1 Kings 3

1Ki 3:1  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.

The city of David - The city, situated on the eastern hill, or true Zion, where the temple was afterward built, over against the city of the Jehusites

Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh - The Jews were not forbidden to marry foreign wives, if they became proselytes. As Solomon is not blamed for this marriage either here or in 1 Kings 11, and as the idol temples which he allowed to be built 1Ki_11:5-7 were in no case dedicated to Egyptian deities, it is to be presumed that his Egyptian wife adopted her husband’s religion. It has been questioned whether this marriage was in conformity with the law (see Exo_34:16; Deu_7:3; Ezr_10:1-10; Neh_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, Psa_45:11).

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.

took Pharaoh's daughter - 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. This was not Solomon's first wife; he was married to Naamah the Ammonitess before he was king, for he had Rehoboam by her a year before that for Solomon reigned only forty years, and Rehoboam, who succeeded him, was forty one years of age when he began to reign, 1Ki_11:41;

until he had made an end of building his own house - which was thirteen years in building, and now seems to have been begun, 1Ki_7:1;

the house of the Lord - the temple, which according: to the Jewish chronology, was begun building before his marriage of Pharaoh's daughter, and was seven years in building; and therefore this marriage must be in the fourth year of his reign; for then he began to build the temple, 1Ki_6:37; and so it must be, since Shimei lived three years in Jerusalem before he was put to death, after which this marriage was, 1Ki_2:37; Another commentator says the marriage took place at the conclusion of his first year of reign.

the wall of Jerusalem round about - all which he built by raising a levy on the people, 1Ki_9:15; and when these buildings were finished, he built a house for his wife, but in the mean while she dwelt in the city of David.

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 (Deu_23:7, Deu_23:8). She seems to have been lodged at first in his mother’s apartments (Son_3:4; Son_8:2), as a suitable residence was not yet provided for her in the new palace (1Ki_7:8; 1Ki_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.

1 Kings 3:1-3

took Pharaoh's daughter - 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. 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 neighborhood, 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.

1Ki 3:2  Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days.

Only the people sacrificed in high places - The word “only” introduces a contrast. The writer means to say that there was one exception to the flourishing condition of things which he has been describing, namely, that “the people sacrificed in high-places.” The Law did not forbid “high-places” directly, but only by implication. It required the utter destruction of all the high-places which had been polluted by idolatrous rites Deu_12:2; and the injunction to offer sacrifices nowhere except at the door of the tabernacle Lev_17:3-5 was an indirect prohibition of them, or, at least, of the use which the Israelites made of them; but there was some real reason to question whether this was a command intended to come into force until the “place” was chosen “where the Lord would cause His name to dwell.” The result was that high-places were used for the worship of the Lord, from the time of the Judges downward Jdg_6:25; Jdg_13:16; 1Sa_7:10; 1Sa_13:9; 1Sa_14:35; 1Sa_16:5; 1Ch_21:26, with an entire unconsciousness of guilt on the part of those who used them. And God so far overlooked this ignorance that He accepted the worship thus offered Him, as appears from the vision vouchsafed to Solomon on this occasion. There were two reasons for the prohibition of high-places; first, the danger of the old idolatry creeping back if the old localities were retained for worship; and, secondly, the danger to the unity of the nation if there should be more than one legitimate religious center. The existence of the worship at high places did, in fact, facilitate the division of the kingdom.

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, 1Ki_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, 2Ch_1:3.

Only the people sacrificed in high places - Which were groves, or other convenient places upon hills, in which the patriarchs used to offer up their sacrifices to God; On the tops of their houses, on hills and mountains, and particularly at the high place in Gibeon, where the tabernacle was:

Only the people sacrificed in high places - It was not right to offer sacrifices in any place but where the tabernacle and ark were; and wherever they were, whether on a high place or a plain, sacrifices might be lawfully offered, previously to building of the temple. The tabernacle was now at Gibeon (2Ch_1:3), which was therefore called the great high place; whither we find Solomon, without censure, repaired to sacrifice.

