Commentary - 1 Kings 3:5-15

Bird's-eye view

In this foundational passage, the newly established King Solomon has a monumental encounter with God. At the high place in Gibeon, God appears to him in a dream and extends what amounts to a divine blank check: "Ask what I should give to you." Solomon's response is the pivot point of the entire narrative. Instead of requesting personal gain, such as long life, riches, or military victory, he asks for wisdom to govern God's people justly. This selfless and righteous request pleases the Lord immensely. Consequently, God not only grants him unparalleled wisdom but also lavishes upon him the very things he did not ask for: riches and honor. This event establishes Solomon's reign, sets the stage for Israel's golden age, and provides a powerful type of the greater Son of David, Jesus Christ, who is the very wisdom of God.

The passage is a masterful lesson in priorities. It demonstrates that seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness results in all other things being added. Solomon's humility, his recognition of his own inadequacy, and his concern for the welfare of God's covenant people are presented as the necessary preconditions for receiving divine blessing. The chapter concludes with a conditional promise of long life tied to covenant obedience, a condition that hangs over the subsequent history of Solomon's reign, reminding us that even the wisest of men is still a man in desperate need of a Savior.

Outline

Context In 1 Kings

This passage occurs at the very beginning of Solomon's reign. David is dead, and Solomon has just finished consolidating his power by dealing with the remaining threats to his throne, including Adonijah, Joab, and Shimei. With the kingdom now firmly established in his hand, this encounter with Yahweh at Gibeon serves as his divine inauguration. It is the moment that defines the character and potential of his kingship. The wisdom granted here will be immediately demonstrated in the famous story of the two prostitutes and the divided baby that follows, cementing his reputation throughout all Israel.

Key Issues

Commentary

5 In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, “Ask what I should give to you.”

The setting is Gibeon, the location of the tabernacle and the bronze altar. Solomon is there to worship, having just offered a thousand burnt offerings. It is in the context of this extravagant worship that God appears to him. The offer God makes is staggering in its scope. It is a test of character disguised as a gift. What a man desires most reveals what he is. God is essentially asking the new king of Israel to declare his highest priority, to name his ultimate good. This is not a genie in a bottle; this is the sovereign Lord of heaven and earth inviting His vice-regent to align his heart with the divine will.

6 Then Solomon said, “You have shown great lovingkindness to Your slave David my father, according to how he walked before You in truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and You have kept for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

Notice that Solomon does not begin with "I want." He begins with "You have shown." His first move is to acknowledge God's covenant faithfulness, His hesed or lovingkindness, to his father David. This is a man who understands that he stands in a long line of God's dealings with His people. He grounds his identity and his future request in God's past actions. He also rightly connects David's blessing to David's walk: truth, righteousness, and uprightness. This is not works-righteousness; it is acknowledging the covenant reality that blessing follows obedience. He sees his own presence on the throne not as a personal achievement, but as the fulfillment of God's promise to David.

7 So now, O Yahweh my God, You have made Your slave king in place of my father David, yet I am but a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.

Here is the heart of humility. Solomon, the absolute monarch of a rising empire, calls himself "a little child." This is not false modesty. He is expressing a profound sense of his own inadequacy for the monumental task before him. "To go out or come in" is a Hebrew idiom for leadership, for conducting the affairs of state and war. Solomon is confessing that he is in over his head. This is the necessary starting point for true wisdom. A man who thinks he already knows everything cannot be taught anything. Solomon's awareness of his own ignorance is the first sign of his wisdom.

8 And Your slave is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, a numerous people who are too many to be numbered or counted.

He magnifies the task by magnifying the people. These are not just his people; they are Your people, the people God has chosen. And they are a great nation, the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham. Solomon feels the weight of this covenant responsibility. He is not a despot ruling over a conquered territory; he is a shepherd tasked with caring for God's own flock. The sheer scale of the job overwhelms him, as it should.

9 So give Your slave a listening heart to judge Your people to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this glorious people of Yours?”

This is the request. He does not ask for a brilliant mind or a strategic intellect, but for a "listening heart." The Hebrew is literally a "hearing heart." He wants to be able to hear God's voice through His law and to hear the cases of his people with divine insight. The purpose of this wisdom is specific: to judge, to govern, to rightly apply God's standards of good and evil to the life of the nation. His request is entirely for the benefit of others. The final question reveals his heart again: "For who is able to judge this glorious people of Yours?" The task is impossible for any mere man. He knows he needs divine help.

10 And it was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to listen to justice,

God is not just pleased; He is delighted. And He explains why. Solomon's prayer was selfless. He passed the test. He did not ask for the standard package that pagan kings lusted after: a long reign, vast wealth, and the death of his rivals. Instead, he asked for the tools to do his job well. He asked for the burden of responsibility, not the perks of office. He wanted to be a good king, not just a great one. This is the very heart of seeking first the kingdom of God.

12 behold, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you.

God's answer is immediate and superlative. "I have done." It is a settled fact. And the gift is unique in all of human history. God does not just make him wise; He makes him the wisest man who ever lived or ever will live, apart from the Son of Man. This is grace upon grace. God honors the right request by answering it beyond all possible expectation.

13 I have also given you what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days.

And here is the divine bonus. God throws in the very things Solomon was wise enough not to ask for. Riches and honor are given to him, also in superlative terms. This is the principle of Matthew 6:33 in narrative form. When a man gets his priorities straight and puts God's kingdom and God's people first, God takes care of everything else. God is no man's debtor. He loves to lavishly bless those whose hearts are rightly oriented toward Him.

14 Now if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will prolong your days.”

The one thing Solomon did not ask for, long life, is offered here, but with a condition. "If you walk in My ways." This is the constant refrain of the covenant. Blessing is tied to obedience. This promise contains within it a tragic foreshadowing. We know from the rest of the story that Solomon, for all his wisdom, will fail to walk perfectly in God's ways. His wisdom did not make him impeccable. This highlights the profound truth that what Israel, and the world, truly needed was not just a wise king, but a perfectly obedient one. Solomon is a glorious type, but he is a flawed one, pointing to the need for the greater Solomon, Jesus Christ, who would fulfill this condition perfectly.

15 Then 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 burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.

Though it was a dream, Solomon rightly understood it as a divine reality. His response is immediate and correct. He leaves the high place at Gibeon and goes to Jerusalem, to the Ark of the Covenant, the very throne of God on earth. His response is worship. He offers burnt offerings for atonement and consecration, and peace offerings for fellowship and communion with God. And then, he shares the blessing. He makes a feast for all his servants. A godly leader receives grace from God not to hoard it, but to pour it out for the benefit of his people. This is how a wise king rules.