1 Kings 3:10
in 1 Kings 3Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had made this request.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
KJV
And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
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This verse in 1 Kings 3
Commentary
5 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
the speech pleased the Lord
on 1 Kings 3:10-12
The speech pleases the Lord because of what Solomon did not ask: not long life, not riches, not the life of his enemies, three requests any king in the ancient world might have reached for first. Because the request excluded self-interest, God grants what was asked and adds what a lesser prayer would have sought on its own. Verse 12's superlative, none like thee before thee, neither after thee, describes wisdom given, not yet the character that will keep it, and the book's later chapters test how long the gift outlasts the reign.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
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.
And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Understanding in the affairs of civil government; since he had respect not to his own private benefit and advantage, but the good of the people he governed, and the honour and glory of God, who had set him over them, they being his chosen people, and whose vicegerent he was.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
the speech pleased the Lord--It was Solomon's waking prayers that God heard and requited, but the acceptance was signified in this vision.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
The words behind it
10 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וַיִּיטַ֥ב | vaiyitav | and it was good | H3190 → | 117 times |
| הַדָּבָ֖ר | hadavar | the thing | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| בְּעֵינֵ֣י | beeinei | in [the] eyes of | H5869 → | 887 times |
| אֲדֹנָ֑י | ʾadonai | [the] Lord | H136 → | 440 times |
| כִּ֚י | ki | that | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| שָׁאַ֣ל | shaal | he had asked | H7592 → | 171 times |
| שְׁלֹמֹ֔ה | shelomoh | Solomon | H8010 → | 291 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַדָּבָ֖ר | hadavar | the thing | H1697 → | 1440 times |
| הַזֶּֽה׃ | hazeh | <the> this | H2088 → | 1180 times |
וַיִּיטַ֥בand it was good
vaiyitavH3190 →117 times
הַדָּבָ֖רthe thing
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
בְּעֵינֵ֣יin [the] eyes of
beeineiH5869 →887 times
אֲדֹנָ֑י[the] Lord
ʾadonaiH136 →440 times
כִּ֚יthat
kiH3588 →4482 times
שָׁאַ֣לhe had asked
shaalH7592 →171 times
שְׁלֹמֹ֔הSolomon
shelomohH8010 →291 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הַדָּבָ֖רthe thing
hadavarH1697 →1440 times
הַזֶּֽה׃<the> this
hazehH2088 →1180 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Proverbs 15:8The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable to the LORD, but the prayer of the upright is His delight.
it leads to
- Proverbs 15:29
The LORD is far from the wicked, but He hears the prayer of the righteous.
- 1 Chronicles 29:17
I know, my God, that You test the heart and delight in uprightness. All these things I have given willingly and with an upright heart, and now I have seen Your people who are…
- Proverbs 21:27
The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with ill intent!
- Isaiah 1:10–15
Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the instruction of our God, you people of Gomorrah!
- Proverbs 28:9
Whoever turns his ear away from hearing the law, even his prayer is detestable.
- Proverbs 15:29
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); F. W. Farrar, The First Book of Kings (Expositor's Bible); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.