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1 Kings 3

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Solomon's Early Reign and Compromises 1–4

1
And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. ​
2
Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was no house built for the name of Jehovah until those days. ​
3
And Solomon loved Jehovah, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places. ​
4
And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. ​

The Lord Appears to Solomon at Gibeon 5–15

5
In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. ​
6
And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great lovingkindness, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great lovingkindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. ​
7
And now, O Jehovah my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in. ​
8
And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. ​
9
Give thy servant therefore an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this thy great people? ​
10
And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11
And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern justice; ​
12
behold, I have done according to thy word: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there hath been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. ​
13
And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee, all thy days. ​
14
And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. ​
15
And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream: and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of Jehovah, and offered up burnt-offerings, and offered peace-offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. ​

A Demonstration of Solomon's Wisdom 16–28

16
Then there came two women that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. ​
17
And the one woman said, Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house.
18
And it came to pass the third day after I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also; and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
19
And this woman’s child died in the night, because she lay upon it.
20
And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thy handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21
And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead; but when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I did bear.
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And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king.
23
Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living.
24
And the king said, Fetch me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.
25
And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. ​
26
Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, It shall be neither mine nor thine; divide it. ​
27
Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.
28
And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for 1 Kings 3

Verse 1

made affinity with Pharaoh — Chathan, to become a son-in-law by marriage, the alliance sealed by taking the king's daughter. She was lodged in the city of David until the house of the LORD was finished, then given a house of her own (1 Kin 9:24). She is named among the 'strange women' Solomon loved (1 Kin 11:1).

Verse 2

sacrificed in high places — Bamah, an elevated place of sacrifice. The law fixed worship at 'the place which the LORD your God shall choose… to put his name there' (Deut 12:5), and that place did not yet exist because 'there was no house built unto the name of the LORD'. The same note is made of kings who followed (1 Kin 22:43).

Verse 3

Solomon loved the LORD — The commandment is 'thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart' (Deut 6:5), and the verse says Solomon did so, 'walking in the statutes of David his father'. The 'only' sets one exception beside it: he 'sacrificed and burnt incense in high places', the practice named in v.2. Later 'his heart was not perfect with the LORD his God' (1 Kin 11:4).

Verse 4

the great high place — Gibeon held 'the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the LORD had made in the wilderness' (2 Chr 1:3), with Zadok and the priests serving 'before the tabernacle of the LORD in the high place that was at Gibeon' (1 Chr 16:39). The thousand burnt offerings were offered there on the brasen altar (2 Chr 1:5–6).

Verse 5

in a dream by night — Chalom, a dream, a way the LORD said he would speak to a prophet: 'I the LORD will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream' (Num 12:6). He 'appeared' (ra'ah) here, and again 'the second time, as he had appeared unto him at Gibeon' (1 Kin 9:2). 'Ask' (sha'al) is the verb James takes up: 'let him ask of God' (Jas 1:5).

Verse 6

great mercy… great kindness — Both are chesed, covenant love, and the verse names David's walk 'in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart'. The kindness kept is 'a son to sit on his throne', the promise David cited at his death (1 Kin 2:4). A like pairing is in the LORD's later charge, 'in integrity of heart, and in uprightness' (1 Kin 9:4).

Verse 7

I know not how to go out or come in — The pairing is Moses's own for a leader: 'which may go out before them, and which may go in before them' (Num 27:17). 'Child' is na'ar, a youth, as David said of him 'yet young and tender' (1 Chr 29:1). Jeremiah answers his call with the same word, 'I am a child' (Jer 1:6).

Verse 8

a great people, that cannot be numbered — This is the promise to Abraham fulfilled: 'I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth' (Gen 13:16) and 'tell the stars… So shall thy seed be' (Gen 15:5). 'Chosen' (bachar) says whose people they are: 'thy people which thou hast chosen'. Solomon speaks as 'thy servant', in their midst.

Verse 9

an understanding heart — Literally 'a hearing heart', shama, the verb of Deut 6:4, 'Hear, O Israel'. 'Discern' is bin, to separate and distinguish; 'to judge' is shaphat, used twice in the verse. 'So great' is kabed, heavy: 'who is able to judge this thy so great a people?' Wisdom is to be asked of God, who 'giveth to all men liberally' (Jas 1:5).

Verse 11

hast not asked for thyself long life — The verb 'ask' (sha'al) is used five times in this verse. The three refused requests are long life, riches and the life of enemies; the three gifts of wisdom in Prov 3:16 are 'length of days… riches and honour'. Solomon is given understanding 'to discern judgment' (literally, to hear judgment, as in v.9).

Verse 12

a wise and an understanding heart — Chakam and bin. 'There was none like thee before thee' is borne out: 'God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much' (1 Kin 4:29), and he 'exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom' (1 Kin 10:23). Christ says of himself, 'a greater than Solomon is here' (Matt 12:42).

Verse 13

riches, and honour — These were unasked, and they are the two companions of wisdom in Prov 3:16, 'in her left hand riches and honour'. The same two Hebrew words are given here (osher and kabod). 'There shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days' is the second part of the gift. Eph 3:20 speaks of him who does 'exceeding abundantly above all that we ask'.

Verse 14

if thou wilt walk in my ways — The gift of length of days comes with a condition, the one David's own charge held: 'keep his statutes, and his commandments' (1 Kin 2:3). The LORD repeats it at the second appearing: 'if thou wilt walk before me, as David thy father walked' (1 Kin 9:4). 'Lengthen' is arak, to make long.

Verse 15

stood before the ark of the covenant — The ark was in the tabernacle David pitched at Jerusalem, where he 'offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD' (2 Sam 6:17); Solomon offers the same two kinds and adds a feast for 'all his servants'. He had been at the altar in Gibeon (v.4); now he stands before the ark itself. 'Peace offerings' is shelamim.

Verse 16

two women, that were harlots — Zanah, women outside marriage, came to the king as any Israelite might: 'ye shall hear the small as well as the great' (Deut 1:17). Moses heard cases the same way: 'When they have a matter, they come unto me; and I judge between one and another' (Ex 18:16). The king's court is open to them.

Verse 25

Divide the living child in two — Gazar, to cut in pieces, and chay, living. The king does not decide by the women's words, since each claims the child; the command puts the claim to the test. It comes from one who asked 'that I may discern between good and bad' (v.9), and the answer in v.26 shows who the mother is.

Verse 26

her bowels yearned upon her son — Rachamim, tender compassion, with kamar, to grow warm or tender. Joseph's brother-love is described the same way: 'his bowels did yearn upon his brother' (Gen 43:30). Of the two the one who says 'give her the living child, and in no wise slay it' gives up her claim for the child's life, and the other says 'neither mine nor thine, but divide it'.

Verse 28

the wisdom of God was in him — Chokmat Elohim: they 'saw' it in the judgment and 'feared the king' (yare). It is the answer to the request of v.9 and the gift of v.12. 'Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God' (1 Cor 1:24) and 'In whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge' (Col 2:3) point to one greater than Solomon.