1 Kings 3

1 Kings, chapter 3 1 Kings 3 1 Kings 2 chapter 2 1 Kings 4 chapter 4 First book of Kings Old Testament 11 Nevi'im 4 Former Prophets Leningrad-codex-09-kings.pdf 250px The pages containing the Books of Kings (1 & 2 Kings) Leningrad Codex (1008 CE). 1 Kings 3 is the third chapter of the Book of Kings in the Hebrew Bible and the First Book of Kings in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible.Halley 1965 190Collins 2014 288 The book is a collection of annals documenting the deeds of the kings of Israel and Judah, compiled by a Deuteronomistic author in the seventh century y, with an additional supplement added in the sixth century.McKane 1993 324 Chapter 3 belongs to the section of Kings focusing on the reign of Solomon over the unified kingdom of Judah and Israel (1 Kings 1 to 11).Dietrich 2007 234 The focus of this chapter is on Solomon's reign as king of Israel.Dietrich 2007 236 Text The chapter was originally written in Biblical Hebrew and is divided into 28 verses. Textual witnesses Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter in Biblical Hebrew belong to the Masoretic Textual tradition, including the Codex Cairensis (895),Talk page section The traditional year given for the codex has been disputed in more recent work.Tov Emanuel Emanuel Tov Textual Criticism of the Hebrew Bible 3rd rev. and expanded Minneapolis Fortress Press 2012 978-0-8006-9664-1 October 2026 Aleppo Codex (10th century), and Codex Leningradensis (1008).Würthwein 1995 35–37 Among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Hebrew papyrus manuscript 6Q4 (6QpapKings; 150–75 y) preserves verses 12–14.Fitzmyer 2008 104, 106Ulrich 2010 324"6Q4-1", Leon Levy Dead Sea Scrolls Digital Library. The chapter was also translated into Koine Greek as part of the Septuagint, produced during the final centuries BCE. Extant Septuagint manuscripts containing this chapter include Codex Vaticanus (B; B; 4th century y) and Codex Alexandrinus (A; A; 5th century).Würthwein 1995 73–74The entire book of 1 Kings is absent from the extant portions of Codex Sinaiticus.Codex Sinaiticus Related passages The account of Solomon's dream at Gibeon in verses 4–15 has a parallel in 2 Chronicles 1:1–13.2 Chronicles 1:1–13 HE Analysis The chapter presents wisdom (hbo חָכְמָה ḥokmâ yes none) primarily as a qualification for royal governance and the administration of justice.Leithart 2006 43 It is divided into three main sections: Solomon's marriage, building projects, and worship at the high places, or shrines, including "the largest shrine" (hbo הַבָּמָה הַגְּדוֹלָה habbāmâ haggĕdôlâ the great high place yes none), at Gibeon (verses 1–4).1 Kings 3:1–4 HE His dream at Gibeon and request for wisdom (verses 5–15).1 Kings 3:5–15 HE His judgment in the dispute between two prostitutes over a surviving child (verses 16–28).1 Kings 3:16–28 HECogan 2001 193–199 The opening verses blend a positive portrayal of Solomon with indications of potential problems during his reign.Cogan 2001 193–194 His marriage to Pharaoh's daughter represents a diplomatic alliance with Egypt and highlights the growing international stature of the Israelite monarchy.Cogan 2001 194 When read in the context of Solomon's full reign, this marriage also foreshadows the foreign marriages criticized in 1 Kings 11.Leithart 2006 43 The narrator states that Solomon loved God and followed David's statutes but qualifies this praise by noting that he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places.Cogan 2001 194–195 The continued use of these sites is explained by the fact that the Temple in Jerusalem had not yet been built.Cogan 2001 195 At Gibeon, Solomon does not request long life, wealth, or victory over his enemies but requests an "understanding mind" with which to govern the people and distinguish between good and evil (verses 5–9).Cogan 2001 195–196 The Hebrew phrase underlying this request, literally "a hearing heart" (hbo לֵב שֹׁמֵעַ lēb šōmēaʿ yes none), presents wisdom as the capacity to listen and render judgment rather than merely as abstract knowledge.Cogan 2001 196 Solomon's request thus emphasizes the judicial responsibilities of kingship and the proper administration of justice.Leithart 2006 43–44 Because the request focuses on governing the people rather than Solomon's personal advancement, God grants him wisdom along with the wealth and honor that he did not request.Cogan 2001 196–197 Long life, however, remains conditional upon Solomon's obedience to God's statutes and commandments.Cogan 2001 197 In verse 14, God tells him: "And I will further grant you long life, if you will walk in My ways and observe My laws and commandments, as did your father David."1 Kings 3:14 HE in the Revised JPS edition The account of the two prostitutes beginning in verse 16 demonstrates Solomon's wisdom in practice.Leithart 2006 44–45 Because there are no witnesses who can establish which woman is the child's mother, the dispute cannot be resolved through ordinary testimony.Cogan 2001 198–199 Solomon's proposal to divide the living child elicits contrasting