1 Kings3chapter 3

1 Kings 3:1

“And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt,.... Pharaoh was a common name of the kings of Egypt, of whom no mention is made in Scripture from the times of Moses until this time; which may seem strange, when it is considered that that kingdom was a potent one, and near the land of Canaan; but it was governed by a race of kings in this period of time, of whom, as Diodorus Siculus (i) says, there is nothing worthy of relation.”

1 Kings 3:1

“What Pharaoh is meant is uncertain. It must have been a predecessor of Shishak (or Sheshonk), who invaded Judaea more than 40 years later 1Ki 14:25; and probabilities are in favor, not of Psusennes II, the last king of Manetho’s 21st dynasty, but of Psinaces, the predecessor of Psusennes. This, the Tanite dynasty, had become very weak, especially toward its close, from where we may conceive how gladly it would ally itself with the powerful house of David. The Jews were not forbidden to marry foreign wives, if they became proselytes.”

1 Kings 3:1

“Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh--This was a royal title, equivalent to "sultan," and the personal name of this monarch is said to have been Vaphres. The formation, on equal terms, of this matrimonial alliance with the royal family of Egypt, shows the high consideration to which the Hebrew kingdom had now arisen.”

1 Kings 3:1

“Pharaoh - As being a powerful neighbour, whose daughter doubtless was first instructed in, and proselyted to the Jewish religion. It seems, this was designed by God to be a type of Christ, calling his church to himself, and to the true religion, not only out of the Jews, but even out of the Gentile world.”

1 Kings 3:2

“Only the people sacrificed in high places,.... On the tops of their houses, on hills and mountains, and particularly at the high place in Gibeon, where the tabernacle was: because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord until those days; to which they were obliged to repair as afterwards, and there offer their sacrifices, as the Lord had commanded, Deu 12:5.”

1 Kings 3:2

“The people sacrificed in high places - Could there be any sin in this, or was it unlawful till after the temple was built? for prophets, judges, the kings which preceded Solomon, and Solomon himself, sacrificed on high places, such as Gibeon, Gilgal, Shiloh, Hebron, Kirjath-jearim, etc. But after the temple was erected, it was sinful to offer sacrifices in any other place; yet here it is introduced as being morally wrong, and it is introduced, 1Ki 3:3, as being an exceptionable trait in the character of Solomon.”

1 Kings 3:2

“High places - Which were groves, or other convenient places upon hills, in which the patriarchs used to offer up their sacrifices to God; and from them this custom was derived both to the Gentiles and the Jews: and in them the Gentiles sacrificed to idols, the Hebrew to the true God.”

1 Kings 3:3

“And Solomon loved the Lord,.... The worship of the Lord, as the Targum: and which he showed by walking in the statutes of David his father; in which his father walked, which were the statutes of the Lord, or which he exhorted him to walk in, and were the same, 1Ki 2:3; only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places; besides that at Gibeon, which it seems David did not.”

1 Kings 3:3

“Statutes - According to the statutes or commands of God, which are here called the statutes of David; not only because they were diligently practiced by David, but also because the observation of them was so earnestly pressed upon Solomon, and fortified with David's authority and command.”

1 Kings 3:4

“Gibeon - The transfer to Gibeon of the “tabernacle of the congregation,” and the brass “altar of burnt offerings” made by Moses, which were removed there from Nob (compare 1Sa 21:6, with marginal references “i,” “k”), had made it “the great high-place,” more sacred, i. e., than any other in the holy land, unless it were Mount Zion where the ark had been conveyed by David. For the position of Gibeon, see Jos 9:3 note. A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer - Solomon presented the victims. The priests were the actual sacrificers 1Ki 8:”

1 Kings 3:4

“The royal progress was of public importance. It was a season of national devotion. The king was accompanied by his principal nobility (2Ch 1:2); and, as the occasion was most probably one of the great annual festivals which lasted seven days, the rank of the offerer and the succession of daily oblations may help in part to account for the immense magnitude of the sacrifices.”

1 Kings 3:4

“Our God is a consuming fire. Bishop Patrick quotes it as a tradition of the Jews that the smoke of the sacrifices ascended directly in a straight pillar, and was not scattered, otherwise it would have choked those that attended, when so many sacrifices were offered as were here. Here is something concerning which it may be doubted whether it was good or no.”

1 Kings 3:5

“The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream - This was the night after he had offered the sacrifices, (see 2Ch 1:7), and probably after he had earnestly prayed for wisdom; see Wis. 7:7: Wherefore I prayed, and understanding was given me: I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.”

