1 Kings 3
3
1Solomon made a marriage alliance#3:1. “Marriage alliance”: the word here literally means “make oneself a daughter's husband.” with Pharaoh of Egypt. He married Pharaoh's daughter and brought her to live in the City of David until he finished building his palace, the Lord's Temple, and the walls surrounding Jerusalem. 2In those days, however, the people still sacrificed on the high places because a Temple to honor the Lord hadn't yet been built.
3Solomon showed he loved the Lord by following the instructions of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned offerings on the high places. 4The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the leading high place. Solomon presented one thousand burnt offerings on the altar there.
5The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at Gibeon. God said to him, “Ask what you want me to give you.”
6Solomon replied, “You showed your servant David, my father, great trustworthy love because he lived his life before you with faithfulness, doing what was right and committed to principle. You have continued to show this great trustworthy love by giving him a son to sit on his throne to this day.
7Now, Lord God, you have made me king in place of my father David. But I am like an inexperienced young boy who doesn't know what to do.#3:7. “What to do”: literally, “going out or coming in.” 8I, your servant, am here among your chosen people, a great people that are so many they cannot be counted. 9So please give me a mind that's receptive so I can rule#3:9. Rule not so much in terms of imposing control but in governing wisely. your people well, understanding the difference between right and wrong, for who can rule this difficult people of yours?”
10The Lord considered that what Solomon asked for was good. 11So God told him, “Because you asked for this, and you didn't ask for a long life, or wealth, or the death of your enemies, but instead you asked for understanding to know what is right, 12I am giving you what you asked for. I am giving you a mind that is wise, with an understanding of what is right, more than anyone else before you or after you. 13I am also giving you what you did not ask for, wealth and status—so much so that no king will compare to you for the whole of your life. 14And if you follow my ways by keeping my laws and my commands, as your father David did, I will give you a long life.”
15Then Solomon woke up and realized he'd had a dream. He went back to Jerusalem, and stood in front of the Ark of the Lord's Agreement and he presented burnt offerings and friendship offerings, and he held a feast for all his officials.
16Later two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him for judgment.#3:16. “For judgment”: implied by the fact they came before him. 17One of the women spoke up, saying, “If it please Your Majesty: I share a house with this woman. I had a baby while she was living in the house. 18Three days after the birth of my baby, this woman also had a baby. We were together; there was no one else in the house, just the two of us. 19During the night this woman's son died because she rolled over on him. 20She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while I was sleeping. She lay him close beside her to cuddle him, and she lay her dead son close beside me. 21When I got up in the morning to nurse my son I saw that he was dead. When I looked closely at him in the light I realized it wasn't my son.”
22The other woman argued, “No! My son is the one that's alive. Your son is the one that's dead.” The first woman objected, “No! Your son is the one that's dead. My son is the one that's alive.” They went on quarrelling in front of the king.
23The king intervened, saying, “So this woman says, ‘My son is the one that's alive. Your son is the one that's dead,’ while the other woman says, ‘No! Your son is the one that's dead. My son is the one that's alive.’”
24“Bring me a sword,” the king ordered. So they brought him a sword. 25“Cut the child that's alive in two, and give half to one woman and half to another,” he commanded.
26But the woman whose son was alive had so much love for him as a mother that she cried out to the king, “Please, Your Majesty, give her the boy! Don't kill him!” But the other woman said, “He won't be mine or yours—cut him in two!”
27The king gave his verdict. “Give the child that's alive to the first woman,” he ordered. “On no account kill him, for she is his real mother.”
28When everyone in Israel heard about the verdict the king had delivered, they had great respect for the king, because they recognized the wisdom God had given him to judge rightly.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
1 Kings 3
3
Solomon Asks for Wisdom
1Solomon made a peace treaty with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David. This was when Solomon was still building his palace, the Temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2The Temple to honor the Lord had not yet been finished, so people were still making animal sacrifices on altars at the high places. 3Solomon showed that he loved the Lord by obeying everything his father David told him to do, except that Solomon continued to go to the high places to offer sacrifices and to burn incense.
4King Solomon went to Gibeon to offer a sacrifice because that was the most important high place. He offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5While Solomon was at Gibeon, the Lord came to him at night in a dream. God said, “Solomon, ask me what you want me to give you.”
6Solomon answered, “You were very kind and loyal to your servant, my father David. He was faithful to you and lived a good, honest life. And you showed him the greatest kindness when you let his son take his place as king. 7Lord my God, you have made me the king in my father’s place, but I am like a small child. I don’t have the wisdom I need to do what I must do. 8I am your servant here among your chosen people. There are so many that they cannot be counted. 9So I ask you to give me the wisdom to rule and judge them well and to help me know the difference between right and wrong. Without such great wisdom, it would be impossible to rule this great nation.”
10The Lord was happy that Solomon asked for wisdom. 11So God said to him, “You did not ask for long life and riches for yourself. You did not ask for the death of your enemies. You asked for the wisdom to listen and make the right decisions. 12So I will give you what you asked for. I will make you wise and intelligent. I will make you wiser than anyone who ever lived or ever will live. 13And I will also give you what you did not ask for. You will have riches and honor all your life. There will be no other king in the world as great as you. 14And I will give you a long life if you follow me and obey my laws and commands as your father David did.”
15Solomon woke up and knew that God had spoken to him in the dream. Then Solomon went to Jerusalem and stood before the Box of the Lord’s Agreement. He offered a burnt offering and fellowship offerings to the Lord and then gave a party for all of his officials.
Proof of Solomon’s Wisdom
16One day two prostitutes came to Solomon and stood before the king. 17One of the women said, “Sir, this woman and I live in the same house. We were both pregnant and ready to give birth to our babies. I had my baby while she was there with me. 18Three days later she also gave birth to her baby. There was no one else in the house with us, just the two of us. 19One night while this woman was asleep with her baby, the baby died. 20That night while I was asleep, she took my son from my bed and carried him to her bed. Then she put the dead baby in my bed. 21In the morning I woke up and was about to feed the baby when I saw he was dead. When I looked at him more closely, I saw that he was not my baby.”
22But the other woman said, “No! The dead baby is yours, and the one still alive is mine!”
But the first woman said, “No, you are wrong! The dead baby is yours! The one that is still alive is mine.” So the two women argued in front of the king.
23Then King Solomon said, “Each of you says that the living baby is your own and that the dead baby belongs to the other woman.” 24Then King Solomon sent his servant to get a sword. 25He told the servant, “Cut the living baby in two and give one half of the baby to each woman.”
26The second woman said, “Yes, cut him in two. Then neither of us will have him.” But the first woman, the real mother, loved her son and said to the king, “Please, sir, don’t kill the baby! Give him to her.”
27Then King Solomon said, “Stop, don’t kill the baby. Give him to this woman. She is the real mother.”
28The people of Israel respected the king when they heard about this decision. They saw he had the wisdom of God#3:28 the wisdom of God Or “very great wisdom.” to make the right decisions.
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