Megillah 11B

(סימן: שסד״‎ך) ותו ליכא? והא איכא שלמה! לא סליק מלכותיה.

After mentioning 3 kings who ruled over the world, the Talmud presents a mnemonic for the names of other kings that will be discussed below: Shin, Solomon, i.e., Shlomo; samekh, Sennacherib; dalet, Darius; kaf, Cyrus, i.e., Koresh. The Talmud asks: But is there no other king besides those previously mentioned who ruled over the entire world? But there is King Solomon who ruled over the world and should be added to the list. The Talmud answers: Solomon did not complete his kingship, as he left the throne during his lifetime, and therefore, his name doesn’t appear on the list.

הניחא למאן דאמר מלך והדיוט. אלא למאן דאמר מלך והדיוט ומלך ⁠— מאי איכא למימר? שלמה מילתא אחריתי הוה ביה ⁠— שמלך על העליונים ועל התחתונים, שנאמר: ״וישב שלמה על כסא ה׳״.

The Talmud asks: This works out well according to the one who said that Solomon was first a king and then a commoner, never returning to the throne. But according to the one who said that he was first a king and then a commoner, and then afterward he returned again to be a king, what can be said to explain why he is not mentioned in the list of kings who ruled over the entire world? The Talmud answers: There was something else about Solomon that makes it impossible to compare him to the others, for he ruled over the inhabitants of the heavenly worlds, i.e., demons and spirits, as well as the human inhabitants of the earthly worlds, as it is stated: “Then Solomon sat upon the throne of YHWH as king” (I Chronicles 29:23), which indicates that his reign extended even to the heavenly worlds, with King Solomon sitting upon the throne of YHWH, and therefore he cannot be compared to the others, who merely ruled on earth.