1 Kings 3

CHAPTER FOUR

SOLOMON’S GOVERNMENT 1 Kings 3:4 to 1 Kings 4:34

At the outset of his reign, Solomon received a special endowment from God that enabled him to wisely govern the vast empire which he had inherited from his father. The author of Kings focuses attention on the administrative structure of the empire because that structure was a manifestation and proof of the divine wisdom which God had granted to Solomon. In this section the main points of emphasis are: (1) the endowment of this king (1 Kings 3:4-28); (2) the management of his kingdom (1 Kings 4:1-19); and (3) the wonderment of this reign (1 Kings 4:21-34).

REVIEW OF CHAPTER FOUR

I. FACTS TO MASTER

A. Identify each of the following new characters who are introduced in this section:

1. Adoniram

2. Azariah ben Zadok

3. Ahiah

4. Azariah ben Nathan

5. Ahishar

6. Basmath

7. Chalcol

8. Heman

9. Darda

10. Jehoshaphat

11. Elihoreph

12. Taphath

13. Ethan

14. Zabud

B. Know how the following places fit into the history recorded in this chapter:

1. Azzah

2. Jerusalem

3. Beersheba

4. The River

5. Daniel 7. Tiphsah

6. Gibeon

C. Important Numbers 1.

The number of stalls for Solomon’s horses

The number of tax districts in Solomon’s kingdom

The number of Solomon’s Proverbs 4.

The number of Solomon’s songs

II. QUESTIONS TO PONDER

How old was Solomon when he became king?

Why did Solomon ask the Lord to give him wisdom in his dream experience at Gibeon? Why was the Lord pleased with his request?

What proof is offered in these Chapter s that God actually kept His promise to give Solomon wisdom?

How did the court of Solomon differ from that of his father David? What new offices were created under Solomon?

What system was used to supply provisions for Solomon’s court?

What evidence is there that the number of horse stalls in 1 Kings 4:26 should read four thousand instead of forty thousand?

Are the Ethan and Heman mentioned as wise men in 1 Kings 4:31 mentioned elsewhere in the Bible?

What was the nature of Solomon’s wisdom?

Why did God direct Solomon to Ask what I shall give you (1 Kings 3:5)? Would God have asked that question of just anyone?

How can a Christian obtain greater wisdom? James 1:5

Drawings by Horace Knowles from British and Foreign Bible Society

1 Kings 3:1-2

IV. PHARAOH’S UNPRECEDENTED RECOGNITION OF SOLOMON 3:1

**TRANSLATION

(1) Then Solomon became allied to Pharaoh king of Egypt by marriage, for he took the daughter of Pharaoh, and brought her unto the city of David, until he had finished building his house, the house of the LORD and the wall of Jerusalem round about.

COMMENTS**

The note concerning Solomon’s marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter is inserted at this point in the narrative for two reasons: (1) because it demonstrates how Solomon was able to strengthen his position through this important external alliance; and (2) because chronologically this marriage probably came shortly after the suppression of the internal foes described in the previous chapter.[127] This marriage has not been given the attention it deserves. Yet here is a political occurrence without parallel, not only in Israelite, but also in Egyptian history. No other example has yet been found of a Pharaoh’s daughter being given in marriage to a foreign royal house. But never before had a power comparable to the kingdom of David and Solomon arisen on Egypt’s frontiers, and this perhaps explains the sudden change in the long-standing Egyptian policy of refusing to give Pharaoh’s daughter in marriage to foreign royalty.[128]

[127] According to 1 Kings 9:24 the Egyptian princess lived in the city of David unto the completion of Solomon’s building projects. These projects were begun in the fourth year of his reign. The last event of chapter two, the death of Shimei, took place in Solomon’s third year (1 Kings 2:39).

[128] Abraham Malamat, The Kingdom of David and Solomon in its Contact with Egypt and Aram Naharaim, BAR, II, 91-92. Kadashmanenlil, king of Babylon, asked for the hand of Amenhotep III’S daughter and was refused in the following terms: From of old, a daughter of the king of Egypt has not been given to anyone.