1 Kings 3:5

“In sleep his thoughts ran upon the subject of his prayer, and he dreamed that God appeared to him and gave him the option of every thing in the world--that he asked wisdom, and that God granted his request (1Ki 3:9-12). His dream was but an imaginary repetition of his former desire, but God's grant of it was real.”

1 Kings 3:5

“He saw the glory of God shine about him, and heard a voice saying, Ask what I shall give thee. Not that God was indebted to him for his sacrifices, but thus he would testify his acceptance of them, and signify to him what great mercy he had in store for him, if he were not wanting to himself. Thus he would try his inclinations and put an honour upon the prayer of faith.”

1 Kings 3:6

“Truth - In the true worship of God, in the profession, belief, practice and defense of the true religion. So truth here contains all duties to God, as righteousness doth his duties to men, and uprightness the right manner of performing both sorts of duties. With thee - That is, in thy judgment, to whom he often appealed as the witness of his integrity.”

1 Kings 3:7

“See 1Ki 2:2 note, and on the hyperbole contained in the phrase “little child,” compare Gen 43:8; Exo 33:11. How to go out or come in - This expression is proverbial for the active conduct of affairs. (See the marginal reference.)”

1 Kings 3:7

“I am but a little child--not in age, for he had reached manhood (1Ki 2:9) and must have been at least twenty years old; but he was raw and inexperienced in matters of government.”

1 Kings 3:7

“Child - So he was in years: not above twenty years old; and withal (which he principally intends) he was raw and unexperienced, as a child, in state affairs.”

1 Kings 3:8

“Compare the marginal references. Solomon regards the promises as fulfilled in the existing greatness and glory of the Jewish nation.”

1 Kings 3:9

“The same is seen also in the example of Solomon who asked, not for gold and silver, but for an understanding heart: and so it was given to him. Hence James: "If any of you is wanting in wisdom, let him ask it of God, …”

1 Kings 3:9

One of the chief functions of the Oriental monarch is always to hear and decide causes. Hence, supreme magistrates were naturally called “judges.” (See the introduction to the Book of Judges.) In the minds of the Jews the “judge” and the “prince” were always closely associated, the direct cognisance of causes being constantly taken by their chief civil governors. (See Exo 2:14; Exo 18:16, Exo 18:22; 1Sa 8:20; 2Sa 15:2-6.) Good and bad - i. e. “right and wrong,” “justice and injustice.”

1 Kings 3:9

“An understanding heart - Whereby I may both clearly discern, and faithfully perform all the parts of my duty: for both these are spoken of in scripture, as the effects of a good understanding; and he that lives in the neglect of his duties, or the practice of wickedness, is called a fool, and one void of understanding.”

1 Kings 3:10

“Although Solomon’s choice was made “in a dream” 1Ki 3:5, we must regard it as springing from his will in some degree, and therefore as indicative of his moral character.”

1 Kings 3:10

“Those are accepted of God who prefer spiritual blessings to temporal, and are more solicitous to be found in the way of their duty than in the way to preferment. But that was not all; it was a prevailing prayer, and prevailed for more than he asked.”

1 Kings 3:11

“Thine enemies - e. g. Hadad the Edomite 1Ki 11:14-22 and Rezon the son of Eliadah 1Ki 11:23-25, whom Solomon might well have wished to remove.”

1 Kings 3:12

“Proverbs are words of exhortation that serve the whole path of life. They serve as guides and signs for those who are seeking their way to God by reviving them when they become tired by the length of the road. These, moreover, are the proverbs of "Solomon," that is to say, the "peacemaker," who, in truth, is Christ the Savior.”

1 Kings 3:12

“I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart - I have given thee a capacious mind, one capable of knowing much: make a proper use of thy powers, under the direction of my Spirit, and thou shalt excel in wisdom all that have gone before thee; neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. But, query, Was not all this conditional? If he should walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and commandments, 1Ki 3:14. Was it not to depend upon his proper use of initiatory inspirations? Did he ever receive all this wisdom?”

1 Kings 3:13

“All thy days - Whereby he signifies that these gifts of God were not transient, as they were in Saul, but such as should abide with him whilst he lived.”

1 Kings 3:14

“I will lengthen thy days - The promise here was only conditional. As the condition was not observed 1Ki 11:1-8, the right to the promise was forfeited, and it was not fulfilled. Solomon can scarcely have been more than fifty-nine or sixty at his death.”

1 Kings 3:15

“Solomon determined to inaugurate his reign by a grand religious ceremonial at each of the two holy places which at this time divided between them the reverence of the Jews. Having completed the religious service at Gibeon, where was the tabernacle of the congregation, he proceeded to Jerusalem, and sacrificed before the ark of the covenant, which was in Mount Zion 2Sa 6:12. A great feast naturally followed on a large sacrifice of peace-offerings.”

