Solomon's wisdom: a hearing heart and a hard case

First Kings 3 opens the account of Solomon's reign (about 970 to 931 BC). The books of Kings were originally one scroll and are anonymous. Jewish tradition (Bava Batra 15a) names Jeremiah as the author. Most modern scholars see Kings as the closing part of the Deuteronomistic History, put in final form during the exile, since the last event recorded, in 2 Kings 25:27-30, is the release of King Jehoiachin from prison in Babylon in the thirty-seventh year of his exile, which is usually dated to about 561 BC. The writer names his sources, among them 'the book of the acts of Solomon' (1 Kings 11:41).

Solomon came to the throne after a struggle (1 Kings 1-2). In chapter 2 he removed his rivals Adonijah, Joab and Shimei, and the end of that chapter says that the kingdom was established in his hand. Chapter 3 begins from there. It is a young king's first act of worship and first act of judgment. The first readers, living in the days of the divided monarchy or in exile, knew how his reign ended: with a divided heart and a divided kingdom (1 Kings 11). They would read chapter 3 as the high point from which Solomon declined, and also as a picture of what the king's office was supposed to be.

The material is arranged for a purpose. Chapters 3-4 show Solomon's wisdom and its fruit in a well-governed land, chapters 5-8 the building of the temple, chapters 9-10 his glory, and chapter 11 his fall. Chapter 3 is the foundation of the first part.

This chapter is Hebrew narrative with two scenes: a dream at a sanctuary and a legal case at court. The narrator gives some of his evaluation openly. Verse 3 says that Solomon loved the LORD and walked in the statutes of David, except that he sacrificed at the high places. This is the narrator's way of keeping approval and warning in one sentence. The chapter should be read with both in view. It is not a flat story of success, and it is not a hidden story of failure. It is a story of a gift given to a man whose heart will later divide.

Two principles guide the reading.

• First, read the wisdom in context. In the Old Testament, wisdom (chokmah) is not only intelligence. It is skill in living under God, including skill in ruling and judging. Solomon asks for it to govern a people, not for his own comfort.
• Second, read the story against the law of the king in Deuteronomy 17:14-20. That law says the king must not multiply horses, wives or silver and gold, and he must write out a copy of the law and read it all his days. The marriage to Pharaoh's daughter in verse 1 is already a point of tension, since the law warned against multiplying wives and against returning to Egypt. The chapter is shaped so that the reader sees the promise of verse 14 conditioned on keeping that law.
• Third, take the case of the two women as a story that shows what the dream means. The dream gives wisdom as a promise, and the court case shows it at work.

Verses 1–3

The chapter opens with an alliance. Solomon formed an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt by marrying his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace, the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem. Which pharaoh this was is not stated, and scholars have suggested several. The note is brief, and it is not obviously a criticism, since political marriages were normal. Yet the careful reader recalls Deuteronomy 17:16, which warns against going back to Egypt, and 1 Kings 11:1-4, which names Pharaoh's daughter among the foreign women Solomon loved and whose influence turned his heart. Verse 2 gives an excuse for the high places: no house had yet been built for the Name of the LORD. Verse 3 sums up. Solomon loved the LORD and walked in the statutes of David, except that he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places.

Verses 4–5

The king goes to Gibeon to sacrifice, for it was the great high place, and offers a thousand burnt offerings. According to 2 Chronicles 1:3, the tent of meeting was at Gibeon, which helps explain why this high place was held to be legitimate. At night the LORD appears to him in a dream and says, 'Ask, and I will give it to you!' The offer is open-ended.

Verses 6–9

Solomon's reply is a model of a prayer. He begins with God's past faithfulness to David, who walked before God in faithfulness, righteousness and uprightness of heart, and who now has a son on his throne. He then speaks of himself: 'I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in.' He was not literally a child. The phrase means that he is inexperienced and lacks the knowledge to lead. He then points to the people, a people too numerous to count. His request is, 'give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil.' The Hebrew says a 'hearing heart' (lev shomea), a heart that listens, perhaps to God and to the people. The phrase 'discern between good and evil' recalls Genesis 3, where the knowledge of good and evil was seized in disobedience. Here the same discernment is asked from God as a gift, which is the right way to receive it.

