. v. 23. and he killed Amnon. Avsholom fled and went to Geshur, and he remained there three years,13Ibid. v. 38. so we have five years. Avsholom then returned to Yerusholayim, “and [Avsholom] lived in Yerusholayim two years,”14Ibid. 14:28. so we have seven [years in the life] of Shlomo. And he [Avsholom] rebelled against his father and was killed. After this, [it states], “And there was famine in the days of Dovid [for] three years,”15Ibid. 21:1. so we have ten [years]. In the eleventh [year] he counted the [Bnei] Yisroel, “and they scattered in all the land,”16Ibid 24:8. nine months. In the year of his death he instituted divisions as it is stated, “In the fortieth year of Dovid’s reign they were sought,”17I Divrei Hayomim 26:31. so we have twelve [years in the life] of King Shlomo.18Other, including Abarbanel, suggest that Shlomo may have been around twenty years old at the time. The fact that he is referred to as a “lad ]=נער]” is not necessarily a reflection of his age, for in Bereishis 44:22, Binyomin is described as a “lad [=נער]”at the age of thirty.