1 Kings 3 commentary

He that loved the Lord, should, for his sake, have fixed his love upon one of the Lord's people. Solomon was a wise man, a rich man, a great man; yet the brightest praise of him, is that which is the character of all the saints, even the poorest, “He loved the Lord.” Where God sows plentifully, he expects to reap accordingly; and those that truly love God and his worship, will not grudge the expenses of their religion. We must never think that wasted which is laid out in the service of God.

Solomon's dream was not a common one. While his bodily powers were locked up in sleep, the powers of his soul were strengthened; he was enabled to receive the Divine vision, and to make a suitable choice. God, in like manner, puts us in the ready way to be happy, by assuring us we shall have what we need, and pray for. Solomon's making such a choice when asleep, and the powers of reason least active, showed it came from the grace of God. Having a humble sense of his own wants and weakness, he pleads, Lord, I am but a little child. The more wise and considerate men are, the better acquainted they are with their own weakness, and the more jealous of themselves. Solomon begs of God to give him wisdom. We must pray for it, Jas 1:5, that it may help us in our particular calling, and the various occasions we have. Those are accepted of God, who prefer spiritual blessings to earthly good. It was a prevailing prayer, and prevailed for more than he asked. God gave him wisdom, such as no other prince was ever blessed with; and also gave him riches and honour. If we make sure of wisdom and grace, these will bring outward prosperity with them, or sweeten the want of it. The way to get spiritual blessings, is to wrestle with God in prayer for them. The way to get earthly blessings, is to refer ourselves to God concerning them. Solomon has wisdom given him, because he did ask it, and wealth, because he did not.

An instance of Solomon's wisdom is given. Notice the difficulty of the case. To find out the true mother, he could not try which the child loved best, and therefore tried which loved the child best: the mother's sincerity will be tried, when the child is in danger. Let parents show their love to their children, especially by taking care of their souls, and snatching them as brands out of the burning. By this and other instances of the wisdom with which God endued him, Solomon had great reputation among his people. This was better to him than weapons of war; for this he was both feared and loved.

CHAPTER 3

1Ki 3:1. Solomon Marries Pharaoh's Daughter.

1. Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh--This was a royal title, equivalent to "sultan," and the personal name of this monarch is said to have been Vaphres. The formation, on equal terms, of this matrimonial alliance with the royal family of Egypt, shows the high consideration to which the Hebrew kingdom had now arisen. Rosellini has given, from the Egyptian monuments, what is supposed to be a portrait of this princess. She was received in the land of her adoption with great eclat; for the Song of Solomon and the forty-fifth Psalm are supposed to have been composed in honor of this occasion, although they may both have a higher typical reference to the introduction of the Gentiles into the church.

and brought her into the city of David--that is, Jerusalem. She was not admissible into the stronghold of Zion, the building where the ark was (De 23:7, 8). She seems to have been lodged at first in his mother's apartments (So 3:4; 8:2), as a suitable residence was not yet provided for her in the new palace (1Ki 7:8; 9:24; 2Ch 8:11).

building ... the wall of Jerusalem round about--Although David had begun (Psa 51:18), it was, according to Josephus, reserved for Solomon to extend and complete the fortifications of the city. It has been questioned whether this marriage was in conformity with the law (see Ex 34:16; De 7:3; Ezr 10:1-10; Ne 13:26). But it is nowhere censured in Scripture, as are the connections Solomon formed with other foreigners (1Ki 11:1-3); whence it may be inferred that he had stipulated for her abandonment of idolatry, and conforming to the Jewish religion (Psa 45:10, 11).

1Ki 3:2-5. High Places Being in Use, He Sacrifices at Gibeon.

3. And Solomon loved the Lord--This declaration, illustrated by what follows, affords undoubted evidence of the young king's piety; nor is the word "only," which prefaces the statement, to be understood as introducing a qualifying circumstance that reflected any degree of censure upon him. The intention of the sacred historian is to describe the generally prevailing mode of worship before the temple was built. The

high places were altars erected on natural or artificial eminences, probably from the idea that men were brought nearer to the Deity. They had been used by the patriarchs, and had become so universal among the heathen that they were almost identified with idolatry. They were prohibited in the law (Le 17:3, 4; De 12:13, 14; Jr 7:31; Eze 6:3, 4; Ho 10:8). But, so long as the tabernacle was migratory and the means for the national worship were merely provisional, the worship on those high places was tolerated. Hence, as accounting for their continuance, it is expressly stated (1Ki 3:2) that God had not yet chosen a permanent and exclusive place for his worship.

4. the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there--The old tabernacle and the brazen altar which Moses had made in the wilderness were there (1Ch 16:39; 21:29; 2Ch 1:3-6). The royal progress was of public importance. It was a season of national devotion. The king was accompanied by his principal nobility (2Ch 1:2); and, as the occasion was most probably one of the great annual festivals which lasted seven days, the rank of the offerer and the succession of daily oblations may help in part to account for the immense magnitude of the sacrifices.

5. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream--It was probably at the close of this season, when his mind had been elevated into a high state of religious fervor by the protracted services. Solomon felt an intense desire, and he had offered an earnest petition, for the gift of wisdom. In sleep his thoughts ran upon the subject of his prayer, and he dreamed that God appeared to him and gave him the option of every thing in the world--that he asked wisdom, and that God granted his request (1Ki 3:9-12). His dream was but an imaginary repetition of his former desire, but God's grant of it was real.

1Ki 3:6-15. He Chooses Wisdom.

6. Solomon said--that is, had dreamed that he said.

7. 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.

10. the speech pleased the Lord--It was Solomon's waking prayers that God heard and requited, but the acceptance was signified in this vision.

15. behold, it was a dream--The vivid impression, the indelible recollection he had of this dream, together with the new and increased energy communicated to his mind, and the flow of worldly prosperity that rushed upon him, gave him assurance that it came by divine inspiration and originated in the grace of God. The wisdom, however, that was asked and obtained was not so much of the heart as of the head--it was wisdom not for himself personally, but for his office, such as would qualify him for the administration of justice, the government of a kingdom, and for the attainment of general scientific knowledge.

1Ki 3:16-28. His Judgment between Two Harlots.

16. Then came there two women--Eastern monarchs, who generally administer justice in person, at least in all cases of difficulty, often appeal to the principles of human nature when they are at a loss otherwise to find a clue to the truth or see clearly their way through a mass of conflicting testimony. The modern history of the East abounds with anecdotes of judicial cases, in which the decision given was the result of an experiment similar to this of Solomon upon the natural feelings of the contending parties.

Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh - This was no doubt a political measure in order to strengthen his kingdom, and on the same ground he continued his alliance with the king of Tyre; and these were among the most powerful of his neighbors. But should political considerations prevail over express laws of God? God had strictly forbidden his people to form alliances with heathenish women, lest they should lead their hearts away from him into idolatry. Let us hear the law: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son; for they will turn away thy son from following me, etc. Exo 34:16; Deu 7:3, Deu 7:4. Now Solomon acted in direct opposition to these laws; and perhaps in this alliance were sown those seeds of apostacy from God and goodness in which he so long lived, and in which he so awfully died.

Those who are, at all hazards, his determinate apologists, assume,

1. That Pharaoh's daughter must have been a proselyte to the Jewish religion, else Solomon would not have married her.

2. That God was not displeased with this match.

3. That the book of Song of Solomon, which is supposed to have been his epithalamium, would not have found a place in the sacred canon had the spouse, whom it all along celebrates, been at that time an idolatress.

4. That it is certain we nowhere in Scripture find Solomon blamed for this match. See Dodd.

Now to all this I answer,

1. We have no evidence that the daughter of Pharaoh was a proselyte, no more than that her father was a true believer. It is no more likely that he sought a proselyte here than that he sought them among the Moabites, Hittites, etc., from whom he took many wives.

2. If God's law be positively against such matches, he could not possibly be pleased with this breach of it in Solomon; but his law is positively against them, therefore he was not pleased.

