1 Kings 3:7
in 1 Kings 3And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And now, O Jehovah my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child; I know not how to go out or come in.
KJV
And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
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This verse in 1 Kings 3
Commentary
8 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.)
This site's exposition
according as he walked before thee
on 1 Kings 3:6-7
Solomon's prayer opens by naming covenant kindness already shown to David, the great mercy that gave David a son to sit on his throne, grounding his own request in a promise older than his reign. He then calls himself a little child who does not know how to go out or come in, an idiom for a leader's whole public conduct rather than a claim to literal boyhood, since Solomon already reigns in the city of David with a court to govern. The humility is rhetorical and real at once, a king who has everything still naming himself unequal to the office.
This site's exposition
I am only a little child
John Wesley and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown put Solomon at about twenty, a man new to governing a kingdom. Albert Barnes reads little child as hyperbole. Matthew Henry holds that a king who knows his own lack is ready to be taught by God.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
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.
I know not how to go out or come in as I should, nor to do so much as the common daily business of the government, much less what to do in a critical juncture." Note, Those who are employed in public stations ought to be very sensible of the weight and importance of their work and their own insufficiency for it, and then they are qualified for receiving divine instruction.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father,....
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
I know not how to go out or come in - I am just like an infant learning to walk alone, and can neither go out nor come in without help.
The words behind it
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְעַתָּה֙ | veatah | and now | H6258 → | 433 times |
| יְהוָ֣ה | yahweh | O Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֱלֹהָ֔י | ʾelohai | God my | H430 → | 2601 times |
| אַתָּה֙ | ʾatah | you | H859 → | 1094 times |
| הִמְלַ֣כְתָּ | himlakhta | you have made king | H4427 → | 348 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עַבְדְּךָ֔ | ʾavdekha | servant your | H5650 → | 799 times |
| תַּ֖חַת | tachat | in place of | H8478 → | 505 times |
| דָּוִ֣ד | david | David | H1732 → | 999 times |
| אָבִ֑י | ʾavi | father my | H1 → | 1212 times |
| וְאָֽנֹכִי֙ | veanokhi | and I | H595 → | 359 times |
| נַ֣עַר | naar | [am] a lad | H5288 → | 239 times |
| קָטֹ֔ן | katon | young | H6996 → | 101 times |
| לֹ֥א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| אֵדַ֖ע | ʾeda' | I know | H3045 → | 945 times |
| צֵ֥את | tzet | to go out | H3318 → | 1067 times |
| וָבֹֽא׃ | vavo' | and to come | H935 → | 2568 times |
וְעַתָּה֙and now
veatahH6258 →433 times
יְהוָ֣הO Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֱלֹהָ֔יGod my
ʾelohaiH430 →2601 times
אַתָּה֙you
ʾatahH859 →1094 times
הִמְלַ֣כְתָּyou have made king
himlakhtaH4427 →348 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עַבְדְּךָ֔servant your
ʾavdekhaH5650 →799 times
תַּ֖חַתin place of
tachatH8478 →505 times
דָּוִ֣דDavid
davidH1732 →999 times
אָבִ֑יfather my
ʾaviH1 →1212 times
וְאָֽנֹכִי֙and I
veanokhiH595 →359 times
נַ֣עַר[am] a lad
naarH5288 →239 times
קָטֹ֔ןyoung
katonH6996 →101 times
לֹ֥אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
אֵדַ֖עI know
ʾeda'H3045 →945 times
צֵ֥אתto go out
tzetH3318 →1067 times
וָבֹֽא׃and to come
vavo'H935 →2568 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
Daniel 2:21He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
it leads to
- Psalms 75:5–7
Do not lift up your horn against heaven or speak with an outstretched neck.’”
- Psalms 31:14–15
But I trust in You, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.”
- Psalms 113:7–8
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the dump
- Daniel 4:17
This decision is the decree of the watchers, the verdict declared by the holy ones, so that the living will know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it…
- Daniel 7:25
He will speak out against the Most High and oppress the saints of the Most High, intending to change the appointed times and laws; and the saints will be given into his hand for…
- Psalms 75:5–7
Through
Jeremiah 1:6“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”
it leads to
- Exodus 4:10–16
“Please, Lord,” Moses replied, “I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since You have spoken to Your servant, for I am slow of speech and tongue.”
- Exodus 6:12
But in the LORD’s presence Moses replied, “If the Israelites will not listen to me, then why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I am unskilled in speech?”
- Exodus 4:10–16
Through
Numbers 27:17who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
it leads to
- Ezekiel 34:5
They were scattered for lack of a shepherd, and when they were scattered they became food for all the wild beasts.
- Ezekiel 34:5
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About 1 Kings
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil, The Books of the Kings and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.