1 Kings 3

When Solomon ascended the throne, the people of Israel soon learned that he was not another David. He was a scholar, not a soldier, a man more interested in erecting buildings than fighting battles. David enjoyed the simple life of a shepherd, but Solomon chose to live in luxury. Both David and Solomon wrote songs, but Solomon is better known for his proverbs. We have many of David’s songs in the book of Psalms, but except for Psalms 72 and 127, and the Song of Solomon, we have none of Solomon’s three thousand songs.

David was a shepherd who loved and served God’s flock, while Solomon became a celebrity who used the people to help support his extravagant lifestyle. When David died, the people mourned; after Solomon died, the people begged his successor King Rehoboam to lighten the heavy yoke his father had put on their necks. David was a warrior who put his trust in God; Solomon was a politician who put his trust in authority, treaties, and achievement. “King Solomon was among the wisest fools who ever wore a crown,” wrote Frederick Buechner.

Solomon is mentioned nearly three hundred times in the Old Testament and a dozen times in the New Testament. He’s listed in the genealogy of Jesus Christ (Matt. 1:6–7) and is cited as an example of splendor (Matt. 6:29; Luke 12:27) and wisdom (Matt. 12:42; Luke 11:31). He is identified as the builder of the temple (Acts 7:47). One of the colonnades in the temple was named after him (John 10:23; Acts 3:11; 5:12). His father, David, was recognized as the ideal leader, and his record became the standard by which every succeeding king of Judah was measured. However, nobody pointed to Solomon as a good example of a godly ruler.

Chapters 3 and 4 describe events that occurred during the first three years of Solomon’s reign, before he began to build the temple (6:1), and they describe Solomon in several roles.

Solomon’s name comes from the Hebrew word shalom which means “peace,” and during his reign, the kingdom was at peace with its neighbors. His father, David, had risked his life on the battlefield to defeat enemy nations and claim their lands for Israel, but Solomon took a different approach to international diplomacy. He made treaties with other rulers by mar- The kingdom enriched (1 Kings 3:1— rying their daughters, which helps to explain why he 10:29) had seven hundred wives who were princesses, as well as three hundred concubines (11:3). It appears that Solomon entered into treaty arrangements with every petty ruler who had a marriageable daughter! Yet Moses in the law warned the Jewish kings not to multiply wives (Deut. 17:14–20).

His first bride after he became king was the daughter of the pharaoh of Egypt, Israel’s old enemy. This alliance indicates that Egypt had slipped much lower on the international scene and that Israel was now much higher, because Egyptian rulers didn’t give their daughters in marriage to the rulers of other nations. It’s significant that Solomon didn’t put his Egyptian wife into the royal palace where David had lived, because it was near the ark of the covenant (2 Chron. 8:11), but housed her in another place until her own palace was completed. He spent seven years building the temple of God but thirteen years building his own palace (1 Kings 6:37—7:1).

Solomon’s complex system of treaties cut at the very heart of Israel’s unique position as the people of God among the nations of the world. They were God’s holy people, a chosen people among whom the Lord himself dwelt (Ex. 33:16; Deut. 4:7–8, 32–34). God had made no covenants with the Gentile nations, nor had He given them His Word, His sanctuary, or His holy priesthood (Rom. 9:1–5). God said to the Jews, “I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from other people” (Lev. 20:24, 26). As long as Israel trusted the Lord and obeyed Him, the nation would “dwell safely alone” (Deut. 33:28). The prophet Balaam described Israel as “a people dwelling alone, not reckoning itself among the nations” (Num. 23: nkjv).

The Lord placed Israel among the Gentile nations to be a witness to them of the true and living God, a “light among the Gentiles” (Isa. 42:6). If Israel had continued to be faithful to the terms of God’s covenant (Deut. 27—30), the Lord would have blessed them and used them as an “object lesson” to the pagan nations around them. Instead, Israel imitated the Gentiles, worshipped their idols, and abandoned their witness to the true God. For that reason, God had to chasten them and then send them into captivity in Babylon. God wanted Israel to be the “head” of the nations, but because of her compromise, she became the “tail” (Deut. 28:13, 44). Solomon may have thought he was making political progress by bringing Israel into the family of nations, but the consequence was really spiritual regress. Solomon also entered into lucrative trade agreements with other nations (10:1–15, 22), and the nation prospered, but the price he paid was too high.