The Pharaoh who gave his daughter to Solomon cannot be positively identified. The kings of the twenty-first dynasty (1085-945 B.C.) were ruling at the time of David and during the first half of Solomon’s reign. Under this dynasty Egyptian power declined and the country broke up into two separate units, the Theban theocracy in the South, and the kingdom of Tanis in the North. Certain archaeological evidence discovered in Tanis may furnish a clue as to the identity of Solomon’s father-in-law. Here a bas-relief of King Siamon, the predecessor of Psusennes II, the last king of the twenty-first dynasty, was discovered. It depicted the king in the act of slaying an enemy, most likely from among the Sea Peoples. On the basis of this evidence it has been suggested that Siamon made a military expedition against the Philistines in the course of which he conquered the city of Gezer on the frontier between Philistia and Israel, a conquest which the Bible ascribes to Solomon’s father-in-law (1 Kings 9:16). Even if this does not constitute incontrovertible proof of the identity of this Pharaoh, chronologically only the last two kings of the twenty-first dynasty fit the identification.[129]

[129] Malamat, BAR, II, 93.

Solomon’s marriage was strictly political, an arrangement between two families in which any courtship was out of the question. Treaties between nations were customarily sealed by intermarriage of the two royal houses. Solomon needed the recognition of the prestigious and once powerful Egypt to help make his claim to the throne secure. Pharaoh needed trade concessions from the king who now controlled the important north-south highways, as well as assurance that his powerful neighbor would not attempt to expand his domain southward. Albeit, this alliance must have been very shocking to the average Israelite since Egypt was the ancestral foe of Israel. Solomon brought his new wife to the city of David and there she lived in the palace formerly occupied by David (2 Chronicles 8:11) until Solomon was able to complete his building projects on Mt. Moriahhis own house, the Temple and the rest of the wall of the city (1 Kings 3:1). He began building the Temple in the fourth year of his reign (1 Kings 6:1) and his own house in his eleventh year (1 Kings 7:1).

Marriage with foreign women is not without precedent in Old Testament history. Joseph married an Egyptian woman (Genesis 41:45); Moses married a Midianite woman (Exodus 2:21) and later a Cushite (Numbers 12:1), Rahab (Matthew 1:5) and Ruth (Rth 4:13) both were foreign women who married Israelite men and became part of the genealogy of Christ. Only marriage to Canaanite women is specifically condemned in the Law of Moses (Exodus 34:11-16; Deuteronomy 7:1-5), and even that restriction apparently applied only to uncoverted Canaanite women. Thus while Solomon was within the letter of the law, the spirit of the Law of Moses would require that the foreign wife renounce idolatry and pledge allegiance to the Lord. Did Pharaoh’s daughter abandon her idols upon becoming the wife of Solomon? Three factors lead one to believe that such was the case: (1) Solomon at this period of his life was an enthusiastic observer of the Law; (2) the king is never condemned for this particular marriage; and (3) no trace of Egyptian idolatry or religious rites can be found in Israel at this time.[130]

[130] Hammond, PC, p. 50.

V. SOLOMON’S COMMITMENT TO GOD 3:1-2

**TRANSLATION

(2) Only the people were sacrificing in the high places because a house for the name of the LORD had not been built until those days. (3) And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father, except in the high places he was sacrificing and offering incense.

COMMENTS**

Just as Pharaoh’s daughter was compelled to live in the city of David because Solomon’s palace was not yet finished, so also the people were forced to continue worshiping God at high places until Solomon’s Temple was completed (1 Kings 3:2). These high places (Heb., bamoth) sometimes consisted of an altar alone, but often a shrine was erected near by. The Canaanites were accustomed to worshiping on such high places long before the Israelites entered the land. Sometimes Canaanite high places were taken over by the Israelites, modified and converted to the worship of the Lord. The high place at Gibeon mentioned in 1 Kings 3:4 may have been once used in the worship of the Canaanite pantheon.

