Solomon's Wisdom - 1 Kings 3:1-28

Teacher: Rusty Kennedy
​Series: Bible Stories

Rusty's Notes

David's reign laid the foundation for the future prosperity of Israel under Solomon.

• The Books of 1 and 2 Kings received their names because they document the reigns of the 40 monarchs of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah who followed David.
• Israel had 20 kings, and Judah had 20, including one female who usurped the throne: Athaliah.
• In the Hebrew Bible, 1 and 2 Kings were regarded as one book until the sixteenth century.
• The ancients viewed them as the continuation of the narrative begun in 1 and 2 Samuel.
• The historical period covered in 1 and 2 Kings (approximately 413 years) is almost three times as long as that of the period covered in 1 and 2 Samuel, which was about 150 years in length.
• The Book of Judges covers about 300 years of Israel's history.
• All three significant sections of Kings— the reign of Solomon, the divided kingdom, and the surviving kingdom —emphasize numerous theological lessons.
• Still, each one repeats and reinforces the central motif (theme): the importance of obeying the Mosaic Law to succeed. 
•       David's declining health 1:1-4
•       David's charge to Solomon 2:1-9
•       David's death 2:10-12
• David was 70 years old when he died (2 Sam. 5:4).
• Saul may have been as old as 80 when he died.
• However, the deaths of these two kings, as well as their lives, contrast dramatically.
• David died in peace, Saul in battle.
• David died in victory, Saul in defeat.
• When David began to reign, the Philistines dominated Israel.
• When Solomon began to reign, Israel was at peace with and in control of her neighbors.

 
THE LORD APPEARS TO SOLOMON
1 KINGS 3
1 Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter.

• A descendant of former Egyptian slaves now became Pharaoh's son-in-law!
• At this time Israel was stronger than Egypt, as a result of David's conquests and as a result of Egypt's weakness.

Solomon brought her to the city of David until he finished building his palace, the Lord’s temple, and the wall surrounding Jerusalem. 2 However, the people were sacrificing on the high places, because until that time a temple for the Lord’s name had not been built. 3 Solomon loved the Lord by walking in the statutes of his father David, but he also sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

• Solomon is the only king in the Book of Kings who is said to have loved the LORD.
• The only deviations from the Law that the writer ascribed to Solomon at this early time in his reign was his worship at the high places.
• Otherwise Solomon followed God faithfully.

4 The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there because it was the most famous high place. He offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask. What should I give you?”
6 And Solomon replied, “You have shown great and faithful love to your servant, my father David, because he walked before you in faithfulness, righteousness, and integrity. You have continued this great and faithful love for him by giving him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today.

• Prophecy fulfilled so far.

7 “Lord my God, you have now made your servant king in my father David’s place. Yet I am just a youth with no experience in leadership. 8 Your servant is among your people you have chosen, a people too many to be numbered or counted. 9 So give your servant a receptive heart to judge your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?”

•  In Hebrew words translated "hearing" and "obeying" come from the same root word.
• "The heart, in Israelite thought is the center of the psychic self.
• It includes especially mental activity but is broader in scope than English 'mind,' embracing the feelings and will as well.
• The heart is susceptible to become hardened, to be made fat (Isa. 6:10), and to dwell on evil (Gen. 6:5; 8:21); indeed, it is 'deceitful above all things' (Jer. 17:9).
• It is over against these capabilities of the heart that Solomon's request is to be understood.
• A 'hearing heart' [v. 9] is one that is open, receptive, teachable (Isa. 50:4).
• That to which the heart of the king should be open above all else is God's torah [lit. Instruction].
• The king ideally rules not based on his own understanding but administers his realm in the light of God's revealed will."

10 Now it pleased the Lord that Solomon had requested this. 11 So God said to him, “Because you have requested this and did not ask for long life or riches for yourself, or the death of your enemies, but you asked discernment for yourself to administer justice, 12 I will therefore do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has never been anyone like you before and never will be again. 13 In addition, I will give you what you did not ask for: both riches and honor, so that no king will be your equal during your entire life. 14 If you walk in my ways and keep my statutes and commands just as your father David did, I will give you a long life.”
15 Then Solomon woke up and realized it had been a dream. He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant, and offered burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he held a feast for all his servants.

• This section concluded in the same way it began: Solomon making a journey and sacrifices to God.

 
 
SOLOMON’S WISDOM
16 Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king and stood before him.

• In Israel, it was much easier for ordinary citizens to gain an audience with the king than it is today.
• The fact that the two mothers were prostitutes is important in this story … because it shows how the wise king would act on behalf of the very lowest of his subjects …

17 One woman said, “Please, my lord, this woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was in the house. 18 On the third day after I gave birth, she also had a baby and we were alone. No one else was with us in the house; just the two of us were there. 19 During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. 20 She got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while your servant was asleep. She laid him in her arms, and she put her dead son in my arms. 21 When I got up in the morning to nurse my son, I discovered he was dead. That morning, when I looked closely at him I realized that he was not the son I gave birth to.”
22 “No,” the other woman said. “My son is the living one; your son is the dead one.”
The first woman said, “No, your son is the dead one; my son is the living one.” So they argued before the king.
23 The king replied, “This woman says, ‘This is my son who is alive, and your son is dead,’ but that woman says, ‘No, your son is dead, and my son is alive.’ ” 24 The king continued, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought the sword to the king. 25 And the king said, “Cut the living boy in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
26 The woman whose son was alive spoke to the king because she felt great compassion, for her son. “My lord, give her the living baby,” she said, “but please don’t have him killed!”
But the other one said, “He will not be mine or yours. Cut him in two!”
27 The king responded, “Give the living baby to the first woman, and don’t kill him. She is his mother.”

• Solomon demonstrated insight into fundamental aspects of human nature, particularly regarding maternal instincts.
• This insight enabled him to understand why people behave as they do and how they will respond.
• This was a gift from God and is an aspect of wisdom.
• Solomon became a blessing to the people because he had a proper relationship with Yahweh.
• Wisdom in Israel and the ancient Near East was not synonymous with knowledge or education.
• It involved the ability to live life skillfully, so at the end, one's life would amount to something worthwhile.
• To the Israelites, this was possible only if a person knew and responded appropriately to (i.e., feared) Yahweh.

28 All Israel heard about the judgment the king had given, and they stood in awe of the king because they saw that God’s wisdom was in him to carry out justice. [1]

• I get asked often… “What can I pray about for you?”
• Most likely my answers will be “wisdom.”

[1] Christian Standard Bible (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2020), 1 Ki 3:1–28.