3. That the book of Song of Solomon being found in the sacred canon is, according to some critics, neither a proof that the marriage pleased God, nor that the book was written by Divine inspiration; much less that it celebrates the love between Christ and his Church, or is at all profitable for doctrine, for reproof, or for edification in righteousness.

4. That Solomon is most expressly reproved in Scripture for this very match, is to me very evident from the following passages: Did Not Solomon, king of Israel, Sin by these things? Yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin; Neh 13:26. Now it is certain that Pharaoh's daughter was an outlandish woman; and although it be not expressly said that Pharaoh's daughter is here intended, yet there is all reasonable evidence that she is included; and, indeed, the words seem to intimate that she is especially referred to. In 1Kgs 3:3 it is said, Solomon Loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David; and Nehemiah says, Did not Solomon, king of Israel, Sin By These Things, who Was Beloved of His God; referring, most probably, to this early part of Solomon's history. But supposing that this is not sufficient evidence that this match is spoken against in Scripture, let us turn to 1Kgs 11:1, 1Kgs 11:2, of this book, where the cause of Solomon's apostasy is assigned; and there we read, But King Solomon loved many Strange Women, Together with the Daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in unto them; neither shall they come in unto you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon Clave unto These in Love. Here the marriage with Pharaoh's daughter is classed most positively with the most exceptionable of his matrimonial and concubinal alliances: as it no doubt had its predisposing share in an apostacy the most unprecedented and disgraceful.

Should I even be singular, I cannot help thinking that the reign of Solomon began rather inauspiciously: even a brother's blood must be shed to cause him to sit securely on his throne, and a most reprehensible alliance, the forerunner of many others of a similar nature, was formed for the same purpose. But we must ever be careful to distinguish between what God has commanded to be done, and what was done through the vile passions and foolish jealousies of men. Solomon had many advantages, and no man ever made a worse use of them.

The people sacrificed in high places - Could there be any sin in this, or was it unlawful till after the temple was built? for prophets, judges, the kings which preceded Solomon, and Solomon himself, sacrificed on high places, such as Gibeon, Gilgal, Shiloh, Hebron, Kirjath-jearim, etc. But after the temple was erected, it was sinful to offer sacrifices in any other place; yet here it is introduced as being morally wrong, and it is introduced, 1Kgs 3:3, as being an exceptionable trait in the character of Solomon. The explanation appears to be this: as the ark and tabernacle were still in being, it was not right to offer sacrifices but where they were; and wherever they were, whether on a high place or a plain, there sacrifices might be lawfully offered, previously to the building of the temple. And the tabernacle was now at Gibeon, 2Chr 1:3. Possibly the high places may be like those among the Hindoos, large raised-up terraces, on which they place their gods when they bathe, anoint, and worship them. Juggernaut and Krishnu have large terraces or high places, on which they are annually exhibited. But there was no idol in the above case.

The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream - This was the night after he had offered the sacrifices, (see 2Chr 1:7), and probably after he had earnestly prayed for wisdom; see Wis. 7:7: Wherefore I prayed, and understanding was given me: I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. If this were the case, the dream might have been the consequence of his earnest prayer for wisdom: the images of those things which occupy the mind during the day are most likely to recur during the night; and this, indeed, is the origin of the greater part of our dreams. But this appears to have been supernatural.

Gregory Nyssen, speaking of different kinds of dreams, observes that our organs and brain are not unlike a musical instrument; while the strings of such instruments have their proper degree of tension, they give, when touched, a harmonious sound, but as soon as they are relaxed or screwed down, they give no sound at all. During our waking hours, our senses, touched by our reason, produce the most harmonious concert; but as soon as we are asleep, the instrument is no longer capable of emitting any sound, unless it happen that the remembrance of what passed during the day returns and presents itself to the mind while we are asleep, and so forms a dream; just as the strings of an instrument continue to emit feeble sounds for some time after the musician has ceased to strike them. - See Greg. Nyss. De opificio hominis, cap. xii., p. 77. Oper. vol. i., edit. Morell., Par. 1638.

This may account, in some measure, for common dreams: but even suppose we should not allow that Solomon had been the day before earnestly requesting the gift of wisdom from God, yet we might grant that such a dream as this might be produced by the immediate influence of God upon the soul. And if Solomon received his wisdom by immediate inspiration from heaven, this was the kind of dream that he had; a dream by which that wisdom was actually communicated. But probably we need not carry this matter so much into miracle: God might be the author of his extraordinary wisdom, as he was the author of his extraordinary riches. Some say, "He lay down as ignorant as other men, and yet arose in the morning wiser than all the children of men." I think this is as credible as that he lay down with a scanty revenue, and in the morning, when he arose, found his treasury full. In short, God's especial blessing brought him riches through the medium of his own care and industry; as the inspiration of the Almighty gave him understanding, while he gave his heart to seek and search out by his wisdom, concerning all things under the sun, Ecc 1:13. God gave him the seeds of an extraordinary understanding, and, by much study and research, they grew up under the Divine blessing, and produced a plentiful harvest; but, alas! they did not continue to grow.

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.

Give - an understanding heart to judge thy people - He did not ask wisdom in general, but the true science of government. This wisdom he sought, and this wisdom he obtained.

I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart - I have given thee a capacious mind, one capable of knowing much: make a proper use of thy powers, under the direction of my Spirit, and thou shalt excel in wisdom all that have gone before thee; neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. But, query, Was not all this conditional? If he should walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and commandments, 1Kgs 3:14. Was it not to depend upon his proper use of initiatory inspirations? Did he ever receive all this wisdom? Did not his unfaithfulness prevent the fulfillment of the Divine purpose? Instead of being the wisest of men, did he not become more brutish than any man? Did he not even lose the knowledge of his Creator, and worship the abominations of the Moabites, Zidonians, etc., etc.! And was not such idolatry a proof of the grossest stupidity? How few proofs does his life give that the gracious purpose of God was fulfilled in him! He received much; but he would have received much more, had he been faithful to the grace given. No character in the sacred writings disappoints us more than the character of Solomon.

None like thee before thee - That is, no king, either in Israel or among the nations, as the following verse explains.

Then came there two women - harlots - The word זנות zonoth, which we here, and in some other places, improperly translate harlots, is by the Chaldee (the best judge in this case) rendered פונדקין pundekayan, tavern-keepers. (See on Jos 2:1 (note)). If these had been harlots, it is not likely they would have dared to appear before Solomon; and if they had been common women, it is not likely they would have had children; nor is it likely that such persons would have been permitted under the reign of David. Though there is no mention of their husbands, it is probable they might have been at this time in other parts, following their necessary occupations; and the settling the present business could not have been delayed till their return; the appeal to justice must be made immediately.

Divide the living child in two - This was apparently a very strange decision, and such as nothing could vindicate had it been carried into execution; but Solomon saw that the only way to find out the real mother was by the affection and tenderness which she would necessarily show to her offspring. He plainly saw that the real mother would rather relinquish her claim to her child than see it hewn in pieces before her eyes, while it was probable the pretender would see this with indifference. He therefore orders such a mode of trial as would put the maternal affection of the real mother to the utmost proof; the plan was tried, and it succeeded. This was a proof of his sound judgment, penetration, and acquaintance with human nature; but surely it is not produced as a proof of extraordinary and supernatural wisdom. We have several similar decisions even among heathens.

Suetonius, in his life of the Emperor Claudius, cap. xv., whom he celebrates for his wonderful sagacity and penetration on some particular occasions, tells us, that this emperor discovered a woman to be the mother of a certain young man, whom she refused to acknowledge as her son, by commanding her to marry him, the proofs being doubtful on both sides; for, rather than commit this incest, she confessed the truth. His words are: Feminam, non agnoscentem fllium suum, dubia utrinque argumentorum fide, ad confessionem compulit, indicto matrimonio juvenis.