At the commencement of his reign, Solomon sincerely attempted to observe the statutes of David, i.e., the laws of God which David had kept (cf. 1 Kings 3:6; 1 Kings 3:14), and which he had commanded Solomon to keep (1 Kings 2:4). The only blemish on the record of Solomon in those early years was that he worshiped God at the high places (1 Kings 3:3). The author of Kings does not say that such worship was sinful; he only is suggesting that it was less than ideal. It was an imperfection that God winked at in the period before the Temple was built.

1 Kings 3:4-15

I. THE ENDOWMENT OF THIS KING 3:4-28

Solomon is popularly known as the wisest man who ever lived. This section provides (1) an explanation of Solomon’s wisdom (1 Kings 3:4-15); and (2) a demonstration of how that wisdom was put into practice (1 Kings 3:16-28).

A. THE EXPLANATION OF SOLOMON’S Wisdom 3:4-15

The Bible explains Solomon’s famous wisdom as a supernatural endowment of God. It was while the king was engaged in religious activity at Gibeon that God revealed Himself to Solomon in a dream. During the course of that majestic experience (1) Solomon prayed for wisdom to guide and govern his people (1 Kings 3:4-9); and (2) received the promise of wisdom and many added blessings (1 Kings 3:10-15).

1. THE PRAYER FOR WISDOM (1 Kings 3:4-9)

**TRANSLATION

(4) Now the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place. A thousand burnt offerings Solomon did offer upon that altar. (5) In Gibeon the LORD appeared unto Solomon in a dream of the night; and God said, Ask what I shall give you. (6) And Solomon said, You have demonstrated great mercy unto Your servant David my father, as he walked before You in truth, in righteousness and in uprightness of heart with You; and You kept for him this great mercy, that You gave to him a son to sit upon his throne as it is this day. (7) And now, O LORD my God, You have caused your servant to reign instead of David my father, yet I am a small lad: I do not know how to go out or come in. (8) But Your servant is in the midst of Your people which you have chosen, a great people which cannot be counted or numbered because of multitude. (9) Now give Your servant a discerning heart to judge Your people, to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this Your great people?

COMMENTS**

Gibeon, about six miles northwest of Jerusalem, was chosen as the spot where the new reign would be inaugurated with a religious service. The leading citizens of the land, including the captains, judges and governors, accompanied the young king to that high place. Gibeon was chosen as over against the tent of meeting erected by David in Jerusalem because the Tabernacle and huge bronze altar[131] were located there (2 Chronicles 1:3).[132] The site probably is called a high place because the ark of the covenant, with which the Lord had bound up His presence, was not there.[133] Upon the altar in Gibeon a thousand whole burnt offerings were offered by (i.e., provided by) Solomon (1 Kings 3:4). The purpose of this enormous sacrifice was to implore the divine blessing upon the reign of the new king.

[131] The bronze altar was 7 1/2 feet square and 4 1/2 feet tall (Exodus 27:1-8). The altar at David’s Jerusalem tent was likely much smaller.

[132] The Tabernacle was last mentioned as being at Nob (1 Samuel 21:6). The Scriptures do not relate how and when this sacred tent had been transported to Gibeon.

[133] Keil, BCOT, p. 41. The ark at this time was located at David’s Jerusalem tent.

In a dream[134] one nightperhaps the night following the last day of sacrificesGod appeared to Solomon. Thus the one thing lacking in the place of sacrifice at Gibeon, viz., the ark of the covenant with the presence of the Lord, was supplied by God Himself.[135] Probably God appeared in the dream as the angel of the Lord in which guise He had on numerous other occasions appeared to Old Testament saints. In response to the numerous sacrificial gifts offered by Solomon to God, the Lord instructed the young king to name whatever it was he might desire that God would give to him in return (1 Kings 3:5). Such an invitation assumes that the request will be within the will of God. There seems to be a connection between the question which God addressed to Solomon, what shall I give you? and the object of the sacrifice, viz., to seek the help of God for his reign.

[134] This is one of the rare occasions in Bible history when God spoke to a man in his dreams. It should be noted, however, that within the context of this dream, Solomon was able to give a rational response to the question posed by God. [135] Keil, BCOT, p. 41.

