1 Kings 3
3
The Lord Appears to Solomon
1Solomon made an alliance#3:1 Lit Solomon made himself a son-in-law with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter.#Dt 7:3; 1Kg 7:8; 9:24; Ezr 9:14 Solomon brought her to the city of David#2Sm 5:7; 7:8; 9:10 until he finished building his palace,#2Sm 7:1–2 the Lord’s temple,#2Sm 6:1,14; 1Kg 6:37; 7:51 and the wall surrounding Jerusalem.#1Kg 9:15 2However, the people were sacrificing on the high places,#Dt 12:13–14 because until that time a temple for the Lord’s name#Dt 14:23 had not been built. 3Solomon loved the Lord#Dt 6:5 by walking in the statutes of his father David,#1Kg 3:14 but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.
4The king went to Gibeon#Jos 9:3–27; 21:17 to sacrifice there because it was the most famous high place. He offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.#2Ch 1:3,6 5At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon#2Ch 1:7–13 in a dream at night.#Nm 12:6; 1Kg 9:2; 11:9 God said, “Ask.#Mt 7:7; Jn 15:7 What should I give you?”
6And Solomon replied, “You have shown great and faithful love to your servant, my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity.#3:6 Lit and uprightness of heart with you You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne,#1Kg 1:48 as it is today.#1Kg 2:4; 9:4; 2Ch 1:8
7“Lord my God, you have now made your servant king in my father David’s place.#2Ch 1:8 Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership.#3:7 Lit am a little youth and do not know to go out or come in#1Ch 29:1; Jr 1:6–7 8Your servant is among your people you have chosen,#Ex 19:5–6; Dt 7:6 a people too many to be numbered or counted.#Gn 15:5; 22:17 9So give your servant a receptive heart to judge#Dt 1:16–17 your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?” #2Ch 1:10
10Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this. 11So God said to him, “Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life#3:11 Lit for many days or riches for yourself,#Jms 4:3 or the death#3:11 Lit life of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to administer justice,#1Ch 22:12 12I will therefore do what you have asked.#1Jn 5:14–15 I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again.#1Kg 4:29–31; 10:23–24 13In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor,#Mt 6:33; Lk 12:31 so that no king will be your equal during your entire life.#1Kg 10:23 14If you walk in my ways and keep my statutes and commands just as your father David did, I will give you a long life.”#1Kg 3:6; Pr 3:1–2
15Then Solomon woke up#Gn 41:7 and realized it had been a dream.#Dn 2:3; 4:5 He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant,#2Sm 6:12 and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings.#1Sm 11:15 Then he held a feast#1Kg 8:65 for all his servants.
Solomon’s Wisdom
16Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.#Dt 16:18–19; 2Sm 15:2–4 17One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was in the house. 18On the third day after I gave birth, she also had a baby and we were alone. No one else#3:18 Lit No stranger was with us in the house; just the two of us were there. 19During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. 20She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your servant was asleep. She laid him in her arms, and she put her dead son in my arms. 21When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. That morning, when I looked closely at him I realized that he was not the son I gave birth to.”
22“No,” the other woman said. “My son is the living one; your son is the dead one.”
The first woman said, “No, your son is the dead one; my son is the living one.” So they argued before the king.
23The king replied, “This woman says, ‘This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead, and my son is alive.’” 24The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought the sword to the king. 25And the king said, “Cut the living boy in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
26The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion#3:26 Lit because her compassion grew hot#Gn 43:30; Jr 31:20; Hs 11:8 for her son. “My lord, give her the living baby,” she said, “but please don’t have him killed!”
But the other one said, “He will not be mine or yours. Cut him in two!”
27The king responded, “Give the living baby to the first woman, and don’t kill him. She is his mother.” 28All Israel heard about the judgment the king had given, and they stood in awe of the king because they saw that God’s wisdom#2Sm 14:20; 1Kg 3:9,11–12 was in him to carry out justice.
