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 LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. Ver. 1. _And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh._] That hi... [ Continue Reading ]
Only the people sacrificed in high places, because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD, until those days. Ver. 2. _Only the people sacrificed in high places._] And Solomon not only permitted it - though it were a fault Lev 17:3-4 - but was himself also in the common error; through a... [ Continue Reading ]
And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high places. Ver. 3. _And Solomon loved, the Lord._] Being first loved by him, his Jedidiah, his darling: for our love to God is but the reflex of his to us first. 1Jn 4:19 _ Only he sa... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that [was] the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. Ver. 4. _And the king went to Gibeon._] To seek God; and that he might be the better prepared to build the temple, whereunto he now thought it but time... [ Continue Reading ]
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. Ver. 5. _In Gibeon the Lord appeared, &c._] Solomen worshippeth God by day: God appeareth to him by night. Well may we look to enjoy God, when we have served him. The night cannot but be happy whos... [ Continue Reading ]
And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as [it is] t... [ Continue Reading ]
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 wo... [ Continue Reading ]
And thy servant [is] in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. Ver. 8. _Is in the midst of thy people._] As lordkeeper of both tables of the law; as an _antesignanus,_ a supreme governor. Royalty without wisdom is but emine... [ Continue Reading ]
Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? Ver. 9. _Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart._] Heb., A hearing heart; for wisdom is gotten by prayer and hearing the wo... [ Continue Reading ]
And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. Ver. 10. _That Solomon had asked this thing._] He could not have so done, had not God given him to do it. He accepteth and crowneth his own gifts in us.... [ Continue Reading ]
And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; Ver. 11. _And hast not asked for thyself long life._] W... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. Ver. 12. _So that there was none like thee before thee._] Solomon was not only wiser than Trismegist,... [ Continue Reading ]
And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. Ver. 13. _Both riches and honour._] Seek God's kingdom first, and then other things shall seek us fast enough. Mat 6:33 Piety hath plenty o... [ Continue Reading ]
And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. Ver. 14. _And if thou wilt walk in my ways._] It hath been before observed that God's promises are with a condition, which is as an oar in a boat or stern of a shi... [ Continue Reading ]
And Solomon awoke; and, behold, [it was] a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. Ver. 15. _And behold it was a dream._] But a divine dream, very well w... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then came there two women, [that were] harlots, unto the king, and stood before him._ Ver. 16. _Then came there two women that were harlots._] Or rather hostesses; for harlots would not have been so hardy as to have appeared in their colours before Solomon, who was yet in his prime, and zealous fo... [ Continue Reading ]
And the one woman said, O my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. Ver. 17. _I and this woman dwell in one house._] They lived together, but scarce dwelt together, as one saith of married couples that disagree, _quorum coniugium nihil aliud... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it came to pass the third day after that I was delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we [were] together; [there was] no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house._ Ver. 18. _That this woman was delivered also._] Hence some argue that they were not harlots, because th... [ Continue Reading ]
_And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it._ Ver. 19. _Because she overlaid it._] And now she hath stolen my child; not that she careth for it, or grieveth for her own, but for fear she should be questioned for smothering her child.... [ Continue Reading ]
And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. Ver. 20. _While thine handmaid slept._] But how could she certainly tell what was done when she was asleep? The proofs in this cause alleged were so... [ Continue Reading ]
And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck, behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. Ver. 21. _To give my child suck._] This is a check to those nice dames that needlessly refuse to suckle their own children. Not harlot... [ Continue Reading ]
And the other woman said, Nay; but the living [is] my son, and the dead [is] thy son. And this said, No; but the dead [is] thy son, and the living [is] my son. Thus they spake before the king. Ver. 22. _And the other woman said, Nay._] This said, Nay, and that said, Yea; _vocis et clamoris contenti... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then said the king, The one saith, This [is] my son that liveth, and thy son [is] the dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son [is] the dead, and my son [is] the living._ Ver. 23. _The one saith, This is my son,_] _q.d., _ This is a blind business: here is no better proof than the one is _Aio,_... [ Continue Reading ]
And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they brought a sword before the king. Ver. 24. _Bring me a sword._] For what purpose? thought the standers by; wondering and perhaps laughing within themselves. The actions of wise princes are riddles to vulgar constructions: nor is it for the shallow capaci... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the king said, Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other._ Ver. 25. _Divide the living child in two._] This he spake for trial, _a_ and that he might make nature speak in the true mother. The like is recorded of Claudius Caesar, and of Galba, of Charles th... [ Continue Reading ]
Then spake the woman whose the living child [was] unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord, give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, [but] divide [it]. Ver. 26. _For her bowels yearned._] Good blood,... [ Continue Reading ]
Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise slay it: she [is] the mother thereof. Ver. 27. _She is the mother thereof._] As appeareth by her natural affection. Ownness maketh love. _Prolem quisque amat non quia pulchram, sed quia suam._... [ Continue Reading ]
_And 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 judgment._ Ver. 28. _And all Israel heard,_] _sc., _ Of the king's singular sagacity. _ And they feared the king._] Good men reverenced him; bad men st... [ Continue Reading ]