Solomon’s reply to the Lord is marked by both perception and piety. He began his prayer by acknowledging the great favor which the Lord had bestowed on David to permit his son to follow him on the throne (1 Kings 3:6). He then humbly confessed his inability to handle the task that had been thrust upon his shoulders. For one thing, he felt himself to be young and inexperienced, so he referred to himself metaphorically as a little child or small lad. Solomon must have been only in his teens[136] when his father died. He did not know how to go out or come in, i.e., to conduct himself in the office of king, to manage the affairs of state (1 Kings 3:7). Furthermore, the nation had become so vast[137] that the governance of it would be a major challenge even to the most mature and experienced man (1 Kings 3:8). In view of these circumstances Solomon asked God to give him a discerning heart (lit., a hearing heart) that would qualify him to judge (i.e., rule) the people of God, to know the difference between what was true and false. The king in ancient society was the supreme judge as well as the governor of the land. No one would be able to judge so numerous a people unless God gave him a supernatural endowment of wisdom to do so (1 Kings 3:9).

[136] Rabbinic tradition has Solomon ascending the throne at age twelve, Josephus (Ant. VII, 7.8) says he was fourteen. Modern commentators estimate that he was seventeen or eighteen. However, Solomon already had one child at the time of his accession as is indicated by the fact that he reigned forty years and his son Rehoboam was forty-one at the time of his father’s death (1 Kings 14:21). Pharaoh’s daughter was not his first wife.

[137] In 1 Kings 3:8 Solomon describes the magnitude of the nation in words similar to those used in the divine promise to the patriarchs (Genesis 13:16; Genesis 28:14).

2. THE PROMISE OF WISDOM (1 Kings 3:10-15)

**TRANSLATION

(10) And the thing was good in the eyes of the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. (11) And God said unto him, Because you asked this thing, and did not ask for yourself long life, nor did you ask for yourself wealth, nor did you ask for the life of your enemies, but you have asked for yourself understanding to discern judgment, (12) behold I have done according to your word. Behold I have given to you a wise heart and understanding such that there has been none like you before, nor after you shall any arise like you. (13) Also that which you have not asked, I will give to you, both wealth and honor such that there shall not be a man like you among the kingdoms all of your days. (14) And if you walk in My ways to keep My statutes and My commandments as David your father walked, then I will lengthen your days. (15) And Solomon arose, and behold it was a dream, and he went to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant, and offered up burnt offerings and peace offerings, and made a feast for all of his servants.

COMMENTS**

Solomon’s response pleased the Lord (1 Kings 3:10). Even though in a dream, Solomon had expressed to God the true desires of his conscious mind. He might have asked for long life or wealth or victory over his enemies on the field of battle. But since he had asked for a gift that would enable him to better meet the needs of his people (1 Kings 3:11), God had already granted his petition. Solomon would possess a wisdom such as none before him possessed, nor would any after him be his equal in this respect (1 Kings 3:12). In addition God gave him what he had not requested, viz., riches and honor (1 Kings 3:13). The blessing of long life, however, had a condition attached. Only if Solomon continued to walk in the way of the Lord would his days be lengthened (1 Kings 3:14). In setting forth this condition God confirmed what David earlier had said to Solomon (cf. 1 Kings 2:3-4). Since Solomon did not meet the condition here set forth, he did not live to an exceptionally old age. He can hardly have been more than sixty (if that much) at the time of his death.

Solomon awoke to discover that he had been dreaming. But this was no ordinary dream; it was a dream in which a divine revelation had been made to him.[138] Solomon proceeded immediately to the other major sanctuary of that period, the tent which housed the ark of the covenant, and there he offered new sacrifices to the Lord.[139] In addition to the burnt offerings made at Gibeon, he added peace offerings in gratitude for the endowment he had just received. In the peace offering a token portion of the animal was offered on the altar and the remains were eaten at a sacrificial meal by the worshiper and his guests.

[138] Similar to the dream granted to Pharaoh (Genesis 41:7) and Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel 2, 4).