The kingdom of Israel prospered only as she trusted God and obeyed the terms of His covenant. If they were true to the Lord, He promised to give them all they needed, to protect them from their enemies, and to bless their labors. But from the very beginning of the Jewish monarchy, Israel’s leaders made it clear that they wanted to be “like the other nations” (1 Sam. 8), and Solomon led them closer to that goal. Ultimately, Solomon married many pagan wives and began to worship their false gods, and the Lord had to chasten him. (See 1 Kings 11.)

Solomon is remembered as the king during whose reign the temple was built (chaps. 5—7; 2 Chron. 2— 4). His alliance with Hiram, king of Tyre, gave him access to fine timber and skilled workmen. But he also built his own palace (7:1–12), which seems to have consisted of living quarters plus “the house of the forest of Lebanon,” where arms were stored and displayed (10:16–17), the Hall of pillars, and the Hall of Judgment. He also built a house in Jerusalem for his Egyptian princess wife (2 Chron. 8:11). Official state visitors were overwhelmed by the splendor of these structures (chap. 10).

Though he wasn’t a warrior himself, Solomon was concerned about the security of the land. He expanded and strengthened the “Millo” (9:24; 11:27), a protective wall or embankment that David had begun to build (2 Sam. 5:9). The word millo means “filling.” Solomon had a special interest in horses and chariots and built stables in special “chariot cities” (4:26; 9:17–19; 10:26–29). He became quite a “horse dealer” himself and imported horses and chariots and sold them to other nations (2 Chron. 1:14–17; 9:25–28), no doubt making a good profit on the sales. He also built “store cities” in strategic places (9:15–19; 2 Chron. 8:1–6). At that time, Israel controlled several important trade routes that needed to be protected, and military personnel were housed in these cities, along with supplies of food and arms.

Solomon violated the law of Moses not only by marrying many wives but also by multiplying horses and depending on chariots (Deut. 17:14–17). Contrary to God’s command, Solomon went back to Egypt for both! The king was required to copy out for himself the book of Deuteronomy (Deut. 17:18–20), and we wonder how Solomon responded when he read the command about wives and horses. Or did he ever meditate on what his father wrote in Psalm 20: (and see also 33:16–19)? During Solomon’s reign, the outward splendor and wealth of Israel only masked an inward decay that led eventually to division and then destruction.

Solomon certainly made a good beginning, for he “loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father” (v. 3), but a good beginning doesn’t guarantee a good ending. Saul, the first king of Israel, started out with humility and victory, but he ended up being rejected by the Lord and committing suicide on the battlefield. Solomon himself would write in Ecclesiastes 7:8, “The end of a thing is better than its beginning” (nkjv) and “A good name is better than precious ointment, and the day of death than the day of one’s birth” (7: nkjv). We receive our name soon after birth, and between birth and death, we either enhance that name or debase it. After death, we can’t change a bad name into a good name or a good name into a bad name. “Great is the art of beginning,” wrote the American poet Longfellow, “but greater the art is of ending.”

Consecration (vv. 2–4). God purposed that the people of Israel have a central place of worship and not imitate the nations in Canaan by building “high places” wherever they chose. When Israel entered the land, they were instructed to destroy these “high places” and the idols that were worshipped there (Num. 33:52; Deut. 7:5; 12:1ff.; 33:29). However, until the temple was built and centralized worship was established in the land, the people of Israel worshipped the Lord in the “high places.” In time, the phrase “high place” began to be used to mean “a place of worship” and the Jews worshipped Jehovah at these temporary shrines.

Gibeon was such a sacred place, for the tabernacle was located there. As a first step toward the construction of the tabernacle, David had moved the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem, but the rest of the tabernacle, including the altar of sacrifice, was still at Gibeon, located five miles north of Jerusalem. Solomon assembled the leaders of Israel and arranged for them to go to Gibeon with him and worship the Lord (2 Chron. 1:1–6). This event would not only be an act of consecration but it would manifest to the people the unity of the nation’s leaders. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings to the Lord as he and his officers together praised the Lord and sought His face. The burnt offering pictured total dedication to the Lord.

Revelation (v. 5). The assembly lasted all day and the people remained at Gibeon for the night, including King Solomon who was given a remarkable dream from the Lord. David had both Nathan and Gad as his counselors, but there seems to have been no prophet in Solomon’s circle of advisers. Twice the Lord spoke to the king through dreams (see 9:1–9). The Lord sometimes communicated His messages through dreams not only to His own servants but also to those of other nations, such as Abimelech (Gen. 20), the Egyptian servants of Pharaoh (Gen. 40), and Pharaoh himself (Gen. 41).

