Matthew Poole and continuators on 1 Kings 3:12

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.