[139] The altar in Jerusalem was mentioned in 1 Kings 2:28.

1 Kings 3:16-28

B. THE DEMONSTRATION OF HIS Wisdom 3:16-28

**TRANSLATION

(16) Then two women, harlots, came unto the king, and stood before him. (17) And the one woman said, O my lord the king, I and this woman were sleeping in one house; and I brought forth a child with her in the house. (18) And it came to pass on the third day after I brought forth a child, this woman brought forth a child also, and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house besides the two of us in the house. (19) And the son of this woman died in the night when she laid on top of him. (20) And she arose in the middle of the night, and took my son from beside me while your handmaiden slept, and she laid him in her breast, and her dead son she laid in my breast. (21) When I arose in the morning to nurse my son, behold he was dead. But I considered him closely in the morning, and behold he was not my son to whom I had given birth. (22) And the other woman said, No! But the living one is my son, and your son is the dead one. But the first woman kept saying, No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one. So did they speak before the king. (23) Then the king said, This woman is saying, This is my son that is alive, and your son is the dead one, and this other woman keeps saying, No! But your son is the dead one, and my son the living one. (24) And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought the sword before the king. (25) And the king said, Divide the living child into two, and give half to the one woman, and half to the other. (26) Then the mother of the living son said unto the king, since her emotions were stirred because of her son, and she said, O my lord, give to her the living child, for you must not surely slay him. But the other woman kept saying, Let it neither be mine or yours. Divide it! (27) Then the king answered and said, Give the living child to her, and do not slay him. She is his mother. (28) And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had made, and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to give judgment.

COMMENTS**

In this section the author has included an actual case from the judicial files of Judah which illustrates how Solomon’s wisdom was quickly demonstrated to the nation. The case was a child custody suit involving two women who were harlots (1 Kings 3:16). These women are not to be thought of as professional prostitutes, but as women who had borne children out of wedlock. Because of their shame they lived together and alone (1 Kings 3:17). The plaintiff was first allowed to present her side of the story which was as follows: Within three days of one another the two of us were delivered of a child. Emphasis is laid on the fact that no third party was present at the time of the births (1 Kings 3:18), hence there was no possibility of independent testimony in the dispute. The defendant, while sleeping one night, rolled over on her child and smothered it (1 Kings 3:19). During the night she discovered that her baby was dead, and so she swapped her lifeless baby for my living baby (1 Kings 3:20). I awakened early to nurse my infant only to discover the babe at my bosom was dead. In broad daylight, however, I discovered that the dead child was not mine at all (1 Kings 3:21).

The defendant in this case naturally disputed the contention of the plaintiff, tenaciously maintaining that the living child was really her own. Back and forth the women argued with one another making their claims and counter claims (1 Kings 3:22). Finally king Solomon was ready to make a decision. First he summarized the problem as it has been presented to him (1 Kings 3:23). Then he ordered that a sword be brought to him (1 Kings 3:24) and that the child be divided and half given to each woman (1 Kings 3:25). The real mother, the plaintiff as it turned out, was emotionally stirred by the decision which in effect would leave her son dead. The Hebrew reads literally, her bowels were in a ferment. The ancients regarded the lower digestive tract as the center and seat of emotions. In desperation she cried out to the king to spare the child and give it to her rival. She preferred to lose her suit and suffer the agony of handing over the child to her rival rather than allow it to be killed. The defendant, on the other hand, was perfectly willing to allow the execution of the child to take place. She really had no love for the infant, and her main object all along had been to deprive her companion of the fruit of her womb (1 Kings 3:26). Jealousy dries up the milk of human kindness! It was now perfectly apparent who was the real mother, and so the king ordered that the plaintiff be given custody of the disputed child (1 Kings 3:27). The people of Israel were impressed and even awed[140] by this demonstration of the king’s sagacity and they rightly concluded that the wisdom of God was in this young king (1 Kings 3:28).

[140] The Hebrew word signifies both respect and awe as well as fear. Perhaps the people as a whole respected Solomon, while evil-doers feared him because of his wisdom.