Solomon heard the Lord say, “Ask! What shall I give you?” (v. 5 nkjv). The Lord’s command and question were a revelation of God’s grace as well as a test of Solomon’s heart. (The word “ask” is found eight times in this passage.) What people ask for usually reveals what they really desire, and what they desire depends on how they envision their life’s calling. Had Solomon been a warrior, he might have asked for victory over his enemies, but he saw himself as a youthful leader who desperately needed wisdom so he could adequately serve God’s chosen people. He had succeeded David, Israel’s greatest king, and Solomon knew that the people couldn’t help but compare and contrast father and son. But even more, he had been called to build the temple of the Lord, an awesome task for such an inexperienced leader. Solomon knew he couldn’t accomplish that great venture without wisdom from heaven.

Petition (vv. 6–9). Solomon’s prayer was brief and to the point, and it was spoken with true humility, for three times he called himself “your servant.” First, Solomon reviewed the past and thanked God for the faithfulness and steadfast love shown to his father (v. 6). Solomon acknowledged God’s goodness in keeping his father through many trials and then giving him a son to inherit his throne. Solomon is referring here to the covenant God gave to David when he expressed his heart’s desire to build a temple for God (2 Sam. 7). In that covenant, God promised David a son who would build the temple, and Solomon was that son. Solomon admitted that he wasn’t the king because God recognized his abilities but because He kept His promises to his father David.

Then, Solomon moved into the present and acknowledged God’s grace in making him king (v. 7). But he also confessed his youthfulness and inexperience and therefore his desperate need for God’s help if he was to succeed as Israel’s king. Solomon was probably twenty years old at this time and certainly much younger than his advisers and officers, some of whom had served his father. He called himself a “little child” (1 Chron. 22:5; 29:1ff.), a mark of both honesty and humility. The phrase “to go out or come in” refers to giving leadership to the nation (Num. 27:15–17; Deut. 31:2–3; 1 Sam. 18:13, 16; 2 Kings 11:8).

In his prayer, the king not only confessed his own smallness but also the nation’s greatness (v. 8). The people of Israel were the people of God! This meant that God had a great purpose for them to fulfill on earth and that their king carried a great responsibility in ruling them. God had multiplied the nation and fulfilled His promise to Abraham (Gen. 12:2; 13:16; 15:5), Isaac (Gen. 26:1–5), and Jacob (Gen. 28:10–14), and Solomon wanted the blessing to continue.

The king concluded his prayer by anticipating the future and asking the Lord for the wisdom needed to rule the nation (v. 9). Wisdom was an important element in Near Eastern life and every king had his circle of “wise men” who advised him. But Solomon didn’t ask for a committee of wise counselors; he asked for wisdom for himself. In that day, the wise person was one who was skillful in the management of life. It meant much more than the ability to make a living; it meant the ability to make a life and make the most out of what life might bring. True wisdom involves skill in human relationships as well as the ability to understand and cooperate with the basic laws God has built into creation. Wise people not only have knowledge of human nature and of the created world, but they know how to use that knowledge in the right way at the right time. Wisdom isn’t a theoretical idea or an abstract commodity; it’s very practical and personal. There are many people who are smart enough to make a good living but they aren’t wise enough to make a good life, a life of fulfillment that honors the Lord.

Solomon asked God to give him “an understanding heart,” because no matter how smart the mind may be, if the heart is wrong, all of life will be wrong. “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Prov. 4: nkjv). The word translated “understanding” means “hearing”; Solomon wanted a “hearing heart.” True understanding comes from hearing what God has to say, and to the Old Testament Jew, “hearing” meant “obeying.” When the Lord speaks to us, it’s not that we might study and pass judgment on what He said, but that we might obey it. An understanding heart has insight and exercises discernment. It is able to distinguish the things that differ (Phil. 1:9–11). It knows what is real and what is artificial, what is temporal and what is eternal. This kind of understanding is described in Isaiah 11:1–5, a prophecy concerning the Messiah. Believers today can claim the promise of James 1:5.

Approbation (vv. 10–13). God was pleased with Solomon’s request for wisdom, for it showed that the king was concerned with serving God and His people by knowing and doing God’s will. Solomon never read Matthew 6:33, but he practiced it—and the Lord gave to him the additional blessings that he didn’t ask for! God always gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him. When you read the book of Proverbs, you find that the love of wisdom and the practice of discernment can lead to these extra blessings (see Prov. 3:1–2, 10, 13–18). In the subsequent chapters, we will learn about Solomon’s wealth and honor and how he attracted visitors from other nations who wanted to hear his wisdom.