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
1 Kings 3
3
Early Promise of Solomon’s Reign.#The third major unit of the Solomon story depicts the bright beginning of his reign. It includes the narrator’s remarks about Solomon’s marriage and his building projects, and a divine appearance to Solomon. Compare 11:1–13, where the same themes recur, but in negative fashion. The story of the divine appearance is told also in 2 Chr 1:1–13. 1#1 Kgs 7:8; 9:24. Solomon allied himself by marriage with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. He married the daughter of Pharaoh and brought her to the City of David, until he should finish building his own house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2The people were sacrificing on the high places, however, for up to that time no house had been built for the name of the Lord. 3Although Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father, he offered sacrifice and burned incense on the high places.
4The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, because that was the great high place. Upon its altar Solomon sacrificed a thousand burnt offerings. 5In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said: Whatever you ask I shall give you. 6Solomon answered: “You have shown great kindness to your servant, David my father, because he walked before you with fidelity, justice, and an upright heart; and you have continued this great kindness toward him today, giving him a son to sit upon his throne. 7Now, Lord, my God, you have made me, your servant, king to succeed David my father; but I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act— 8I, your servant, among the people you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. 9Give your servant, therefore, a listening heart to judge your people and to distinguish between good and evil. For who is able to give judgment for this vast people of yours?”
10The Lord was pleased by Solomon’s request. 11So God said to him: Because you asked for this—you did not ask for a long life for yourself, nor for riches, nor for the life of your enemies—but you asked for discernment to know what is right— 12I now do as you request. I give you a heart so wise and discerning that there has never been anyone like you until now, nor after you will there be anyone to equal you. 13#Eccl 1:12–13; Wis 7:7–11; Mt 6:29. In addition, I give you what you have not asked for: I give you such riches and glory that among kings there will be no one like you all your days. 14And if you walk in my ways, keeping my statutes and commandments, as David your father did, I will give you a long life. 15Solomon awoke; it was a dream! He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, sacrificed burnt offerings and communion offerings, and gave a feast for all his servants.
Solomon’s Listening Heart.#3:16–5:14] The fourth major unit of the Solomon story shows how Solomon used the three gifts that the Lord gave him in 3:12–13: a listening heart (3:16–28), riches (4:1–5:8), universal renown (5:9–14). In each case his gifts benefited the populace, from the lowest classes (3:16–28) to his whole people (4:20; 5:5) to the whole world (5:9–14). Compare 9:26–10:29, where the same three gifts all redound to the benefit of Solomon himself. 16Later, two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17One woman said: “By your leave, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I gave birth in the house while she was present. 18On the third day after I gave birth, this woman also gave birth. We were alone; no one else was in the house with us; only the two of us were in the house. 19This woman’s son died during the night when she lay on top of him. 20So in the middle of the night she got up and took my son from my side, as your servant was sleeping. Then she laid him in her bosom and laid her dead son in my bosom. 21I rose in the morning to nurse my son, and he was dead! But when I examined him in the morning light, I saw it was not the son I had borne.” 22The other woman answered, “No! The living one is my son, the dead one is yours.” But the first kept saying, “No! the dead one is your son, the living one is mine!” Thus they argued before the king. 23Then the king said: “One woman claims, ‘This, the living one, is my son, the dead one is yours.’ The other answers, ‘No! The dead one is your son, the living one is mine.’” 24The king continued, “Get me a sword.” When they brought the sword before the king, 25he said, “Cut the living child in two, and give half to one woman and half to the other.” 26#The true mother reveals herself by an uncommon and tender word for the child, “baby.” With this, and the woman’s willingness to give up her child, Solomon realizes that she is the true mother, and quotes her words exactly in rendering his judgment. The woman whose son was alive, because she was stirred with compassion for her son, said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby—do not kill it!” But the other said, “It shall be neither mine nor yours. Cut it in two!” 27The king then answered, “Give her the living baby! Do not kill it! She is the mother.” 28When all Israel heard the judgment the king had given, they were in awe of him, because they saw that the king had in him the wisdom of God for giving right judgment.
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