1 Kings 3:14
in 1 Kings 3So if you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commandments, just as your father David did, I will prolong your days.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
KJV
And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
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This verse in 1 Kings 3
Commentary
6 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
given thee that which thou hast not asked
on 1 Kings 3:13-15
Riches and honour are added though Solomon never asked for them, a shape the commentators set beside Matthew 6:33, seek first the kingdom and all these things shall be added, a likeness they draw between the two prayers rather than a claim the text itself makes. The promise of long life carries one condition, if thou wilt walk in my ways, and the book's later chapters show exactly how that condition plays out. Solomon wakes to find it was a dream, then goes to Jerusalem, stands before the ark, and offers burnt and peace offerings before feasting the whole court, moving in one scene from the high place at Gibeon to the ark already resting in the city of David.
This site's exposition
I will prolong your days
Long days depend on walking in God’s ways as David did. Albert Barnes notes that Solomon failed to keep His statutes and commandments, as 11:1 to 8 records, and died at no more than fifty-nine or sixty. Matthew Henry teaches that riches and long life are left to God, while wisdom is asked for with urgency.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
And if thou wilt walk in my ways,....
Solomon prayed in his sleep, God's grace assisting him; yet it was a lively prayer. What we are most in care about, and which makes the greatest impression upon us when we are awake, commonly affects us when we are asleep; and by our dreams, sometimes, we may know what our hearts are upon and how our pulse beats.
Let us see here, [1.] That the way to obtain spiritual blessings is to be importunate for them, to wrestle with God in prayer for them, as Solomon did for wisdom, asking that only, as the one thing needful. [2.] That the way to obtain temporal blessings is to be indifferent to them and to refer ourselves to God concerning them.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
And if you will go in My ways, etc., I will lengthen your days. The wealth and the honor for which I did not impose any conditions in my Torah to give to the king, I will give you whether deserving or not.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
Shlomo woke up and behold it was a dream. And behold he understood that his dream was true. He heard a bird chirping and understood its language, a dog barking and he understood its language.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 5 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
13 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִ֣ם׀ | veim | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| תֵּלֵ֣ךְ | telekh | you will walk | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| בִּדְרָכַ֗י | bidrakhai | in ways my | H1870 → | 707 times |
| לִשְׁמֹ֤ר | lishmor | to keep | H8104 → | 468 times |
| חֻקַּי֙ | chukai | statutes my | H2706 → | 127 times |
| וּמִצְוֹתַ֔י | umitzvotai | and commandments my | H4687 → | 181 times |
| כַּאֲשֶׁ֥ר | kaasher | just as | H834 → | 5497 times |
| הָלַ֖ךְ | halakh | he walked | H1980 → | 1546 times |
| דָּוִ֣יד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אָבִ֑יךָ | ʾavikha | father your | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְהַאַרַכְתִּ֖י | vehaarakhti | and I will make long | H748 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יָמֶֽיךָ׃ ס | yameikha | days your | H3117 → | 2304 times |
וְאִ֣ם׀and if
veimH518 →1069 times
תֵּלֵ֣ךְyou will walk
telekhH1980 →1546 times
בִּדְרָכַ֗יin ways my
bidrakhaiH1870 →707 times
לִשְׁמֹ֤רto keep
lishmorH8104 →468 times
חֻקַּי֙statutes my
chukaiH2706 →127 times
וּמִצְוֹתַ֔יand commandments my
umitzvotaiH4687 →181 times
כַּאֲשֶׁ֥רjust as
kaasherH834 →5497 times
הָלַ֖ךְhe walked
halakhH1980 →1546 times
דָּוִ֣ידDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
אָבִ֑יךָfather your
ʾavikhaH1 →1212 times
וְהַאַרַכְתִּ֖יand I will make long
vehaarakhtiH748 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יָמֶֽיךָ׃ סdays your
yameikhaH3117 →2304 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 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 3:2for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.
it leads to
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- Proverbs 4:10
Listen, my son, and receive my words, and the years of your life will be many.
- Psalms 91:16
With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”
- Ephesians 6:1–3
Through
Psalms 91:16With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation.”
it leads to
- Proverbs 3:2
for they will add length to your days, years and peace to your life.
- Proverbs 3:16
Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor.
- Psalms 21:4
He asked You for life, and You granted it— length of days, forever and ever.
- Psalms 50:23
He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”
- Isaiah 65:20–22
No longer will a nursing infant live but a few days, or an old man fail to live out his years. For the youth will die at a hundred years, and he who fails…
- Proverbs 3:2
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 Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.