1 Kings 3:12

12 ecce feci tibi secundum sermones tuos et dedi tibi cor sapiens et intellegens in tantum ut nullus ante te similis tui fuerit nec post te surrecturus sit

1 Kings 3:12 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 3:12

Behold, I have done according to thy words
Expressed in his request: he not only promised he would grant him it, but he had already done it, or at least had begun to do it:

lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart;
had greatly increased his wisdom and understanding in things political, things respecting civil government, and also in things natural, in the knowledge of the things of nature as appears from ( 1 Kings 4:33 ) ; and of the arts and sciences:

so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall
any arise like unto thee:
which some restrain to kings, and to the kings of Israel; that there were none of the kings before him, as Saul and David, like him for wisdom, nor any of the kings of Judah and Israel after him; but it may include all men of all nations in the world, since he is said to be wiser than all men; and some other nations, and particular men of other nations, famous for wisdom, are expressly mentioned as inferior to him, ( 1 Kings 4:30 1 Kings 4:31 ) ; but then this must be understood of men since the fall; for Adam, doubtless, had a larger stock of knowledge and understanding in his state of innocence than ever Solomon had; and it must be restrained to political and natural knowledge; for, as for divine knowledge, Kimchi excepts Moses; and we may well except the apostles of Christ for spiritual and evangelical knowledge; and as for our Lord, the antitype of Solomon, he is greater than him in all kind of knowledge, all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge being hid in him, see ( Matthew 12:42 ) ( Colossians 2:3 ) .

1 Kings 3:12 In-Context

10 placuit ergo sermo coram Domino quod Salomon rem huiuscemodi postulasset
11 et dixit Deus Salomoni quia postulasti verbum hoc et non petisti tibi dies multos nec divitias aut animam inimicorum tuorum sed postulasti tibi sapientiam ad discernendum iudicium
12 ecce feci tibi secundum sermones tuos et dedi tibi cor sapiens et intellegens in tantum ut nullus ante te similis tui fuerit nec post te surrecturus sit
13 sed et haec quae non postulasti dedi tibi divitias scilicet et gloriam ut nemo fuerit similis tui in regibus cunctis retro diebus
14 si autem ambulaveris in viis meis et custodieris praecepta mea et mandata mea sicut ambulavit pater tuus longos faciam dies tuos
The Latin Vulgate is in the public domain.