This chapter has been titled “The WISDOM of Solomon,” for as we shall see he asked the Lord for “an understanding heart” (verse 9) and God gave him “a WISE and understanding heart” (verse 12). Yet the chapter begins with God revealing Solomon’s “lack of wisdom.” Verse 1 reads, “Now Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and married Pharaoh’s daughter.” Was this a wise decision? Some commentators believe this was a wise decision, for it provided Israel with a strong political alliance with Egypt which was on their southern border. They also believe it was a foreshadowing of the Millennial reign of Christ when the nations of the world will be brought into union with Him and this alone justified Solomon’s union with a Gentile woman. But others believe (as do I) Solomon was acting contrary to Scripture, for we read in Deuteronomy 17:17, “Neither shall he (Israel’s king) multiply wives for himself lest his heart turn away.” Solomon was already married (see 1st Kings 14:21) and God had ordained that a man should only have one wife (Genesis 2:24). We read later in 1st Kings 11:1-3: “Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonian, and Hittites—from the nations of whom the LORD had said to the children of Israel, ‘You shall not intermarry with them, nor they with you. Surely they will turn away your hearts after their gods. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.” I believe Solomon’s marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter was a fatal mistake and this union did indeed lead to what we have just seen. I would also add that Israel was to maintain complete separation from the Gentile nations (Leviticus 20:23-24, 26) and the treaty with Egypt betrayed a lack of trust in the Lord.

What we read next also reveals a “lack of wisdom” on Solomon’s part. We read in verses 2-3, “Meanwhile the people SACRIFICED AT THE HIGH PLACES, because there was no house built for the name of the LORD until those days. And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statues of his father David, EXCEP THAT HE SACRIFICED AND BURNED INCENSE AT THE HIGH PLACES.” This was specifically prohibited in Deuteronomy 12:13-14, “Take heed to yourself that you do not offer your burnt offerings IN EVERY PLACE THAT YOU SEE; but in the place which the LORD chooses.” So, before we dwell on “Solomon’s wisdom,” God faithfully reveals the “unwise choices” that he made that eventually led to gross unfaithfulness in his later years. This teaches us that “God tells it like it is.” He faithfully brings out one’s failures so we can learn the lessons He would have us to learn (so we can avoid the snares and pitfalls in life that would ruin our testimony for the Lord).

The rest of this chapter “dwells on the good.” One great virtue of Solomon was his HUMILITY coupled with LOVE for God’s people. We see this in verses 7-9, “Now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in. And Your servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people, too numerous to be numbered or counted. Therefore give to Your servant 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?” God was pleased with his words and He told him, “Because you have asked for this thing, and have not asked long life for yourself, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have asked the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice, behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you. And I have also given you what you have not asked: both riches and honor, so that there shall not be anyone like you among the kings all your days. So if you walk in My ways, to keep My statutes and My commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days” (verses 11-14). Because Solomon took the place of a child and asked for wisdom to rule for the blessing of the people, God gave him wisdom and so much more.

In the rest of the chapter (verses 16-28) we have a beautiful illustration of “the wisdom God had given to Solomon.” Space prevents me from quoting this passage, but in short, we see two harlots approach the king who had both given birth to a son. One baby died and each woman claimed to be the mother of the child who lived. With Divine wisdom Solomon said, “Bring me a sword…Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other” (verses 24-25). The true mother was filled with compassion for her son and said, “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him” (verse 26)! The other woman said, “let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.” Solomon then declared, “Give the first woman the living child, and by nor means kill him; she is the mother” (verse 27). Solomon’s wisdom was then made known throughout his kingdom and “they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice” (verse 28).  (DO)  (589.1)