Ariopharnes, king of Thrace, being appointed to decide between three young men, who each professed to be the son of the deceased king of the Cimmerians, and claimed the crown in consequence, found out the real son by commanding each to shoot an arrow into the body of the dead king: two of them did this without hesitation, the third refused, and was therefore judged by Ariopharnes to be the real son of the deceased. Grotius, on this place, quotes this relation from Diodorus Siculus; I quote this on his authority, but have not been able to find the place in Diodorus. This is a parallel case to that in the text; a covert appeal was made to the principle of affection; and the truth was discovered, as in the case of the mother of the living child.

They feared the king - This decision proved that they could not impose upon him; and they were afraid to do those things which might bring them before his judgment-seat.

They saw that the wisdom of God was in him - They perceived that he was taught of God, judged impartially, and could not be deceived. What was done to the other woman we are not told; justice certainly required that she should be punished for her lies and fraud.

AND Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt , and took Pharaohs daughter , and brought her into the city of David , until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD , and the wall of Jerusalem round about ▪

As being a powerful neighbour.

Upon what conditions is not here expressed: but it is probable, she was first Instructed in, and Proselyted to the Jewish Religion; as may be gathered, 1. Because he was not yet fallen from God, but loved the Lord, and walked in the statutes of David, ver. 3. And therefore would never have Married a gross Idolater, which was so contrary to God's Law, and so pernicious in its Consequences. 2. Because [illegible: 1+ letters]e is no where [illegible: 1+ letters]eproved for this Fact, as he is for loving many other strange women, 1 King. 11. 1. 3. By comparing Psal. 45. and the Book of Canticles: whereby it plainly appears, that this Action had something extraordinary in it, and was design'd by God to be a Type of Christ, calling his Church to himself, and to the true Religion, not onely out of the Iews, but even out of the Gentile World.

Of which, see Chap. 2. 10. Into David's Palace there.

i. e. The Temple appropriated [illegible: 1+ letters]o the Worship and Honour of God.

Which though in some sort Built by David, 2 Sam. 5. 9. yet Solomon is here said to Build, either because he made it higher, and stronger, and more beautiful, and glorious; in which, or the like sense Nebuchadnezzar is said to have built Babylon, Dan. 4. 30. or because he built another Wall besides the former, for greater security; for after this time Ierusalem was encompassed with more Walls than one.

Marginal references: Chap. 7. 8.; Chap. 9. 15, 19.

2 Onely the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD until those days.

This Particle is used here, and v. 3. as an Exception to Solomon's Integrity and Glory, and as his infirmity, and a blemish to his Government, That he himself both permitted and practised this which was expresly forbidden, Levit. 17. 3, 4. Deut. 12. 13, 14. except in some extraordinary cases. Possibly he permitted it, because he thought it better to allow an Error in a Circumstance, than to occasion a neglect of the Substance of God's Worship, which he apprehended would follow upon a severe Prohibition of that Practise, because the Peoples hearts were generally and constantly set upon these high places, as appears from all the following History; and they were not willing to submit to so much trouble and charge as the bringing of all their Sacrifices to one place would cause; nor would yield to it until the Temple was built, which he knew would easily encline and oblige them to it; and that being speedily to be done, he might think it more adviseable, rather to delay the Execution of that Law of God for an approaching Season, wherein he doubted not, they would be sweetly and freely drawn to it; than at present to drive them to it by force. Although these and all other prudential Considerations should have given place to the Will and Wisdom of God.

Which were Groves, or other convenient places upon Hills, in which the Patriarchs used to offer up their Worship and Sacrifices to God; and from them this Custom was derived both to the Gentiles and the Iews: and in them the Gentiles Sacrifice[illegible: 1+ letters] to Idols, Ier. 7. 31. Ezek. 6. 3, 4. Hos. 10. 8. the Hebrews to the true God.

Which reason was not sufficient, for there was a Tabernacle, to which they were as much confined as to the Temple, Deut. 12, &c.

Either, 1. To the Lord, the name of the Lord being oft put for the Lord himself, as Deut. 28. 58. Iob 1. 21. Psal. 7. 17. and 116. 13. and 135. 1. Or, 2. To the Honour, and Praise, and Service of God; to the Glory of his Name; i. e. of his Majesty, and all his Perfections, which shall be adored and manifested there.

Marginal references: 2 Chron. 33. 17.

3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father : onely he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

Or, yet, although he mistook, and miscarried himself in the matter of the High Places, yet in the general, his Heart was right with God, and he both loved him with inward Affection, and walked with him in outward Conversation and Worship.

i. e. According to the Statutes or Commands of God, which are here called the statutes of David; not onely because they were so freely chosen, and heartily loved, and diligently practised by David, but also because the observation of them was so earnestly pressed upon Solomon, and fortified with David's Authority and Command: See 1 King. 2. 2, 3, 4. and 1 Chron. 28. 8, 9.

The most eminent and frequented, because there was the Tabernacle, and the Altar of Moses, 1 Chron. 16. 39. and 21. 29. And 2 Chron. 1. 3, 5, 6. which possibly were placed upon an high, or raised Ground.

4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place : a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar .

The most eminent and frequented, because there was the Tabernacle, and the Altar of Moses, 1 Chron. 16. 39. and 21. 29. And 2 Chron. 1. 3, 5, 6. which possibly were placed upon an high, or raised Ground.

Thereby shewing his special respect to this above all other places; and by his Example teaching and inviting all his People to do so.

5 ¶ In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said , Ask what I shall give thee.

Quest. How could Solomon pray in his Dream, or that prayer be acceptable to God, as this was, v. 10? Ans. The Dreams of Men are not such insignificant things as many imagine. That good Dreams are oftentimes praise-worthy, and evil Dreams blame-worthy, is not onely the opinion of the Iews and Christians, but of divers of the wiser and better Heathens; and the reason hereof is evident, because mens Dreams are commonly the Images of their minds and tempers, and do onely reflect and represent, though but faintly and imperfectly, those very things which are most imprinted upon their hearts by their waking-meditations, and daily conversation; and therefore it is not unreasonable that either the sinful Dreams of evil-minded Men should be imputed to them, and punished in them, or the vertuous Dreams of good Men imputed to, and rewarded in them; which was Solomon's case: for his heart having been daily and constantly imployed in passionate longings and prayers for the Wisdom, which here he begs; it was a natural and likely thing that his heart should, as it did, work that way even in his Dreams. Although, to speak truly and strictly, Solomon's prayer made in his Dream, would have been no way pleasing to God, not profitable to himself, if it had not been the result of his daily and most serious practice; and though God signified his mind in a Dream, yet it was Solomon's waking-prayers (which were shadowed by this dark representation) which God accepted and required; and this acceptance of God was signified to him in an extraordinary manner, and by a Divine Dream, which was one of those ways whereby God oft used to communicate his Will to his Prophets and People. So the whole business lies thus: Solomon Dreamed that God bid him ask what he would, 1 King. 3. 5. and that he did ask Wisdom, v. 6, &c. and that God accepted his desire, ver. 10. and gave him that Gracious answer, ver. 11, &c. And all this was done in a Dream, but with this difference; Solomon's prayer was but imaginary, but Gods answer was real, though conveyed in a Dream. And when he awoke, he knew by Divine inspiration that this was a Dream sent from God to assure him that he would give him Wisdom, and Riches, and Honour, and this with respect unto his frequent, constant, and fervent waking-desires, which his Dream of his prayers did sufficiently intimate. See more on v. 6.

i. e. He Dreamed that God said so.

6 And Solomon said , Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth , and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee , and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne: as it is this day.

i. e. He Dreamed that he said. See on v. 5. Or, he really said. For although the use of reason is ordinarily so dark and imperfect in Dreams, that such actings are not human actions; yet in extraordinary and Divine Dreams it is but reasonable to allow something extraordinary. For who can doubt but God may so clear up and assist a mans reason in his Dream, that he may have a true and strong apprehension of some things, which also may make a sutable impression upon the will or affections; and consequently such acts of the Soul may be Moral acts, and regardable by God and men? And this might be a kind of exstatical rapture, whereby his Soul might be as it were carried out of his Body, as St. Paul's was, 2 Cor. 12. 3. for a season, in which case both his reason might clearly and distinctly apprehend Gods mind, and his Gracious offer; and his Will might make a free choice of Wisdom; which therefore might be accepted and rewarded by God.

