Now, 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. Your servant is among your people which you have chosen, a great people, that can’t be numbered or counted for multitude. 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 great people of yours?”
This request pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. God 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; behold, 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. I 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. If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 11, 13, 14 That is, to behave himself in executing this charge…
That is, to behave himself in executing this charge of ruling.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv7–14 1Ki 3:7 And now, O LORD my God, thou…
1Ki 3:7 And now, O LORD 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.
Ver. 7. And I am but a little child.] So he seemed to himself; though his father counted and called him a wise man, {1Ki 2:9} even before that wonderful increase of his wisdom after David’s death. See the like modesty in Agur, that great wise man. {Pro 30:2-3}
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I know not how to go out or come in,] i.e., To sway this massy sceptre, to rule this great people. An allusion to captains or shepherds, or, as some think, to a little child who learneth of his mother to go out and come into the house. {a}
{a} Vatab. A Lapide.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv7–14 I am but a little child; so he was…
I am but a little child; so he was in years; not as if he were now but twelve years old, as many gather from this name of child; for that name is given to Ishmael when eighteen years old, Gen 21:14,15, and to Rehoboam when forty-one years old, 2Ch 13:7, where the word is the same in the Hebrew; and before this time David calls him a wise man, 1Ki 2:9; but he was now not above twenty years old; and withal, (which he principally intends,) he was raw and unexperienced, as a child, in state affairs, and altogether unfit for so hard a task.
To go out or come in, i.e. to govern my people, and manage affairs, as that phrase signifies, Num 27:17; Deu 31:2; Jos 14:11.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv7–14 And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made…
And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father,.... Removed by death, in whose stead he reigned by the appointment of God, and through his overruling providence, notwithstanding the attempts made to prevent it, and therefore to God he ascribes it:
and I am but a little child; not in age and stature, but in knowledge and understanding; for though his father called him a wise man, and he was judged so by others, and really was one, yet in his own opinion and thought of himself such was his modesty and humility, that he was but a child as to his intellectual powers and capacity for government: some understand this of age; and the Jews commonly say he was but twelve years of age when he was anointed king, which they reckon thus; that he was born at the time that Ammon ravished Tamar, two years after which was Absalom's sheep shearing, when he slew Amnon, on which he fled to Geshur, and was there three years; here are five years; he returned thence and was at Jerusalem two years; lo, seven years; he rebelled and was slain, and after that there was a famine of three years, which make ten; and in the year following David numbered the people, which was nine or ten months in doing; the next year he died, which was the fortieth of his reign, in all twelve years; so reckon Jarchi and Kimchi; and Eupolemus, an Heathen writer (n), is express for it, who says, that David, when he had reigned forty years, delivered up the kingdom to Solomon his son, being then twelve years of age, which he must receive from the tradition of the Jews; the same is said by several of the ancient fathers, as Ignatius (o) and Jerom (p); but this cannot be fact; for, if so, his son Rehoboam must be born to him when he was but eleven years of age; See Gill on Kg1 3:5; it is best therefore to interpret this of the sense he had of the weakness of his understanding, and of his incapacity for government, as the next clause explains it:
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I know not how to go out or come in; in the administration of government, to execute his office as a king, in allusion to shepherds, as kings are sometimes called, going in and out before their sheep.
(n) Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praeparat. Evangel. l. 9. c. 30, 31, 32.) (o) Epist. ad Magnesios, p. 141. Ed. Voss. (p) Epist. Rufino & Vitali, fol. 24, 25. tom. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 13, 14 Child - So he was in years: not above…
Child - So he was in years: not above twenty years old; and withal (which he principally intends) he was raw and unexperienced, as a child, in state affairs. Go out, &c. - To govern my people, and manage affairs.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 12 Verse 7. I know not how to go out…
Verse 7. I know not how to go out or come in.] I am just like an infant learning to walk alone, and can neither go out nor come in without help.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv9, 10, 11, 13 1Ki 3:9. Give to thy servant an understanding heart…
1Ki 3:9. Give to thy servant an understanding heart — Whereby I may both clearly discern, and faithfully perform all the parts of my duty: for both these are spoken of in Scripture as the effects of a good understanding; and he that lives in the neglect of his duties, or the practice of wickedness, is called a fool, and one void of understanding. To judge thy people — Or govern, as that word is often used. That I may discern between good and bad — Namely, in causes and controversies among thy people; that I may not, through mistake, or prejudice, or passion, give wrong sentences, and call evil good, or good evil. Absalom, that was a fool, wished himself a judge: Solomon, that was a wise man, trembles at the undertaking. The more knowing and considerate men are, the more jealous they are of themselves.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv7–14 See 1Ki 2:2 note, and on the hyperbole contained…
See 1Ki 2:2 note, and on the hyperbole contained in the phrase “little child,” compare Gen 43:8; Exo 33:11.
How to go out or come in - This expression is proverbial for the active conduct of affairs. (See the marginal reference.)
