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1 Kings 3

God grants Solomon wisdom to judge his people, and the dispute over a living child shows that gift at work.

Solomon makes a marriage alliance with Pharaoh while building work in Jerusalem remains unfinished. He loves YHWH, though the narrator notes his sacrifices at the high places. At Gibeon, God appears to him in a dream and offers him a gift. Solomon asks for understanding to judge God’s people, and God grants wisdom with riches and honor. That wisdom then faces a case involving two women, one dead infant, and competing claims to a living child.

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1Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt. He took Pharaoh’s daughter and brought her into David’s city until he had finished building his own house, the LORD’s house, and the wall around Jerusalem.
2However, the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was not yet a house built for the LORD’s name.
3Solomon loved the LORD, 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, the LORD 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, LORD 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 among 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 great people of yours?”
11God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, nor 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 no one like you before you, and after you none will arise like you.
13I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will 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. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the LORD’s covenant, and offered up burnt offerings, 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.
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.
26Then the woman whose the living child was 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 him!” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide him.”
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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Key verses
1 Kings 3:5God’s offer begins the dream encounter and lets Solomon voice what he most needs for the task of kingship.
1 Kings 3:9Solomon asks for discernment because the people belong to God and judging them exceeds his own ability.
1 Kings 3:28Israel recognizes God’s wisdom in Solomon through a judgment that protects the child and identifies his mother.
Where this chapter reaches

Second Chronicles recounts the same encounter at Gibeon, including Solomon’s request for wisdom and God’s gifts of wealth and honor. Proverbs shares the link between wisdom and just judgment, while James shares the theme of asking God for wisdom.

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After reading the whole chapter

What stands out to you about Solomon’s reasons for asking for an understanding heart?

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How does the dispute over the child shape your understanding of wisdom and justice?

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Questions people ask about 1 Kings 3

Why did Solomon ask God for wisdom?

Solomon says he lacks the experience to lead the great people God has chosen. He asks for an understanding heart so he can distinguish good from evil and judge them. God approves his request for justice, contrasting it with requests for long life, riches, or the death of enemies.

Why did Solomon order the baby to be cut in half?

The threatened division brings the women’s responses into view. The child’s mother asks that he be given to the other woman so he can live; the other accepts his death. Solomon then forbids killing him and identifies his mother. The narrative presents this judgment as evidence of God-given wisdom.

What were the high places in 1 Kings 3?

The high places were sites used for sacrifice and burning incense. The narrator explains that the people used them because the house for YHWH’s name had not yet been built. Solomon’s worship there is described as an exception to his obedience, even though God appears to him at Gibeon.

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1 Kings · 22 chapters
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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).