Either, First, Sincerely, and without dissimulation. But that is more fully expressed in the following words, in uprightness of heart. Or rather, Secondly, in the true Worship and Service of God, in the profession, belief, practice and defence of the truth, or of the true Religion, or of Gods Will or Word, which is called truth, Prov. 23. 23. Ioh. 17. 17. Gal. 3. 1. So truth here contains all his duties to God, as righteousness doth his duties to men, and uprightness the right manner of performing both sorts of duties.

i. e. In thy Judgment, to whom alone his heart was known, and to whom he oft appealed as the witness of his Integrity; and with respect to whom he performed all his duties, even to men.

Or, reserved; that which thou didst not reserve for Saul, whose Posterity thou didst cut off from the Kingdom.

Marginal references: Or, bounty.

7 And now; O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king in stead of David my father: and I am but a little child : I know not how to go out or come in .

So he was in Years: not as if he were now but twelve Years old, as many gather from this name of Child; for that name is given to Ishmael, when 18 Years old, Gen. 21. 14, 15 and to Rehoboam when 41 Years old, 2 Chron. 13. 7. where the word is the same in the Hebrew and before this time David calls him a wise man, chap. 2. 9. but he was now not above 20 Years old; and withal (which he principally intends) he was raw and unexperienced, as a Child, in State-Affairs, and altogether unfit for so hard a task.

i. e. To govern my People, and manage Affairs, as that Phrase signifies, Num. 27. 17. Deut. 31. 2. Ios. 14. 11.

8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen , a great people, that cannot be numbred, nor counted for multitude.

i. e. Is set over them to rule and guide them. A Metaphor from the Overseer of divers Workmen, who usually is in the midst of them, that he may the better observe how each of them dischargeth his office.

Thy peculiar People, whom thou takest special care of, and therefore wiltst expect a more punctual account of my Government of them.

9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad : for who is able to judg this thy so great a people?

Whereby I may both clearly discern, and faithfully perform all the parts of my duty: for both these are spoken of in Scripture, as the effects of a good understanding; and he that lives in the neglect of his duties, or the practice of wickedness, is called a Fool, and one void of understanding.

Or, govern, as that word is used, Iudg. 3. 10. and 4. 4. Psal. 7. 8. and 67. 4. Isa. 2. 4. and 16. 5.

To wit, in Causes and Controversies among my People, that I may not through mistakes, or prejudices, or passions, give wrong Sentences, and call evil good, or good evil.

Of himself, or without thy Gracious assistance.

Marginal references: [illegible: 1+ letters] Chr. 1. 1[illegible: 1+ letters].; Heb. [illegible: 1 word] ▪

10 And the speech pleased the LORD , that Solomon had asked this thing.

How such a Dreaming-prayer could please God, see in the notes on v. 5, and 6.

11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thy self long life, neither hast asked riches for thy self, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies , but hast asked for thy self understanding to discern judgment;

That God would take away their lives, or put them into thy power to destroy them.

Marginal references: Heb. [illegible: 1 word] days.; Heb to [illegible: 1 word]

12 Behold, I have done according to thy word : lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart , so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee .

I have granted, and do at this present grant unto thee thy desire. And accordingly at this time God did infuse into him a far higher degree, and greater measure of Wisdom than he naturally had.

i. e. Wisdom to govern thy People, to know and do thy several duties, which was the thing that Solomon desired, v. 7, 9. and the effects whereof here follow, v. 16, &c. and withal, all Divine and human Wisdom, the knowledge of all things, of all the Arts and Sciences, as may be gathered from 1 King. 4. 29, &c. and that in a far greater proportion than by his years, and the time he could get for his study, could possibly produce.

Either, no King: or rather, no man: for he is herein preferred not onely before all Kings, but before all men, chap. 4. 31. no meer man since the fall equalled him, to wit, in universal knowledge, and especially in the art of well governing his People.

Quest. Did not the Apostles excel him? Ans. They did not in Natural and Political knowledge, but onely in the knowledge of the mysteries of Faith, which were more freely and more fully imparted in those times; the ignorance whereof was no disparagement to Solomon's Wisdom, because they were not discoverable by any Creature without Divine revelation, which God saw fit not to afford in Solomon's time. I know no inconvenience in affirming that Solomon's Natural capacities were higher than any of the Apostles; and Solomon had a more comprehensive knowledge of all things known in that Age, than the Apostles had in all the discoveries of their Age.

13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches and honour, so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days .

Either, First, I have granted and decreed to give: for words signifying action, are oft put onely for the purpose of the action. Or rather, Secondly, I will give, as it is expressed in the Parallel place, 2 Chron. 1. 12. I will as certainly give them, as if I had actually done it; for future certain things are oft expressed in Scripture in the past time, as is well known to all.

So it is true of all the succeeding Kings of Israel, of whom he speaks. Or, hath not been, as it is in the Hebrew: and so it may be true of all the Kings that then were or had been in the world, whereof none was like to him, to wit, in all the things here mentioned, and wherein he is compared with them, which is not onely in Riches, but also in Wisdom, and in Honour or Renown.

To wit, of thy life. Whereby he signifies, that these gifts of God were not temporary and transient, as they were in Saul, but such as should abide with him whilst he lived.

Marginal references: Mat. 6. [illegible: 1 word]; Or, [illegible: 1 word] not been.

14 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.

This caution God gives him, lest his great Wisdom should make him proud, or careless, or presumptuous, as if he were out of all danger; and to oblige him to more care and circumspection to avoid the snares and mischiefs to which so much prosperity and glory would probably expose him; and withal to justify himself in case he should afterwards alter the course of his Providence towards Solomon; and that, when men are surprized with Solomon's dreadful fall, they might know, it was no surprizal to God, but that he did foresee it, and would over-rule it to his own Glory one way or other.

Marginal references: Chap. 15. 5.

15 And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream : and he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD , and offered up burnt-offerings , and offered peaceofferings , and made a feast to all his servants.

i. e. He perceived that it was a Dream; not a vain Dream wherewith men are commonly deluded; but a Divine Dream, assuring him of the thing: which he knew, partly, by a Divine impression and inspiration thereof in his mind after he was awakened: and partly, by the vast alteration which he presently found within himself in point of Wisdom and Knowledge.

Which was there in the City of David, 2 Sam. 6. 17. before which he presented himself in way of Holy Ministration and Adoration, which may be noted by the word, stood. Or, that word may note his abode there for some considerable time, as the offering of so many Sacrifices required.

Chiefly for the expiation of his and his peoples sin, through the Blood of Christ, manifestly signified in these Sacrifices.

Solemnly to praise God for all his Mercies, and especially for giving him a quiet and fixed possession of the Kingdom, and for his Glorious appearance to him in a Dream, and for the great promise therein made to him, and the actual accomplishment of it since wrought in him.

16 ¶ Then came there two women that were harlots , unto the king , and stood there before him .

Or, Victuallers: for the Hebrew word signifies both. See on Ios. 2. 1. And possibly they might be both, this by their open profession, and the other by their secret practice: not that they were common Harlots; for neither would Solomon have tolerated such; nor durst such have presented themselves before so wise and just a Ruler; nor do such use either to bring forth Children, or to have such a tender care of, and affection to them as these express. Yet that they were unmarried persons, and so guilty of Fornication, seems most probable, both because there is no mention of any Husbands, whose office it was, if there were any such, to contest for their Wives; and because they lived a solitary life in one House.

Haply they had presented their Cause to the Inferior Courts, who could not determine; and therefore now they bring it to the King, as the Supreme Magistrate, and famous for his Wisdom.

Desiring and expecting his Sentence in the case.

18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that the woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house , save we two in the house.

So they could not be distinguished by their Age.

Therefore no Witness on either side: and although there might be some sensible difference to an exact observer between the features of the two Children; yet it is not probable that was much minded by the Neighbours: for though civil Women might assist them both in their Child-births, yet it is not likely they would afterwards converse much with them, as being persons of suspected fame, and the features of the Children, especially for so few days, night easily be so like, that it was difficult to discern the one from the other. And the Testimonies of the Women were of equal credit, i. e. of none at all.