Obligation (v. 14). The Lord was careful to remind Solomon that his obedience to God’s covenant and his devotion to the Lord were the keys to his future blessings. Solomon was required to write out his own personal copy of Deuteronomy (Deut. 17:18–20), and this would include the covenant spelled out in Deuteronomy 28—30. Solomon also knew the terms of the covenant God made with his father David (2 Sam. 7:1–17) and that it required obedience on the part of David’s son and successor (vv. 12–16). God promised to lengthen Solomon’s life if he obeyed the Word (Prov. 3:2, 16), for he would be honoring God and his father David and could claim the promise of Exodus 20: (see Eph. 6:1–3). It’s unfortunate that Solomon with all his wisdom forgot this part of the agreement and gradually drifted into sin and disobedience, and God had to chasten him.

When Solomon returned to Jerusalem, he went to the tent that housed the ark and there offered more sacrifices (v. 15). The ark represented the presence of God among His people and the rule of God over His people (Ps. 80:1; 99:1). Solomon acknowledged the sovereign rule of God over his own life and the life of the nation. In other words, Solomon knew that he was second in command. It was when he started to forget that basic truth that he got himself into trouble.

God’s chosen leaders can’t always remain on the heights of spiritual glory but must take that glory and blessing with them into the place of duty and service. Jesus left the Mount of Transfiguration for the valley of conflict (Matt. 17:1–21), and Paul left the heights of heaven to carry on earth the pain of a thorn in the flesh (2 Cor. 12:1–10). Solomon had been worshipping at Gibeon and Jerusalem, but now he has returned to the responsibilities of the throne.

Like his father David, Solomon gave the common people access to the king (2 Sam. 14). God had given Solomon a special gift of wisdom and now he could put it to use. He had stood before the ark, the throne of God, and now his people could stand before his throne and seek help. But for Solomon to receive two prostitutes at his throne was certainly an act of condescension. Like Jesus, he welcomed “publicans and sinners” (Luke 15:1–2), except that Jesus did more than solve their problems: He changed their hearts and forgave their sins. In every way, Jesus is “greater than Solomon”(Matt. 12:42).

Although prostitution seemed to be tolerated in Israel, the law of Moses laid down some severe restrictions and punishments (Lev. 19:29; 21:7, 9, 14; Deut. 23:18). The book of Proverbs warned young men about the wiles of the harlot (“the strange woman”), and Paul instructed believers to avoid prostitutes (1 Cor. 6:15–16). These two women lived together with other prostitutes in a brothel, they became pregnant about the same time and both delivered babies. One can’t help but feel sorry for the little ones who came into the world in such a place, without fathers to provide for them and protect them. But the kind of men who would visit prostitutes might not be the best fathers!

Since there were no witnesses to the birth of the two babies or the death of the one, the case couldn’t be tried in the courts in the normal way. It would be one woman’s word against the word of the other, even though it was obvious that one of the women was a liar. Using the divine wisdom God gave him, Solomon bypassed the word of the women and went right to their hearts, for the heart of every problem is the problem in the heart. By suggesting that they “divide the baby” between them, Solomon revealed the heart of the true mother and gave her baby to her. We aren’t told what he did with the mother who had lied and stolen (kidnapped) the baby. We trust that the true mother abandoned her sinful ways and raised her son in the ways of the Lord.

For weeks, the account of this event was the main topic of conversation in all Israel, and Solomon’s decision announced to everybody that the king was indeed a wise man.

The administrator (4:1–28; 2 Chron. 1:14–17) David was a gifted administrator (2 Sam. 8:15–18; 20:23–26), and his son inherited some of that ability. Even though Solomon had great wisdom and authority, he couldn’t handle the affairs of the kingdom alone. A good leader chooses capable associates and allows them to use their own gifts and thereby serve the Lord and the people.

Special officers (vv. 1–6). Azariah was the high priest (v. 2). He was the son of Ahimaaz and the grandson of Zadok, the priest who had served David so faithfully. It appears that Ahimaaz had died and therefore his son was given the office. See 2 Samuel 15:27, 36; 1 Chron. 6:8–9. The word ben in Hebrew can mean son or grandson. While David had only one scribe, Solomon had two (v. 3), and they were the sons of David’s scribe, Shisha. He was also known as Seriah (2 Sam. 8:17), Sheva (2 Sam. 20:25), and Shavsha (1 Chron. 18:16). Solomon’s kingdom was much larger and more complex than that over which his father ruled, so the keeping of records would have been more demanding.