Verses 10–14

The narrator says it pleased the Lord. God commends the request: Solomon did not ask for long life, wealth or the death of his enemies, but for discernment to administer justice. God promises a wise and discerning heart, 'so that there has never been nor will ever be another like you.' And he adds what Solomon did not ask for, riches and honor, so that no king will be his equal all his days. Then comes the condition in verse 14: 'if you walk in My ways and keep My statutes and commandments, just as your father David did, I will prolong your days.' The wisdom and the wealth are given freely. Long life is conditioned on obedience, and the whole reign is measured by David's faithfulness.

Verse 15

Solomon wakes and finds it was a dream. He returns to Jerusalem, stands before the ark of the covenant, offers burnt offerings and peace offerings, and holds a feast. The change of place is worth noting. Having worshiped at the high place, he now worships before the ark.

Verses 16–22

The case is presented. Two women who are prostitutes come to the king. They live in the same house and each gave birth, three days apart. One infant died in the night when its mother lay on it. The first woman says that the other took her living son and put the dead child at her side. The other says the living child is hers. There are no witnesses. The law of Deuteronomy 19:15 requires them, and here nothing is available.

Verses 23–27

Solomon repeats the two claims in his own words, which shows that he has listened. He calls for a sword and orders the living child to be divided. The true mother, her compassion stirred for her son, begs the king to give the living baby to the other and not kill him. The other says it will be neither mine nor yours, cut him. The king gives his ruling: give the baby to the first woman, for she is his mother. Wisdom here is the ability to read hearts. The case is solved by exposing what each woman loves.

Verse 28

All Israel hears and stands in awe of the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice. The narrator's verdict is that the king's wisdom is not his own cleverness but a gift from God.

The chapter shows that wisdom is a gift of God and is to be asked for. Solomon is no self-made sage. The same view runs through Proverbs, which begins by saying that the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge (Proverbs 1:7), and which is attributed in its heading to Solomon (Proverbs 1:1). James 1:5 later invites anyone lacking wisdom to ask God, who gives generously. The chapter also teaches what wisdom is for. Solomon asks for it in order to judge God's people, and God commends him for refusing to seek wealth, long life or victory over enemies. The purpose of power is justice.

The chapter also joins grace to responsibility. God gives wisdom, riches and honor unasked, but long life depends on walking in his ways. The writer wants readers to see the reign as a test of the king's heart against the law, and the next chapters show how Solomon's power grew while his heart later turned (1 Kings 11:1-11). Wisdom received is not the same as wisdom kept.

Finally, it marks a high point of the wisdom tradition in Israel. The wisdom literature of the Old Testament, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Songs, is connected to Solomon, and 1 Kings 4:29-34 reports that his wisdom surpassed that of all the people of the east and that he spoke three thousand proverbs. In the Bible's larger story, wisdom is not abstract. It is something God gives to a king for his people, and it leads to the question of whether there will be a king whose wisdom does not fail.

The connection is type and fulfillment, and Jesus draws it himself. In Matthew 12:42 he says that the queen of the South came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and that 'something greater than Solomon is here.' Solomon is a son of David, a king of peace and a judge given God's wisdom, and Jesus is the greater Son of David, the king who surpasses him in each respect. Isaiah 11:2-4 promises a shoot from Jesse on whom the Spirit of wisdom and understanding rests, who will judge the poor with fairness and not by what his eyes see or his ears hear. Solomon's judgment between the two women is a small picture of that kind of judgment, since he sees through appearances to the heart.

The New Testament says more. Paul says Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24, 30), and that in him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). Luke says the boy Jesus increased in wisdom (Luke 2:52). Solomon asked for wisdom and received it, but he lost his way. Jesus does not receive wisdom as a gift to be kept or lost; he is the wisdom of God.

A more tentative echo concerns the sword and the child. The true mother is willing to give up her child so that he may live, and the king's ruling recognizes it. Some readers see in this an image of self-giving love. The New Testament does not draw the link, so it is offered only as an echo.