19 And this womans child died in the night, because she over-laid it .

And so smothered it: which she justly conjectures, because there were evidences of that kind of death, but no appearance of any other cause thereof.

20 And she arose at midnight , and took my son from beside me , while thine handmaid slept , and laid it in her bosome, and laid her dead child in my bosome.

When I was asleep, as she reasonably and truly concluded.

Either, because the really desired the comfort of a Child, to be educated by her, and owned as hers: or, because she would not be thought guilty of the Childs death, for which she knew not how severely Solomon would punish her.

As the might well know, because had she been awake, she had discovered and prevented her design.

22 And the other woman said, Nay, but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son: and this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king .

Both peremptorily and vehemently affirmed the same thing, oft repeating the same words.

25 And the king said , Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

With seeming sincerity and earnestness, though with a design far above the reach of the two Women, or of the People present, who probably with admiration and horror expected the execution of it.

27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof .

As is evident from her Natural and Motherly affection to the Child, which she had rather have alienated and given away from her, than destroyed.

28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged, and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do judgment .

Either, great and eminent Wisdom, as the Cedars or mountains of God are the highest and most eminent of the kind: or, Divine Wisdom, with which God had inspired him for the better government of his People.

To assist him in Wisely examining and Justly determining the causes and controversies of his people.

Marginal references: Heb. in the midst of him.

Solomon’s Marriage; Worship and Sacrifice at Gibeon; and Wise Judicial Sentence - 1 Kings 3

The establishment of the government in the hands of Solomon having been noticed in 1 Kings 2, the history of his reign commences with an account of his marriage to an Egyptian princess, and with a remark concerning the state of the kingdom at the beginning of his reign (1Ki 2:1-3). There then follows a description of the solemn sacrifice and prayer at Gibeon, by which Solomon sought to give a religious consecration to his government, and to secure the assistance of the Lord and His blessing upon it, and obtained the fulfilment of his desire (1Ki 2:4-15). And then, as a practical proof of the spirit of his government, we have the sentence through which he displayed the wisdom of his judicial decisions in the sight of all the people (1Ki 2:16-28).

1Ki 3:1 Solomon’s marriage and the religious state of the kingdom. - 1Ki 3:1. When Solomon had well secured his possession of the throne (1Ki 2:46), he entered into alliance with Pharaoh, by taking his daughter as his wife. This Pharaoh of Egypt is supposed by Winer, Ewald, and others to have been Psusennes, the last king of the twenty-first (Tanitic) dynasty, who reigned thirty-five years; since the first king of the twenty-second (Bubastic) dynasty, Sesonchis or Sheshonk, was certainly the Shishak who conquered Jerusalem in the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign (1Ki 14:25-26). The alliance by marriage with the royal family of Egypt presupposes that Egypt was desirous of cultivating friendly relations with the kingdom of Israel, which had grown into a power to be dreaded; although, as we know nothing more of the history of Egypt at that time than the mere names of the kings (as given by Manetho), it is impossible to determine what may have been the more precise grounds which led the reigning king of Egypt to seek the friendship of Israel. There is, at any rate, greater probability in this supposition than in that of Thenius, who conjectures that Solomon contracted this marriage because he saw the necessity of entering into a closer relationship with this powerful neighbour, who had a perfectly free access to Palestine. The conclusion of this marriage took place in the first year of Solomon’s reign, though probably not at the very beginning of the reign, but not till after his buildings had been begun, as we may infer from the expression לבנות כּלּתו עד (until he had made an end of building). Moreover, Solomon had already married Naamah the Ammonitess before ascending the throne, and had had a son by her (compare 1Ki 14:21 with 1Ki 11:42-43). - Marriage with an Egyptian princess was not a transgression of the law, as it was only marriages with Canaanitish women that were expressly prohibited (Exo 34:16; Deu 7:3), whereas it was allowable to marry even foreign women taken in war (Deu 21:10.). At the same time, it was only when the foreign wives renounced idolatry and confessed their faith in Jehovah, that such marriages were in accordance with the spirit of the law. And we may assume that this was the case even with Pharaoh’s daughter; because Solomon adhered so faithfully to the Lord during the first years of his reign, that he would not have tolerated any idolatry in his neighbourhood, and we cannot find any trace of Egyptian idolatry in Israel in the time of Solomon, and, lastly, the daughter of Pharaoh is expressly distinguished in 1Ki 11:1 from the foreign wives who tempted Solomon to idolatry in his old age. The assertion of Seb. Schmidt and Thenius to the contrary rests upon a false interpretation of 1Ki 11:1. - ”And he brought her into the city of David, till he had finished the building of his palace,” etc. Into the city of David: i.e., not into the palace in which his father had dwelt, as Thenius arbitrarily interprets it in opposition to 2Ch 8:11, but into a house in the city of David or Jerusalem, from which he brought her up into the house appointed for her after the building of his own palace was finished (1Ki 9:24). The building of the house of Jehovah is mentioned as well, because the sacred tent for the ark of the covenant was set up in the palace of David until the temple was finished, and the temple was not consecrated till after the completion of the building of the palace (see at 1Ki 8:1). By the building of “the wall of Jerusalem” we are to understand a stronger fortification, and possibly also the extension of the city wall (see at 1Ki 11:27).

1Ki 3:2 “Only the people sacrificed upon high places, because there was not yet a house built for the name of Jehovah until those days.” The limiting רק, only, by which this general account of the existing condition of the religious worship is appended to what precedes, may be accounted for from the antithesis to the strengthening of the kingdom by Solomon mentioned in 1Ki 2:46. The train of thought is the following: It is true that Solomon’s authority was firmly established by the punishment of the rebels, so that he was able to ally himself by marriage with the king of Egypt; but just as he was obliged to bring his Egyptian wife into the city of David, because the building of his palace as not yet finished, so the people, and (according to 1Ki 2:3) even Solomon himself, were only able to sacrifice to the Lord at that time upon altars on the high places, because the temple was not yet built. The participle מזבּחים denotes the continuation of this religious condition (see Ewald, §168, c.). The בּמות, or high places,The opinion of Böttcher and Thenius, that בּמה signifies a “sacred coppice,” is only based upon untenable etymological combinations, and cannot be proved. And Ewald’s view is equally unfounded, viz., that “high places were an old Canaanaean species of sanctuary, which at that time had become common in Israel also, and consisted of a tall stone of a conical shape, as the symbol of the Holy One, and of the real high place, viz., an altar, a sacred tree or grove, or even an image of the one God as well” (Gesch. iii. p. 390). For, on the one hand, it cannot be shown that the tall stone of a conical shape existed even in the case of the Canaanitish bamoth, and, on the other hand, it is impossible to adduce a shadow of a proof that the Israelitish bamoth, which were dedicated to Jehovah, were constructed precisely after the pattern of the Baal’s-bamoth of the Canaanites. were places of sacrifice and prayer, which were built upon eminences of hills, because men thought they were nearer the Deity there, and which consisted in some cases probably of an altar only, though as a rule there was an altar with a sanctuary built by the side (בּמות בּית, 1Ki 13:32; 2Ki 17:29, 2Ki 17:32; 2Ki 23:19), so that בּמה frequently stands for בּמה בּית (e.g., 1Ki 11:7; 1Ki 14:23; 2Ki 21:3; 2Ki 23:8), and the בּמה is also distinguished from the מזבּח (2Ki 23:15; 2Ch 14:2). These high places were consecrated to the worship of Jehovah, and essentially different from the high places of the Canaanites which were consecrated to Baal. Nevertheless sacrificing upon these high places was opposed to the law, according to which the place which the Lord Himself had chosen for the revelation of His name was the only place where sacrifices were to be offered (Lev 17:3.); and therefore it is excused here on the ground that no house (temple) had yet been built to the name of the Lord.