responses and thereby discloses the identity of the mother, who is willing to relinquish her claim to preserve the child's life.Cogan 2001 199 The episode consequently presents wisdom as the capacity to reveal concealed motives and administer justice in a case lacking independent witnesses.Leithart 2006 45 The conclusion broadens the significance of the judgment from the individual dispute to Solomon's kingship: the people recognize that divine wisdom (hbo חָכְמַת אֱלֹהִים ḥokmat ʾĕlōhîm [the] wisdom of God yes none) is within him to administer justice.1 Kings 3:28 HECogan 2001 199 In rabbinic interpretation, Rashi relates Solomon's request in verse 9 to the practical burden of adjudication: because the people were numerous, their legal disputes were also numerous, leaving the king insufficient time to deliberate over every argument.Rashi on I Kings 3:9 https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi\_on\_I\_Kings.3.9?lang=bi Sefaria 7 October 2026 On verse 27, Rashi follows a tradition recorded in the Babylonian Talmud in tractate Makkot 23b, according to which a divine voice (he בַּת קוֹל bat qôl daughter of a voice yes none) confirmed Solomon's judgment by declaring, "She is his mother" (hbo הִיא אִמּוֹ hîʾ ʾimmô yes none).b Makkot 23b:14Rashi on I Kings 3:27 https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi\_on\_I\_Kings.3.27?lang=bi Sefaria 7 October 2026 Solomon's prayer for wisdom (verses 1–15) Early in his reign, Solomon allied himself with the king of Egypt by marrying Pharaoh's daughter. She was brought to the City of David and remained there until Solomon had completed the construction of his palace, the Temple, and the walls of Jerusalem.1 Kings 3:1 HE Pharaoh's daughter reappears at several points in the Solomonic narrative.1 Kings 7:8; 9:16; 9:24; 11:1 HE yesDietrich 2007 236 The narrator initially presents Solomon in a favorable light, stating that he "loved YHWH" and followed the practices of his father, David.1 Kings 3:3 HE This positive assessment is qualified, however, by the observation that the people continued to sacrifice at the high places (hbo הַבָּמוֹת habbāmôt yes) because no temple dedicated to YHWH had yet been built, while Solomon likewise sacrificed and burned incense at these sites.1 Kings 3:2–3 HEDietrich 2007 236 Solomon traveled to the principal high place at Gibeon, where he offered a thousand burnt offerings.1 Kings 3:4 HE During the night, God appeared to him in a dream and invited him to ask for whatever gift he desired.1 Kings 3:5 HE Dreams elsewhere function as a medium of divine revelation in the Hebrew Bible.Genesis 28:10–17; 37:5–10 HE yesDaniel 2:1–45 HE Other passages, however, warn against deceptive claims based on dreams.Jeremiah 23:25–32 HEZechariah 10:2 HEDietrich 2007 236 Verse 1 And Solomon made affinity 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 the , and the wall of Jerusalem round about.1 Kings 3:1 KJV, King James Version "Made affinity with": The King James Version of the Christian Bible's rendering of the Biblical Hebrew hbo wayyitḥattēn (hbo וַיִּתְחַתֵּן and he became related by marriage yes none), indicating that Solomon established marital ties with Pharaoh; the marriage also functioned as an alliance between the Israelite and Egyptian royal houses. BDB, חתן² 1 Sefaria Library https://www.sefaria.org/BDB%2C_%D7%97%D7%AA%D7%9F%C2%B2.1?lang=bi&with=all October 9, 2026Steinsaltz on I Kings 3:1 Sefaria Library https://www.sefaria.org/Steinsaltz_on_I_Kings.3.1?lang=bi&with=all October 9, 2026Dietrich 2007 236 "Pharaoh king of Egypt": For the first time in the biblical narrative since the Exodus from Biblical Egypt, the Israelites establish a connection with the former slaver. The Pharaoh is not named in the biblical account; later in Solomon's reign, the narrative names Shishak as the Egyptian ruler who gave refuge to Jeroboam I.1 Kings 11:40 HE Neither the marriage account nor the later account of Solomon's foreign wives states that Pharaoh's daughter adopted Israelite religious practices or abandoned Egyptian worship.1 Kings 3:1; 11:1–8 HE yes A later rabbinic interpretation in tractate Yevamot of the Babylonian Talmud, however, suggests that Solomon anachronistically converted Pharaoh's daughter to Judaism before marrying her. In its discussion of whether a valid marriage could be contracted with a non-Israelite (i.e., a gentile), the Gemara answers the apparent objection presented by Solomon's marriage by asserting that he had first converted her.b Yevamot 76a:16 Verse 7 And now, O my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.1 Kings 3:7 KJV Solomon's description of himself as "a little child" (hbo נַעַר קָטֹן naʿar qāṭōn yes none, young lad young boy) presents him as young and inexperienced without specifying his precise age. His assertion that he did not know "how to go out or come in" (hbo לֹא אֵדַע צֵאת וָבֹא lōʾ ʾēdaʿ ṣēʾt wāḇōʾ I do not know going out and coming in yes none) refers in context to his lack of experience in leadership.Steinsaltz on I Kings 3:7 https://www.sefaria.org/Steinsaltz_on_I_Kings.3.7 