1 Kings 3 Study Notes

3:6 Faithful love (Hb chesed) almost always refers to covenant faithfulness. David was faithful in his obedience to God; God was, in turn, faithful in giving and keeping his covenant promises to David. Covenant faithfulness is a key concept in OT theology.

3:7-11 Solomon’s prayer marked a major cultural shift in Hebrew life, a shift to peaceful values involving wisdom and skill rather than military craft. Solomon reflected these new values in asking for a heart that would be receptive (to the covenant) in judging the nation. Solomon’s request was a request to discern. That a ruler of a great empire would desire an obedient, wise heart signaled a major change in values. These new values are also reflected in the royal psalm, Ps 72. The old values are reflected in the title “man of war” (1Ch 28:3), assigned to David. In the old ways, prowess in war made a political leader mighty.

3:12-14 Solomon thus got the best of both sets of values, the wisdom that marked the wise man or effective businessman, as well as the riches . . . honor, and power that marked success in the older values.

3:15 Solomon celebrated this oracle with a great sacrificial feast of fellowship offerings for his servants—perhaps for all the resident palace staff.

3:16-28 Though Solomon’s reign involved a new, distant, imperial king, the people, at least those in Jerusalem, still had access to royal justice. The lack of such access during David’s reign had been used by Absalom to win the hearts of the people (2Sm 15:3-6). Then (v. 16) marks the connection to the previous dream that Solomon had. He had asked for the ability to discern so he could judge God’s people (v. 9). God answered his prayer (Jms 1:5) and gave more than he asked for. This passage is an example of the use of a God-given discerning mind. Ancient Mesopotamian kings kept records of exceptional legal decisions, which were presented to their gods to show that they had acted wisely (D. J. Wiseman, 1 & 2 Kings, Tyndale Old Testament Commentary). Israel’s historians evidently kept similar records.