1 Kings 3:15

“The wisdom, however, that was asked and obtained was not so much of the heart as of the head--it was wisdom not for himself personally, but for his office, such as would qualify him for the administration of justice, the government of a kingdom, and for the attainment of general scientific knowledge. HIS JUDGMENT BETWEEN TWO HARLOTS.”

1 Kings 3:15

“The ark - Which was there in the city of David, 2 Sam. vi, 17, before which he presented himself in a way of holy adoration. Burnt offerings - Chiefly for the expiation of his and his peoples sin, through the blood of Christ, manifestly signified in these sacrifices.”

1 Kings 3:16-28

“The interpretation of Solomon's judgment on the quarrel of two harlot women (1 Kings 3) is clear as far as the simple history is concerned: that a boy of twelve years judged with an affection beyond his age for the depths of human nature. Hence, he was both admired and feared by all Israel, because he would not miss what was so skillfully concealed.”

1 Kings 3:16

“Then came there two women - harlots - The word זנות zonoth, which we here, and in some other places, improperly translate harlots, is by the Chaldee (the best judge in this case) rendered פונדקין pundekayan, tavern-keepers. (See on Jos 2:1 (note)). If these had been harlots, it is not likely they would have dared to appear before Solomon; and if they had been common women, it is not likely they would have had children; nor is it likely that such persons would have been permitted under the reign of David.”

1 Kings 3:16

“Then came there two women--Eastern monarchs, who generally administer justice in person, at least in all cases of difficulty, often appeal to the principles of human nature when they are at a loss otherwise to find a clue to the truth or see clearly their way through a mass of conflicting testimony.”

1 Kings 3:16

“Harlots - Or, victuallers: for the Hebrew words signifies both. Yet that they are unmarried persons, seems probable, both because there is no mention of any husbands, whose office it was, if there were any such, to contest for their wives; and because they lived a solitary life in one house.”

1 Kings 3:18

“And it came to pass, the third day after I was delivered,.... Of a child, as before expressed: that this woman was delivered also; of another child; and being both of the same sex, both sons, as afterwards appears; and being so nearly of an age, it was difficult to distinguish them; and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house; so that in this trial no evidences could be produced on either side.”

1 Kings 3:19

“And this woman's child died in the night,.... Whether the same night following the day it was born is not certain; because she overlaid it; or laid upon it, being heavy through sleep, and not knowing what she did, turned herself upon it, and smothered it; because it had no previous illness, or any marks of any disease it could be thought to die of, and perhaps there might be some of its being overlaid.”

1 Kings 3:23

“Then said the king,.... As judge, summing up what had been said on both sides, which were only bare assertions without proof; the one affirming what the other denied, and the other denying what the other affirmed: 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; this he repeated to show to all present that no determination could be made by what had been said on each side, and that some other method must be taken.”

1 Kings 3:23

“To find out the true mother, he could not try which the child loved best, and must therefore try which loved the child best; both pretended to a motherly affection, but their sincerity will be tried when the child is in danger. (1.) She that knew the child was not her own, but in contending for it stood upon a point of honour, was well content to have it divided.”

1 Kings 3:24-28

What about Solomon, who in his first judgment manifested the gift of wisdom, which he had received of God, only by making use of falsehood? For in order to get at the truth which was hidden by the woman's lie, even he used the help of a lie most cunningly invented, saying: "Bring me a sword and divide the living child into two parts, and give the one half to the one and the other half to the other."

1 Kings 3:25

“Divide the living child in two - This was apparently a very strange decision, and such as nothing could vindicate had it been carried into execution; but Solomon saw that the only way to find out the real mother was by the affection and tenderness which she would necessarily show to her offspring. He plainly saw that the real mother would rather relinquish her claim to her child than see it hewn in pieces before her eyes, while it was probable the pretender would see this with indifference.”

1 Kings 3:27

“Then the king answered and said, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it,.... That is, to her who desired it might not be slain, but rather be given to her who had no right to it: she is the mother thereof; which might be strongly concluded from her compassion for it, her eagerness and earnestness to have its life spared, and from the indifference of the other, yea, from her cruelty and barbarity in moving to have it divided.”

1 Kings 3:28

“They feared the king - This decision proved that they could not impose upon him; and they were afraid to do those things which might bring them before his judgment-seat. They saw that the wisdom of God was in him - They perceived that he was taught of God, judged impartially, and could not be deceived. What was done to the other woman we are not told; justice certainly required that she should be punished for her lies and fraud.”