Solomon Requests Wisdom
1 Now 1 Kin. 7:8; 9:24Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter; then he brought her 2 Sam. 5:7to the City of David until he had finished building his 1 Kin. 7:1own house, and 1 Kin. 6the house of the Lord, and 1 Kin. 9:15, 19the wall all around Jerusalem. 2 (Deut. 12:2–5, 13, 14); 1 Kin. 11:7; 22:43Meanwhile the people sacrificed at the high places, because there was no house built for the name of the Lord until those days. 3 And Solomon (Rom. 8:28)loved the Lord, (1 Kin. 3:6, 14)walking in the statutes of his father David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.
4 Now 1 Kin. 9:2; 2 Chr. 1:3the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, 1 Chr. 16:39; 21:29for that was the great high place: Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 1 Kin. 9:2; 11:9; 2 Chr. 1:7At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon Num. 12:6; Matt. 1:20; 2:13in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask! What shall I give you?"
6 2 Chr. 1:8And Solomon said: "You have shown great mercy to Your servant David my father, because he 1 Kin. 2:4; 9:4; 2 Kin. 20:3walked before You in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; You have continued this great kindness for him, and You 2 Sam. 7:8–17; 1 Kin. 1:48have given him a son to sit on his throne, as itis this day. 7 Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a 1 Chr. 22:5; Jer. 1:6, 7little child; I do not know howNum. 27:17; 2 Sam. 5:2to go out or come in. 8 And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You (Ex. 19:6; Deut. 7:6)have chosen, a great people, too Gen. 13:6; 15:5; 22:17numerous to be numbered or counted. 9 2 Chr. 1:10; (James 1:5)Therefore give to Your servant an understanding heart Ps. 72:1, 2to judge Your people, that I may 2 Sam. 14:17; Is. 7:15; (Heb. 5:14)discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of Yours?"
10 The speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 Then God said to him: "Because you have asked this thing, and have (James 4:3)not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, 12 (1 John 5:14, 15)behold, I have done according to your words; 1 Kin. 4:29–31; 5:12; 10:24; Eccl. 1:16see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. 13 And I have also (Matt. 6:33; Eph. 3:20)given you what you have not asked: both 1 Kin. 4:21, 24; 10:23; 1 Chr. 29:12riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. 14 So (1 Kin. 6:12)if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, 1 Kin. 15:5as your father David walked, then I will Ps. 91:16; Prov. 3:2lengthen your days."
15 Then Solomon Gen. 41:7awoke; and indeed it had been a dream. And he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, offered up burnt offerings, offered peace offerings, and Gen. 40:20; 1 Kin. 8:65; Esth. 1:3; Dan. 5:1; Mark 6:21made a feast for all his servants.
Solomon’s Wise Judgment
16 Now two women whowere harlots came to the king, and Num. 27:2stood before him. 17 And one woman said, "O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18 Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne."
22 Then the other woman said, "No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son."
And the first woman said, "No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son."
Thus they spoke before the king.
23 And the king said, "The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ " 24 Then the king said, "Bring me a sword." So they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other."
26 Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for Gen. 43:30; Is. 49:15; Jer. 31:20; Hos. 11:8she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said, "O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!"
But the other said, "Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him."
27 So the king answered and said, "Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother."
28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the 1 Kin. 3:9, 11, 12; 2 Chr. 1:12; Dan. 1:17; (Col. 2:2, 3)wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.