Sefaria 9 October 2026 The expression "to go out and come in" is elsewhere associated with leadership. For example, the narrator of the book of Numbers records Moses asking God to appoint a successor "who shall go out before them and come in before [the Israelites], and who shall take them out and bring them in, so that 's community may not be like sheep that have no shepherd".Numbers 27:15–17 HE In his final address, Moses similarly declares that he can no longer "go out and come in" (hbo לֹא־אוּכַל עוֹד לָצֵאת וְלָבוֹא lōʾ-ʾûḵal ʿôḏ lāṣēʾt wəlāḇōʾ I am no longer able to go out and to come in yes none).Deuteronomy 31:1–2 HE The expression is also used of David's activity before the people while commanding troops.1 Samuel 18:13–16 HE Solomon's judgement (verses 16–28) thumb|right|200px|The Judgement of Solomon by Gaspar de Crayer, c. 1620 Judgement of Solomon This section recounts an instance of Solomon applying the wisdom God gave him to deliver a remarkably clever court ruling when faced with a seemingly impossible problem: a claim against a counterclaim with no witnesses or evidence.Dietrich 2007 236 Solomon's proposed division of the child being argued over elicits the response that identifies the child's mother, making maternal compassion—though not itself legal evidence—the means by which the dispute is resolved.Dietrich 2007 236 The episode thereby presents wisdom in the administration of justice as an essential function of good kingship.2 Samuel 8:15; 15:2–6 HE yesCoogan 2007 495 Hebrew Bible The Christian theologian Peter Leithart identifies a series of literary parallels between the succession narrative in 1 Kings 1–2 and Solomon's judgment in 1 Kings 3:16–28:Leithart 2006 46 + Parallels proposed by Leithart 1 Kings 1–2 1 Kings 3:16–28 Two royal mothers: Haggith and Bathsheba Two unnamed mothers Two sons: Adonijah and Solomon Two sons Adonijah is killed One son dies Solomon is preserved from a threat to his succession The surviving son is preserved from the threatened division David's decision favors Bathsheba and Solomon Solomon renders judgment in favor of the surviving child's mother See also 22em David Egypt Ark of the Covenant Israel Jerusalem Korban Prostitution Slaughter offering Related Bible parts: 2 Chronicles 1, Psalm 5, Psalm 45, Psalm 72 Notes References Sources Cogan Mordechai Mordechai Cogan I Kings: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary The Anchor Bible 10 1st New York Doubleday 2001 978-0-385-02992-6 Collins John J. Introduction to the Hebrew Scriptures Chapter 14: 1 Kings 12 – 2 Kings 25 277–296 Fortress Press 2014 https://books.google.com/books?id=fbsoBAAAQBAJ 978-1451469233 Coogan Michael David Michael D. Coogan The New Oxford Annotated Bible with the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical Books: New Revised Standard Version, Issue 48 Coogan Michael David Marc Zvi Brettler Carol Ann Newsom Pheme Perkins Augmented 3rd Oxford University Press 2007 978-0195288810 https://books.google.com/books?id=HmpMPgAACAAJ Dietrich Walter 13. 1 and 2 Kings The Oxford Bible Commentary John Barton John Barton (theologian) John Muddiman John Muddiman Oxford University Press first (paperback) 2007 232–266 978-0199277186 https://books.google.com/books?id=ZJdVkgEACAAJ February 6, 2019 Fitzmyer Joseph A. Joseph Fitzmyer A Guide to the Dead Sea Scrolls and Related Literature William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company https://books.google.com/books?id=TILXeWJ2eNAC 2008 9780802862419 Grand Rapids, MI Halley Henry H. Henry Hampton Halley Halley's Bible Handbook: an abbreviated Bible commentary 24th (revised) Zondervan Publishing House 1965 https://archive.org/details/halleysbiblehand00henr registration 0-310-25720-4 Hayes Christine Introduction to the Bible Yale University Press 2015 https://books.google.com/books?id=SKbkXYHxvlAC 978-0300188271 Leithart Peter J. 1 & 2 Kings Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible Brazos Press 2006 https://books.google.com/books?id=Z_gvin9G7LgC 978-1587431258 McKane William Kings, Book of Metzger Bruce M Bruce M. Metzger Coogan Michael D The Oxford Companion to the Bible https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195046458 registration Oxford University Press 1993 409–413 978-0195046458 Metzger Bruce M Bruce M. Metzger Coogan Michael D The Oxford Companion to the Bible Oxford University Press 1993 978-0195046458 Ulrich Eugene The Biblical Qumran Scrolls: Transcriptions and Textual Variants 2010 Brill https://archive.org/details/TheBiblicalQumranScrolls Würthwein Ernst Ernst Würthwein The Text of the Old Testament Wm. B. Eerdmans Grand Rapids, MI 1995 Erroll F. Rhodes 0-8028-0788-7 https://books.google.com/books?id=FSNKSBObCYwC January 26, 2019 External links Jewish translations: Melachim I - I Kings - Chapter 3 (Judaica Press). Hebrew text and English translation [with Rashi's commentary] at Chabad.org Christian translations: Online Bible at GospelHall.org (ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English) 1 Kings chapter 3. Bible Gateway 03