What are the three things King Solomon states as leaving no trace of their passage?

[Alkane]

Justice not being one of them.

This quote is from Chapter 17 of the book:

As she told the queen, she had not seen her husband since his liberation; she was ignorant of the change that had taken place in him with respect to the cardinal--a change which had since been strengthened by two or three visits from the Comte de Rochefort, who had become the best friend of Bonacieux, and had persuaded him, without much trouble, was putting his house in order, the furniture of which he had found mostly broken and his closets nearly empty--justice not being one of the three things which King Solomon names as leaving no traces of their passage.

What are the three things that leave no trace of their passage?

I haven't been able to trace down this reference, it caused me to pick up (download) my first bible in over 10 years, but I haven't had much luck looking in that book, it's difficult to search something that long. FWIW, I asked some of my more religious friends, but they had no idea.

Thanks.

[William Newkirk]

See 1 Kings 3:11

[Alkane]

See 1 Kings 3:11

I suppose if you divide one living baby and add it to a dead baby you will get three dead babies; I'm not sure what I'm supposed to get out of the story of Solomon and the Harlots.

[hwikle]

A fan of Dumas, I happened upon this site on a search. Being the "more religious" kind of person, I was intrigued by your question (I also like a challenge). Here's my best guess.

The three things are: an eagle in the air, a serpent on a rock, and a ship on the sea. (Technically, a "man with a maid" is also added to the list-since the whole list was a poetic device to demonstrate how difficult it is to detect if a man has been with a woman). See Proverbs 30:18-19

The funny thing is, while most of the Proverbs are attributed to Solomon, this particular one is said to be written by "Agur the son of Jakeh" (Proverbs 30:1), which threw me off. In citing Solomon, was Dumas simplifying, or mistaken, or what?

[hogarth]

A fan of Dumas, I happened upon this site on a search. Being the "more religious" kind of person, I was intrigued by your question (I also like a challenge). Here's my best guess.

The three things are: an eagle in the air, a serpent on a rock, and a ship on the sea. (Technically, a "man with a maid" is also added to the list-since the whole list was a poetic device to demonstrate how difficult it is to detect if a man has been with a woman). See Proverbs 30:18-19

The funny thing is, while most of the Proverbs are attributed to Solomon, this particular one is said to be written by "Agur the son of Jakeh" (Proverbs 30:1), which threw me off. In citing Solomon, was Dumas simplifying, or mistaken, or what?

Even though it's 8 (!) years later, for the benefit of people finding this through Google, I think he must be referring to the deuterocanonical/apocryphal Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, Chapter 5, verse 8-12.

In that passage, the author says that pride, wealth and boastfulness are like three things that leave no trace: a ship passing through the waves, a bird flying through the air and an arrow passing through the air. Very similar to the passage from Proverbs, but with the snake replaced by an arrow.

[Calidore]

Even though it's 8 (!) years later, for the benefit of people finding this through Google, I think he must be referring to the deuterocanonical/apocryphal Book of the Wisdom of Solomon, Chapter 5, verse 8-12.

In that passage, the author says that pride, wealth and boastfulness are like three things that leave no trace: a ship passing through the waves, a bird flying through the air and an arrow passing through the air. Very similar to the passage from Proverbs, but with the snake replaced by an arrow.

Never too late to answer a question. That was interesting, thanks!