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv7, 9, 12, 13, 14 In. So as to judge with discretion, and to…
In. So as to judge with discretion, and to lead my people. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv7, 10 I am but a little child--not in age, for…
I am but a little child--not in age, for he had reached manhood (Kg1 2:9) and must have been at least twenty years old; but he was raw and inexperienced in matters of government.
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 7. I am but a little child — His…
7. I am but a little child — His exact age at this time is not known, but he was evidently still a youth, probably not more than twenty years of age. David, in his old age, spoke of him as “young and tender.” 1Ch_29:1. Solomon, with graceful modesty and humility, feels and acknowledges his youth and inexperience.
To go out or come in — An idiomatic expression denoting the whole official conduct of a ruler before his people. Compare Num_27:17.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14 7. I am but a little child] This is…
7. I am but a little child] This is a form of expression meant to indicate want of experience, but cannot be pressed literally. What Solomon’s age may have been we have very imperfect data for judging. The ordinary chronology puts the murder of Uriah about twenty years before David’s death. If this be correct Solomon might be at this time 17 or 18 years old. Bunsen (Bibelwerk) says 22.
to go out or come in] This expression of going out and coming in is frequent in one form or another for the manner of leading one’s life, and engaging in one’s proper duties. So Joshua uses it (1Ki_14:11) of his fitness for the leadership of Israel. Moses (Deu_31:2) when he is speaking of his growing age, says he can no more go out and come in.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv11, 14 (11) Because thou hast asked.—It is obvious to note…
(11) Because thou hast asked.—It is obvious to note this verse as a fulfilment of the Divine law, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and -all these things shall be added unto you” (Mat_6:33). All these secondary blessings are good, just so far as they conduce to the supreme good, which is the growth of the human nature, by the knowledge of God and by faithfully doing His work on earth, to the perfection designed for it in His wisdom. So long as Solomon used them in subordination to true wisdom, they were a blessing to him; when he made them idols, they became a curse. The connection of these lower gifts with the moral and intellectual gifts of wisdom, is the result of the natural law of God’s Providence, so far as that law overcomes the resistance of evil and folly, still allowed to strive against it.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv7–14 And now, O Lord my Cod, thou hast made…
And now, O Lord my Cod, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father; and I am but (Heb. and I...) a little child: These words are generally understood as indicating Solomon"s humility rather than his age. No doubt, there is some exaggeration in the expression, which manifestly is not to be taken au pied de la lettre; at the same time it is questionable whether such words would be used of himself by a young man of twenty, which Solomon is commonly supposed to have been. (ee 1Ki_2:2, and 1Ki_12:8) I know not how to go out or come in. The same phrase is found in the Pentateuch, Deu_28:6 Deu_31:2. Also 1Sa_18:13 2Sa_3:25 Psa_121:8. It is the formula for expressing behaviour, conduct, the outward life of man.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v14 I will lengthen thy days.
1Ki_3:14
I will lengthen thy days.
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Long life
I get a good deal of comfort out of that promise, with long life will I satisfy thee. I dont think that means a short life down here--seventy years, eighty years, ninety years, or one hundred years. Do you think that any man living would be satisfied if he could live to be one hundred years old, and then have to die? Not by a good deal. Suppose Adam had lived until to-day, and had to die tonight; would he be satisfied? Not a bit of it! Not if he had lived a million years, and then had to die. You know we are all the time coming to the end of things here--the end of the week, the end of the month, the end of the year, the end of schooldays. It is the end, end, end all the time. But, thank God, He is going to satisfy us with long life; no end to it, an endless life. Life is very sweet. It would be a pretty dark world if death were eternal, and when our loved ones die we were to be eternally separated from them. Thank God, it is not so; we shall be reunited. It is just moving out of this house into a better one; stepping up higher and living on and on for ever. (D. L. Moody.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 10, 13 General Information:
General Information:
Solomon asks for wisdom.
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your servant
Solomon speaks as if he is another person to show respect to Yahweh. AT: "me" (See: Pronouns)
I am only a little child
Solomon is saying that he is like a child who does not know as much as a father. (See: Metaphor)
I do not know how to go out or come in
This is an idiom that means Solomon does not know how to govern as king. AT: "I do not know how to be the king" or "I do not know the right way to do things as king" (See: Idiom)
For who is able to judge this great people of yours?
Solomon asks a question to emphasize that he knows that no one can judge. AT: "No one is able to judge this great people of yours." (See: Rhetorical Question)
translationWords
Yahweh
God
servant
king
David
ancestor
children
people group
chosen one
judge
discern
evil
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv7, 10 3:7-9 The Hebrew term translated little child was often…
3:7-9 The Hebrew term translated little child was often used of someone who lacked experience in his profession (“assistant,” 19:21). Solomon humbly recognized his inexperience and his need for an understanding heart. If he desired to govern the people well and render proper decisions, he knew that he needed God’s help.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.