And God said unto him
Being yet in a dream:
because thou hast asked this thing;
wisdom for government:
and hast not asked for thyself long life;
which is naturally desired by men, and always reckoned a great temporal blessing, and especially to be wished for by a king living in great pomp and splendour:
neither hast asked riches for thyself;
to support his grandeur; for though David his father had left him much, yet not for himself, but for the building of the temple:
nor hast asked the life of thine enemies;
victory over them, and to have it in his power to take away their lives when he pleased; which kings, and especially tyrants, are desirous of, such as are ambitious, haughty, and revengeful:
but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment;
where the right of a cause lay, that so he might make a right judgment of it, and pass a righteous sentence, a sentence not to the injury of any.