1 Kings 3 · WEB
Solomon's Wisdom: The Dream at Gibeon
Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.
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Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of Yahweh, and the wall of Jerusalem all around.
2Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built for the name of Yahweh until those days.
3Solomon loved Yahweh, walking in the statutes of David his father; except that he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places.
4The king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place. Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
5In Gibeon Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask for what I should give you."
6Solomon said, "You have shown to your servant David my father great loving kindness, because he walked before you in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you. You have kept for him this great loving kindness, that you have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today.
7Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am just a little child. I don't know how to go out or come in.
8Your servant is in the middle of your people which you have chosen, a great people, that can't be numbered or counted for multitude.
9Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this your great people?"
10This request pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing.
11God said to him, "Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, neither have you asked for riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice;
12behold, I have done according to your word. Behold, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has been none like you before you, and after you shall none arise like you.
13I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there shall not be any among the kings like you for all your days.
14If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days."
15Solomon awoke; and behold, it was a dream. He came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of Yahweh, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast for all his servants.
16Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king, and stood before him.
17The one woman said, "Oh, my lord, this woman and I dwell in one house. I delivered a child while she was in the house.
18On the third day after I delivered, this woman also delivered. We were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, just the two of us in the house.
19This woman's child died in the night, because she lay on it.
20She arose at midnight and took my son from beside me while your servant slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom.
21When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead; but when I had looked at it carefully in the morning, behold, it was not my son whom I bore."
22The other woman said, "No! The living is my son, and the dead is your son." The first said, "No! The dead is your son, and the living is my son." They argued like this before the king.
23Then the king said, "One says, 'This is my son who lives, and your son is dead;' and the other says, 'No! Your son is dead, and my son is the living one.'"
24The king said, "Bring me a sword." They brought a sword before the king.
25The king said, "Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other."
26Then the woman whose child was the living one spoke to the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, "Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no way kill it!" But the other said, "It shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide it."
27Then the king answered and said, "Give the first woman the living child, and in no way kill it. She is its mother."
28All Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
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Summary
Solomon begins his reign by cementing a political alliance with Egypt through marriage, then traveling to Gibeon — the great high place — where he offers a thousand burnt offerings. That night God appears to Solomon in a dream and grants him one wish. Rather than asking for wealth or long life, Solomon humbly asks for an understanding heart to govern God's people wisely. God is so pleased that he grants both wisdom and the riches and honor Solomon did not ask for. The chapter closes with the famous case of the two mothers, which demonstrates Solomon's divinely given wisdom in action.
Themes
- Humility before God as the foundation of true wisdom
- The gift of wisdom surpassing all earthly riches
- God's generosity: giving more than what is asked
- Justice as the core responsibility of kingship
Key verses
- 1 Kgs 3:12 — “Behold, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has been none like you before you, and after you shall none arise like you.”
- 1 Kgs 3:28 — “All Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.”
- 1 Kgs 3:9 — “Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this your great people?”
Context & background
Gibeon (modern el-Jib, northwest of Jerusalem, Israel) was the most important high place in Israel before the Temple was built in Jerusalem. Solomon's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter was a remarkable political achievement — Egyptian pharaohs rarely gave their daughters in marriage to foreign kings, reflecting Solomon's extraordinary international standing. The "City of David" where he brought Pharaoh's daughter refers to the original fortified hill of Jerusalem (modern Jerusalem, Israel). The two women's dispute illustrates the hardship of the urban poor in ancient Israel, where household tragedies were settled directly by the king acting as supreme judge.
Cross-references
- 2 Chr 1:7-12 — The parallel account of Solomon's dream at Gibeon
- Deut 17:17 — The warning against a king multiplying wives, foreshadowing Solomon's later failure
- James 1:5 — "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God," echoing Solomon's request
- Matt 12:42 — Jesus says "one greater than Solomon is here," pointing to himself as the ultimate wise king
- Prov 2:1-6 — Wisdom literature attributed to Solomon, flowing from this very gift