Jehoshaphat had been recorder during David’s reign (2 Sam. 8:16; 20:24), and Benaiah had been appointed head of the army by Solomon (2:35). He was born into a priestly family but chose a military life instead. Abiathar had been exiled because of his part in the plot involving Adonijah (2:27), and Zadok had died and been replaced by his grandson. Since both Zadok and Abiathar had served with David, they are found in the official roster. Azariah was in charge of the twelve officers who supervised the twelve districts that Solomon had marked out in Israel (vv. 7–19). Whether his father was Nathan the prophet (1:11), Nathan the son of David (2 Sam. 5:14), or another man named Nathan is not explained. Nathan was a popular name in Israel.

Zabud was a priest who served as special adviser to the king; Ahishar managed the complex affairs of the king’s household; and Adoniram was in charge of the men who were drafted to labor in the public works of the kingdom (9:15–23; 2 Chron. 2:2, 17–18; 8:7–10). These would not be Israelites but foreigners in the land. However, in the building of the temple, Solomon did conscript Israelites to devote four months a year to public service (5:13–18). Adoniram was also known as Adoram and he was stoned to death by the people when Rehoboam became king (1 Kings 12:18–20). Samuel had warned the people that their king would do such things (1 Sam. 8:12–18).

Special commissioners (vv. 7–19, 27–28). Solomon marked out twelve “districts” of various sizes and put a commissioner over each district. The boundaries of the districts ignored the traditional boundaries of the tribes and even incorporated territory that David had taken in battle, and each district was to provide food for the king’s household for one month. It’s likely that the commissioners also collected taxes and supervised the recruiting of soldiers and laborers for the temple and Solomon’s other building projects. By establishing new districts that crossed over old boundaries, Solomon may have hoped to minimize tribal loyalty and eliminate some of the tension between Judah and the northern tribes. Instead, the plan only aggravated the tension, particularly since Judah wasn’t included in the redistricting program. Being the royal tribe that contained the royal city, Judah was administered separately.

Any king with seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, plus numerous officers and frequent guests, would have a large household to feed. The Queen of Sheba came with “a very great train” that must have included several hundred people. According to verses 22–23, the meals for one day in the palace required 185 bushels of fine flour, 375 bushels of coarse meal, ten oxen fattened in the stall and twenty oxen from the pasture, one hundred sheep, and various kinds of game and fowl. Solomon also needed grain for his many horses, which may have been how the coarse meal (barley) was used. The conquered nations may have looked upon these monthly donations as part of their tribute to King Solomon, but the Jewish tribes considered the whole system to be a humiliating form of extortion. After Solomon’s death, it was no wonder that the ten tribes rose up in revolt against “all the king’s horses and all the king’s men.”

For some reason, five of the commissioners are identified by their fathers, for ben in Hebrew means “son of” (8–11, 13). The son of Abinadab (v. 11) may have been a son of David’s own brother and therefore a cousin to Solomon (1 Sam. 16:8; 17:13). He also married one of Solomon’s daughters, as also did Ahimaaz (v. 15). It’s likely that Solomon instituted this supply system several years into his reign since he didn’t have adult children when he was crowned. Baana was probably a brother to Jehoshaphat the recorder (vv. 12 and 3). These twelve men had great power in the land and were a part of the corrupt bureaucracy that Solomon wrote about in Ecclesiastes 5:8–12.

Special disctinctions (vv. 20–28). The nation of Israel became famous for its large population, its peace and security, its buildings, its wise king, and its satisfying lifestyle, “eating, and drinking, and making merry” (v. 20). Of course, the population grew because of God’s promise to the patriarchs (Gen. 15:5; 17:8; 22:17; 26:4; 32:12) and His promises in the covenant (Deut. 28:1–14). The enlarged territory was also a part of God’s promise (Gen. 15:18; Ex. 23:31; Deut. 1:7; Josh. 1:4). The tributary nations submitted to Solomon’s rule and brought him gifts and tribute annually, and Solomon enjoyed great blessing because of God’s covenant with David (2 Sam. 7). Contrary to God’s law, Solomon multiplied horses in the land (Deut. 17:16) and built special cities for housing them (v. 26; 10:26–29; 2 Chron. 1:14–17; 9:25, 28).