Only - This particle is used here, and 1Ki_3:3, as an exception to Solomon's integrity and as a blemish to his government, That he himself both permitted and practiced this which was expressly forbidden, Lev_17:3-4; Deu_12:13-14.

1Ki 3:3  And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places.

walking in the statutes of David his father - in which his father walked, which were the statutes of the Lord, or which he exhorted him to walk in.

only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places - besides that at Gibeon, which it seems David did not.

1Ki 3:4  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.

Gibeon - The transfer to Gibeon of the “tabernacle of the congregation,” and the brass “altar of burnt offerings” made by Moses, which were removed there from Nob, had made it “the great high-place,” more sacred than any other in the holy land, unless it were Mount Zion where the ark had been conveyed by David. This is about four or five miles from Jerusalem.

A thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer - Solomon presented the animals. The priests made the actual sacrifices 1Ki_8:5. A sacrifice of a thousand animals was an act of royal magnificence suited to the greatness of Solomon. If the offerings in this case were “whole burnt offerings,” and were all offered upon the altar of Moses, the sacrifice must have lasted several days.

for that was the great high place - not that the place itself might be higher than others that were used; but here were the tabernacle of Moses, and the altar; so that it was a more dignified place, and more sacred because of them:

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; 1Ch_21:29; 2Ch_1:3-6).

Solomon's Sacrifice and Dream at Gibeon - 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 high place was at Gibeon, namely, the Mosaic tabernacle (2Ch_1:3), because the ark of the covenant was not there now.

1Ki 3:5  In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream - This was the night after he had offered the sacrifices, 2 Ch_1:6-7 And Solomon went up there to the bronze altar before Jehovah, which was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thousand burnt offerings on it. In that night God appeared to Solomon and said to him, Ask what I shall give you.  This was not a common natural dream, but an extraordinary, divine, and supernatural one, a prophetic dream, a night vision, such as God used to speak in to his prophets.

1Ki 3:6  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.

This great kindness - David himself had regarded this as God’s crowning mercy to him 1Ki_1:48 And also the king said, Blessed is Jehovah, the God of Israel, who has given one to sit on my throne today, my eyes even seeing it.

according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee - In the true worship of God, in the profession, belief, practice and defence of the true religion, in the truth of doctrine and worship, according to the revealed will and word of God, and which he observed with great strictness, living soberly, righteously, and godly, though not without failings and imperfections, yet with great integrity and sincerity; and this holy walk of his was not the cause of God's showing mercy to him, nor was it in proportion to that, but what he was influenced to by the mercy that was shown him.

1Ki 3:7  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.

How to go out or come in - This expression is proverbial for the active conduct of affairs.

I am but a little child - not in age and stature, but in knowledge and understanding; for though his father called him a wise man, and he was judged so by others, yet his own opinion and thought of himself was that he was but a child as to his intellectual powers and capacity for government:

1Ki 3:8  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.

thy people which thou hast chosen - To be his special and peculiar people above all people on the earth. For it is through them that God has chosen to reveal who He is and His redemptive plan to man.

that cannot be numbered and counted for multitude - being for number as the stars in the sky, and as the sand upon the seashore, as had been promised.

1Ki 3:9  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?

Give an understanding heart to judge thy people - He did not ask wisdom in general, but wisdom in governing and judging the people. This wisdom he obtained. Not an understanding of things spiritual, nor of things natural, though both were given him, but of things political, what related to the civil government, that he might be able to judge or rule the people of Israel in the best manner:

who is able to judge this thy so great a people - who are so very numerous, and have so many causes to be heard and and many of them very intricate and difficult; so that no man is equal to such arduous work, unless he has more than an ordinary capacity given him by the Lord.

Solomon begs of God to give him wisdom - We must pray for it, Jam_1:5 But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and with no reproach, and it shall be given to him. that it may help us in our particular calling, and the various occasions we have.

1Ki 3:10  And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.

1Ki 3:11  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;

hast not asked for thyself – He did not ask for selfish things to benefit only himself. He asked for things fitting to a servant’s heart. To serve the Lord and the people as best as he can.

1Ki 3:12  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.