1Ki 3:3

Even Solomon, although he loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of his father David, i.e., according to 1Ki 2:3, in the commandments of the Lord as they are written in the law of Moses, sacrificed and burnt incense upon high places. Before the building of the temple, more especially since the tabernacle had lost its significance as the central place of the gracious presence of God among His people, through the removal of the ark of the covenant, the worship of the high places was unavoidable; although even afterwards it still continued as a forbidden cultus, and could not be thoroughly exterminated even by the most righteous kings (1Ki 22:24; 2Ki 12:4; 2Ki 14:4; 2Ki 15:4, 2Ki 15:35).

1Ki 3:4

Solomon’s Sacrifice and Dream at Gibeon (cf. 2Ch 1:1-13). - To implore the divine blessing upon his reign, Solomon offered to the Lord at Gibeon a great sacrifice - a thousand burnt-offerings; and, according to 2Ch 1:2, the representatives of the whole nation took part in this sacrificial festival. At that time the great or principal bamah was at Gibeon (the present el Jib; see at Jos 9:3), namely, the Mosaic tabernacle (2Ch 1:3), which is called הבּמה, because the ark of the covenant, with which Jehovah had bound up His gracious presence, was not there now. “Upon that altar,” i.e., upon the altar of the great bamah at Gibeon, the brazen altar of burnt-offering in the tabernacle (2Ch 1:6).

1Ki 3:5-8

The one thing wanting in the place of sacrifice at Gibeon, viz., the ark of the covenant with the gracious presence of Jehovah, was supplied by the Lord in the case of this sacrifice by a direct revelation in a dream, which Solomon received in the night following the sacrifice. There is a connection between the question which God addressed to Solomon in the dream, “What shall I give thee?” and the object of the sacrifice, viz., to seek the help of God for his reign. Solomon commences his prayer in 1Ki 3:6 with an acknowledgment of the great favour which the Lord had shown to his father David, and had continued till now by raising his son to his throne (הזּה כּיּום, as it is this day: cf. 1Sa 22:8; Deu 8:18, etc.); and then, in 1Ki 3:7-9, in the consciousness of his incapacity for the right administration of government over so numerous a people, he asks the Lord for an obedient heart and for wisdom to rule His people. ועתּה introduces the petition, the reasons assigned for which are, (1) his youth and inexperience, and (2) the greatness or multitude of the nation to be governed. I am, says he, קטן נער, i.e., an inexperienced youth (Solomon was only about twenty years old): “I know not to go out and in,” i.e., how to behave myself as king, or govern the people (for ובא צאת compare the note on Num 27:17). At 1Ki 3:8 he describes the magnitude of the nation in words which recall to mind the divine promises in Gen 13:16 and Gen 32:13, to indicate how gloriously the Lord has fulfilled the promises which He made to the patriarchs.

1Ki 3:9 ונתתּ, therefore give. The prayer (commencing with ועתּה in 1Ki 3:7) is appended in the form of an apodosis to the circumstantial clauses וגו ואנכי and וגו ועבדּך, which contain the grounds of the petition. שׁמע לב, a hearing heart, i.e., a heart giving heed to the law and right of God, “to judge Thy people, (namely) to distinguish between good and evil (i.e., right and wrong).” “For who could judge this Thy numerous people,” sc. unless Thou gavest him intelligence? כּבד, heavy in multitude: in the Chronicles this is explained by גּדול.

1Ki 3:10-12

This prayer pleased God well. “Because thou hast asked this, and hast not asked for thyself long life, nor riches, nor the life (i.e., the destruction) of thy foes,” all of them good things, which the world seeks to obtain as the greatest prize, “but intelligence to hear judgment (i.e., to foster it, inasmuch as the administration of justice rests upon a conscientious hearing of the parties), behold I have done according to thy word” (i.e., fulfilled thy request: the perfect is used, inasmuch as the hearkening has already begun; for הנּה in this connection compare Ewald, §307, e.), “and given thee a wise and understanding heart.” The words which follow, “so that there has been none like thee before thee,” etc., are not to be restricted to the kings of Israel, as Clericus supposes, but are to be understood quite universally as applying to all mankind (cf. 1Ki 5:9-11).

1Ki 3:13-14

In addition to this, according to the promise that to him who seeks first the kingdom of God and His righteousness all other things shall be added (Mat 6:33), God will also give him the earthly blessings, for which he has not asked, and that in great abundance, viz., riches and honour such as no king of the earth has had before him; and if he adhere faithfully to God’s commandments, long life also (והארכתּי, in this case I have lengthened). This last promise was not fulfilled, because Solomon did not observe the condition (cf. 1Ki 11:42).

1Ki 3:15

Then Solomon awoke, and behold it was a dream; i.e., a dream produced by God, a revelation by dream, or a divine appearance in a dream. חלום as in Num 12:6. - Solomon thanked the Lord again for this promise after his return to Jerusalem, by offering burnt-offerings and thank-offerings before the ark of the covenant, i.e., upon the altar at the tent erected for the ark upon Zion, and prepared a meal for all his servants (viz., his court-servants), i.e., a sacrificial meal of the שׁלמים. - This sacrificial festival upon Zion is omitted in the Chronicles, as well as the following account in Num 12:16 -28; not, however, because in the chronicler’s opinion no sacrifices had any legal validity but such as were offered upon the altar of the Mosaic tabernacle, as Thenius fancies, though without observing the account in 1Ch 21:26., which overthrows this assertion, but because this sacrificial festival had no essential significance in relation to Solomon’s reign.

1Ki 3:16-26

Solomon’s Judicial Wisdom. - As a proof that the Lord had bestowed upon Solomon unusual judicial wisdom, there is appended a decision of his in a very difficult case, in which Solomon had shown extraordinary intelligence. Two harlots living together in one house had each given birth to a child, and one of them had “overlaid” her child in the night while asleep (עליו שׁכבה אשׁר, because she had lain upon it), and had then placed her dead child in the other one’s bosom and taken her living child away. When the other woman looked the next morning at the child lying in her bosom, she saw that it was not her own but the other woman’s child, whereas the latter maintained the opposite. As they eventually referred the matter in dispute to the king, and each one declared that the living child was her own, the king ordered a sword to be brought, and the living child to be cut in two, and a half given to each. Then the mother of the living child, “because her bowels yearned upon her son,” i.e., her maternal love was excited, cried out, “Give her (the other) the living child, but do not slay it;” whereas the latter said, “It shall be neither mine nor thine, cut it in pieces.”

1Ki 3:27

Solomon saw from this which was the mother of the living child, and handed it over to her.Grotius observes on this: “The ἀγχίνοια of Solomon was shown by this to be very great. There is a certain similarity in the account of Ariopharnis, king of the Thracians, who, when three persons claimed to be the sons of the king of the Cimmerii, decided that he was the son who would not obey the command to cast javelins at his father’s corpse. The account is given by Diodorus Siculus.”

1Ki 3:28

This judicial decision convinced all the people that Solomon was endowed with divine wisdom for the administration of justice.

Solomon Marries Pharaoh's Daughter. (b. c. 1014.)

1 And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the Lord , and the wall of Jerusalem round about. 2 Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the Lord , until those days. 3 And Solomon loved the Lord , walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. 4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar.

We are here told concerning Solomon,

I. Something that was unquestionably good, for which he is to be praised and in which he is to be imitated. 1. He loved the Lord, v. 3. Particular notice was taken of God's love to him, 2 Sam. xii. 24. He had his name from it: Jedidiah—beloved of the Lord. And here we find he returned that love, as John, the beloved disciple, was most full of love. Solomon was a wise man, a rich man; yet the brightest encomium of him is that which is the character of all the saints, even the poorest, He loved the Lord, so the Chaldee; all that love God love his worship, love to hear from him and speak to him, and so to have communion with him. 2. He walked in the statutes of David his father, that is, in the statutes that David gave him, ch. ii. 2, 3; 1 Chron. xxviii. 9, 10 (his dying father's charge was sacred, and as a law to him), or in God's statutes, which David his father walked in before him; he kept close to God's ordinances, carefully observed them and diligently attended them. Those that trulylove God will make conscience of walking in his statutes. 3. He was very free and generous in what he did for the honour of God. When he offered sacrifice he offered like a king, in some proportion to his great wealth, a thousand burnt-offerings, v. 4. Where God sows plentifully he expects to reap accordingly; and those that truly love God and his worship will not grudge the expenses of their religion. We may be tempted to say, To what purpose is this waste? Might not these cattle have been given to the poor? But we must never think that wasted which is laid out in the service of God. It seems strange how so many beasts should be burnt upon one altar in one feast, though it continued seven days; but the fire on the altar is supposed to be more quick and devouring than common fire, for it represented that fierce and mighty wrath of God which fell upon the sacrifices, that the offerers might escape. Our God is a consuming fire. Bishop Patrick quotes it as a tradition of the Jews that the smoke of the sacrifices ascended directly in a straight pillar, and was not scattered, otherwise it would have choked those that attended, when so many sacrifices were offered as were here.

II. Here is something concerning which it may be doubted whether it was good or no. 1. His marrying Pharaoh's daughter, v. 1. We will suppose she was proselyted, otherwise the marriage would not have been lawful; yet, if so, surely it was not advisable. He that loved the Lord should, for his sake, have fixed his love upon one of the Lord's people. Unequal matches of the sons of God with the daughters of men have often been of pernicious consequence; yet some think that he did this with the advice of his friends, that she was a sincere convert (for the gods of the Egyptians are not reckoned among the strange gods which his strange wives drew him in to the worship of, ch. xi. 5, 6), and that the book of Canticles and the 45th Psalm were penned on this occasion, by which these nuptials were made typical of the mystical espousals of the church to Christ, especially the Gentile church. 2. His worshipping in the high places, and thereby tempting the people to do so too, v. 2, 3. Abraham built his altars on mountains (Gen. xii. 8; xxii. 2), and worshipped in a grove, Gen. xxi. 33. Thence the custom was derived, and was proper, till the divine law confined them to one place, Deut. xii. 5, 6. David kept to the ark, and did not care for the high places, but Solomon, though in other things he walked in the statutes of his father, in this came short of him. He showed thereby a great zeal for sacrificing, but to obey would have been better. This was an irregularity. Though there was as yet no house built, there was a tent pitched, to the name of the Lord, and the ark ought to have been the centre of their unity. It was so by divine institution; from it the high places separated; yet while they worshipped God only, and in other things according to the rule, he graciously overlooked their weakness, and accepted their services; and it is owned that Solomon loved the Lord, though he burnt incense in the high places, and let not men be more severe than God is.

God's Appearance to Solomon. (b. c. 1014.)

5 In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. 6 And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 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. 8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? 10 And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; 12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. 13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. 14 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. 15 And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord , and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants.

We have here an account of a gracious visit which God paid to Solomon, and the communion he had with God in it, which put a greater honour upon Solomon than all the wealth and power of his kingdom did.

I. The circumstances of this visit, v. 5. 1. The place. It was in Gibeon; that was the great high place, and should have been the only one, because there the tabernacle and the brazen altar were, 2 Chron. i. 3. There Solomon offered his great sacrifices, and there God owned him more than in any other of the high places. The nearer we come to the rule in our worship the more reason we have to expect the tokens of God's presence. Where God records his name, there he will meet us and bless us. 2. The time. It was by night, the night after he had offered that generous sacrifice, v. 4. The more we abound in God's work the more comfort we may expect in him; if the day has been busy for him, the night will be easy in him. Silence and retirement befriend our communion with God. His kindest visits are often in the night, Ps. xvii. 3. 3. The manner. It was in a dream, when he was asleep, his senses locked up, that God's access to his mind might be the more free and immediate. In this way God used to speak to the prophets (Num. xii. 6) and to private persons, for their own benefit, Job xxxiii. 15, 16. These divine dreams, no doubt, were plainly distinguishable from those in which there are divers vanities, Eccl. v. 7.

II. The gracious offer God made him of the favour he should choose, whatever it might be, v. 5. He saw the glory of God shine about him, and heard a voice saying, Ask what I shall give thee. Not that God was indebted to him for his sacrifices, but thus he would testify his acceptance of them, and signify to him what great mercy he had in store for him, if he were not wanting to himself. Thus he would try his inclinations and put an honour upon the prayer of faith. God, in like manner, condescends to us, and puts us in the ready way to be happy by assuring us that we shall have what we will for the asking, John xvi. 23; 1 John v. 14. What would we more? Ask, and it shall be given you.

III. The pious request Solomon hereupon made to God. He readily laid hold of this offer. Why do we neglect the like offer made to us, like Ahaz, who said, I will not ask? Isa. vii. 12. 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. Plutarch makes virtuous dreams one evidence of increase in virtue. Yet this must be attributed to a higher source. Solomon's making such an intelligent choice as this when he was asleep, and the powers of reason were least active, showed that it came purely from the grace of God, which wrought in him these gracious desires. If his reins thus instruct him in the night season, he must bless the Lord who gave him counsel, Ps. xvi. 7. Now, in this prayer,

1. He acknowledges God's great goodness to his father David, v. 6. He speaks honourably of his father's piety, that he had walked before God in uprightness of heart, drawing a veil over his faults. It is to be hoped that those who praise their godly parents will imitate them. But he speaks more honourably of God's goodness to his father, the mercy he had shown to him while he lived, in giving him to be sincerely religious and then recompensing his sincerity and the great kindness he had kept for him, to be bestowed on the family when he was gone, in giving him a son to sit on his throne. Children should give God thanks for his mercies to their parents, for the sure mercies of David. God's favours are doubly sweet when we observe them transmitted to us through the hands of those that have gone before us. The way to get the entail perpetuated is to bless God that it has hitherto been preserved.

2. He owns his own insufficiency for the discharge of that great trust to which he is called, v. 7, 8. And here is a double plea to enforce his petition for wisdom:—(1.) That his place required it, as he was successor to David ("Thou hast made me king instead of David, who was a very wise and good man: Lord, give me wisdom, that I may keep up what he wrought, and carry on what he began") and as he was ruler over Israel: "Lord, give me wisdom to rule well; for they are a numerous people, that will not be managed without much care, and they are thy people, whom thou hast chosen, and therefore to be ruled for thee, and the more wisely they are ruled the more glory thou wilt have from them." (2.) That he wanted it. As one that had a humble sense of his own deficiency, he pleads, "Lord, I am but a little child (so he calls himself, a child in understanding, though his father called him a wise man, ch. ii. 9); 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. Paul's question (Who is sufficient for these things?) is much like Solomon's here, Who is able to judge this thy so great a people? v. 9. Absalom, who was a wise man, trembles at the undertaking and suspects his own fitness for it. The more knowing and considerate men are the better acquainted they are with their own weakness and the more jealous of themselves.

3. He begs of God to give him wisdom (v. 9); Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart. He calls himself God's servant, pleased with that relation to God (Ps. cxvi. 16) and pleading it with him: "I am devoted to thee, and employed for thee; give me that which is requisite to the services in which I am employed." Thus his good father prayed, and thus he pleaded. Ps. cxix. 125, I am thy servant, give me understanding. An understanding heart is God's gift, Prov. ii. 6. We must pray for it (James i. 5), and pray for it with application to our particular calling and the various occasions we have for it; as Solomon, Give me an understanding, not to please my own curiosity with, or puzzle my neighbours, but to judge thy people. That is the best knowledge which will be serviceable to us in doing our duty; and such that knowledge is which enables us to discern between good and bad, right and wrong, sin and duty, truth and falsehood, so as not to be imposed upon by false colours in judging either of others' actions or of our own.