A wise and an understanding heart - Solomon’s wisdom seems to have been both moral and intellectual. But it was moral wisdom alone which he requested, and which was promised him. The terms translated “wise” and “understanding,” both denote practical wisdom.

Neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee - he was to be the wisest of “all” mere men. In such wisdom the world would know one only “greater than Solomon” Mat_12:42 The queen of the south shall rise up in the Judgment with this generation, and shall condemn it, for she came from the uttermost parts of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, One greater than Solomon is here. Solomon is a type of our Lord, Jesus is greater than him in all kind of knowledge, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge being hid in Him.

1Ki 3:13  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.

All thy days - Whereby he signifies that these gifts of God were not transient, as they were in Saul, but such as should abide with him while he lived.

I have also given thee - 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 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added to you. God will also give him the earthly blessings, for which he has not asked, and that in great abundance, riches and honor such as no king of the earth has had before him; and if he adhere faithfully to God's commandments, long life also. This last promise was not fulfilled, because Solomon did not observe the condition 1 Kings 11:42 And the days that Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel were forty years.

1Ki 3:14  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.

I will lengthen thy days - The promise here was only conditional. As the condition was not observed 1Ki_11:1-8, the right to the promise was forfeited, and it was not fulfilled. Solomon can scarcely have been more than fifty-nine or sixty at his death.

1Ki 3:15  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.

he came to Jerusalem - Solomon determined to inaugurate his reign by a grand religious ceremonial at each of the two holy places which at this time divided between them the reverence of the Jews. Having completed the religious service at Gibeon, where was the tabernacle of the congregation, he proceeded to Jerusalem, and sacrificed before the ark of the covenant, which was in Mount Zion 2Sa_6:12. A great feast naturally followed on a large sacrifice of peace-offerings. In these the sacrificer always partook of the flesh of the sacrifice.

1Ki 3:16  Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and stood before him.

and stood before him - to lay their case before him, and each plead their own cause. 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.

1Ki 3:17  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.

1Ki 3:18  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.

save we two in the house - so that in this trial no evidences could be produced on either side.

1Ki 3:19  And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.

because she overlaid it - or laid upon it and so smothered it.

1Ki 3:20  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.

And she arose at midnight - Perceiving what she had done, that she had overlaid her child, and it was dead; either through fear of punishment inflicted on persons thus negligent, or because of the disgrace of it, she switched babies.

1Ki 3:21  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.

when I had considered it in the morning - it was towards morning, or just at break of day, when she arose to nurse it, and found it dead: but when it was broad day, and the light brighter, she more closely looked at it, and by its features, or some marks she had realized the baby was not hers.

1Ki 3:22  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.

And the other woman said – There was no proof of either woman’s statement, merely the word of one against the other.

1Ki 3:23  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.

Then said the king - As judge, summing up what had been said on both sides, which were only bare assertions without proof; the one affirming what the other denied, and the other denying what the other affirmed: this he repeated to show to all present that no determination could be made by what had been said on each side, and that some other method must be taken.

1Ki 3:24  And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king.

1Ki 3:25  And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.

Divide the living child in two - This was apparently a very strange decision; 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 killed before her eyes, while it was probable the pretender would see this with indifference. The plan was tried, and succeeded. This was a proof of his sound judgment, penetration, and acquaintance with human nature; or rather, of his extraordinary and supernatural wisdom.

1Ki 3:26  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.

1Ki 3:27  Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she is the mother thereof.

She is the mother - - As is evident from her natural affection to the child, which she had rather have given away from her, than destroyed. Solomon saw from this which was the mother of the living child, and handed it over to her. What was done to the other woman we are not told.

1Ki 3:28  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.

They feared the king - reverenced him as a wise, judicious, and faithful king, and feared to do anything of a criminal nature, as perceiving that he was so sagacious and penetrating, that he would discover it quickly, and bring them to shame and punishment: 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 - that God had put more than ordinary wisdom into him, to make a right judgment in causes that came before him, and finish them in the most just and equitable manner. They perceived that he was taught of God, judged impartially, and could not be deceived.