4. The favourable answer God gave to his request. It was a pleasing prayer (v. 10): The speech pleased the Lord. God is well pleased with his own work in his people, the desires of his own kindling, the prayers of his Spirit's inditing. By this choice Solomon made it appear that he desired to be good more than great, and to serve God's honour more than to advance his own. 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. (1.) God gave him wisdom, v. 12. He fitted him for all that great work to which he had called him, gave him such a right understanding of the law which he was to judge by, and the cases he was to judge of, that he was unequalled for a clear head, a solid judgment, and a piercing eye. Such an insight, and such a foresight, never was prince so blessed with. (2.) He gave him riches and honour over and above into the bargain (v. 13), and it was promised that in these he should as much exceed his predecessors, his successors, and all his neighbours, as in wisdom. These also are God's gift, and, as far as is good for them, are promised to all that seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness thereof, Matt. vi. 33. Let young people learn to prefer grace to gold in all that they choose, because godliness has the promise of the life that now is, but the life that now is has not the promise of godliness. How completely blessed was Solomon, that had both wisdom and wealth! He that has wealth and power without wisdom and grace is in danger of doing hurt with them; he that has wisdom and grace without wealth and power is not capable of doing so much good with them as he that has both. Wisdom is good, is so much the better, with an inheritance, Eccles. vii. 11. But, if we make sure of wisdom and grace, these will either bring outward prosperity with them or sweeten the want of it. God promised Solomon riches and honour absolutely, but long life upon condition (v. 14). If thou wilt walk in my ways, as David did, then I will lengthen thy days. He failed in the condition; and therefore, though he had riches and honour, he did not live so long to enjoy them as in the course of nature he might have done. Length of days is wisdom's right-hand blessing, typical of eternal life; but it is in her left hand that riches and honour are, Prov. iii. 16. 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. Solomon had wisdom given him because he did ask it and wealth because he did not ask it.

5. The grateful return Solomon made for the visit God was pleased to pay him, v. 15. He awoke, we may suppose in a transport of joy, awoke, and his sleep was sweet to him, as the prophet speaks (Jer. xxxi. 26); being satisfied of God's favour, he was satisfied with it, and he began to think what he should render to the Lord. He had made his prayer at the high place at Gibeon, and there God had graciously met him; but he comes to Jerusalem to give thanks before the ark of the covenant, blaming himself, as it were, that he had not prayed there, the ark being the token of God's presence, and wondering that God had met him any where else. God's passing by our mistakes should persuade us to amend them. There he, (1.) Offered a great sacrifice to God. We must give God praise for his gifts in the promise, though not yet fully performed. David used to praise God's word, as well as his works (Ps. lvi. 10, and particularly, 2 Sam. vii. 18), and Solomon trod in his steps. (2.) He made a great feast upon the sacrifice, that those about him might rejoice with him in the grace of God.

The Wisdom of Solomon. (b. c. 1014.)

16 Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him. 17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. 18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house. 19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it. 20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. 22 And the other woman said, Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they spake before the king. 23 Then said the king, The one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is the living. 24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other. 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 27 Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king: for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.

An instance is here given of Solomon's wisdom, to show that the grant lately made him had a real effect upon him. The proof is fetched, not from the mysteries of state and the policies of the council-board, though there no doubt he excelled, but from the trial and determination of a cause between party and party, which princes, though they devolve them upon their judges, must not think it below them to take cognizance of. Observe,

I. The case opened, not by lawyers, but by the parties themselves, though they were women, which made it the easier to such a piercing eye as Solomon had to discern between right and wrong by their own showing. These two women were harlots, kept a public house, and their children, some think, were born of fornication, because here is no mention of their husbands. It is probable the cause had been heard in the inferior courts, before it was brought before Solomon, and had been found special, the judges being unable to determine it, that Solomon's wisdom in deciding it at last might be the more taken notice of. These two women, who lived in a house together, were each of them delivered of a son within three days of one another, v. 17, 18. They were so poor that they had no servant or nurse to be with them, so slighted, because harlots, that they had no friend or relation to accompany them. One of them overlaid her child, and, in the night, exchanged it with the other (v. 19, 20), who was soon aware of the cheat put upon her, and appealed to public justice to be righted, v. 21. See, 1. What anxiety is caused by little children, how uncertain their lives are, and to how many dangers they are continually exposed. The age of infancy is the valley of the shadow of death; and the lamp of life, when first lighted, is easily blown out. It is a wonder of mercy that so few perish in the perils of nursing. 2. How much better it was in those times with children born in fornication than commonly it is now. Harlots then loved their children, nursed them, and were loth to part with them; whereas now they are often sent to a distance, abandoned, or killed. But thus is was foretold that in the last days perilous times should come, when people should be without natural affection, 2 Tim. iii. 1, 3.

II. The difficulty of the case. The question was, Who was the mother of this living child, which was brought into court, to be finally adjudged either to the one or to the other? Both mothers were vehement in their claim, and showed a deep concern about it. Both were peremptory in their asseverations: "It is mine," says one. "Nay, it is mine," says the other. Neither will own the dead child, though it would be cheaper to bury that than to maintain the other: but it is the living one they strive for. The living child is therefore the parent's joy because it is their hope; and may not the dead children be so? See Jer. xxxi. 17. Now the difficulty of the case was that there was no evidence on either side. The neighbours, though it is probable that some of them were present at the birth and circumcision of the children, yet had not taken so much notice of them as to be able to distinguish them. To put the parties to the rack would have been barbarous; not she who had justice on her side, but she who was most hardy, would have had the judgment in her favour. Little stress is to be laid on extorted evidence. Judges and juries have need of wisdom to find out truth when it thus lies hid.

III. The determination of it. Solomon, having patiently heard what both sides had to say, sums up the evidence, v. 23. And now the whole court is in expectation what course Solomon's wisdom will take to find out the truth. One knows not what to say to it; another, perhaps, would determine it by lot. Solomon calls for a sword, and gives orders to divide the living child between the two contenders. Now, 1. This seemed a ridiculous decision of the case, and a brutal cutting of the knot which he could not untie. "Is this," think the sages of the law, "the wisdom of Solomon?" little dreaming what he aimed at in it. The hearts of kings, such kings, are unsearchable, Prov. xxv. 3. There was a law concerning the dividing of a living ox and a dead one. (Exod. xxi. 35), but that did not reach this case. But, 2. It proved an effectual discovery of the truth. Some think that Solomon did himself discern it, before he made this experiment, by the countenances of the women and their way of speaking: but by this he gave satisfaction to all the company, and silenced the pretender. To find out the true mother, he could not try which the child loved best, and must therefore try which loved the child best; both pretended to a motherly affection, but their sincerity will be tried when the child is in danger. (1.) She that knew the child was not her own, but in contending for it stood upon a point of honour, was well content to have it divided. She that had overlaid her own child cared not what became of this, so that the true mother might not have it: Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. By this it appeared that she knew her own title to be bad, and feared Solomon would find it so, though she little suspected she was betraying herself, but thought Solomon in good earnest. If she had been the true mother she would not have forfeited her interest in the child by agreeing so readily to this bloody decision. But, (2.) She that knew the child was her own, rather than the child should be butchered, gives it up to her adversary. How feelingly does she cry out, O, my lord! give her the living child, v. 26. "Let me see it hers, rather than not see it at all." By this tenderness towards the child it appeared that she was not the careless mother that had overlaid the dead child, but was the true mother of the living one, that could not endure to see its death, having compassion on the son of her womb. "The case is plain," says Solomon; "what need of witnesses? Give her the living child; for you all see, by this undissembled compassion, she is the mother of it." Let parents show their love to their children by taking care of them, especially by taking care of their souls, and, with a holy violence, snatching them as brands out of the burning. Those are most likely to have the comfort of children that do their duty to them. Satan pretends to the heart of man, but by this it appears that he is only a pretender, that he would be content to divide with God, whereas the rightful sovereign of the heart will have all or none.

IV. We are told what a great reputation Solomon got among his people by this and other instances of his wisdom, which would have a great influence upon the ease of his government: They feared the king (v. 28), highly reverenced him, durst not in any thing oppose him, and were afraid of doing an unjust thing; for they knew, if ever it came before him, he would certainly discover it, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, that is, that wisdom with which God had promised to endue him. This made his face to shine, Eccl. viii. 1. This strengthened him, Eccl. vii. 19. This was better to him than weapons of war, Eccl. ix. 18. For this he was both feared and loved.