1 Kings 3:20

16-28 An instance of Solomon's wisdom is given. Notice the difficulty of the case. To find out the true mother, he could not try which the child loved best, and therefore tried which loved the child best: the mother's sincerity will be tried, when the child is in danger. Let parents show their love to their children, especially by taking care of their souls, and snatching them as brands out of the burning. By this and other instances of the wisdom with which God endued him, Solomon had great reputation among his people. This was better to him than weapons of war; for this he was both feared and loved....

EXPOSITION IN this section we see how remarkably the gracious promise of Gibeon (1 Kings 3:12) was fulfilled. The "understanding to discern judgment" has been richly bestowed. And this, no doubt, is the reason why the story is related here. Ἐπιδεῖξαί τὴν τοῦ βασιλεως ἐβουλήθη σοφίαν_ _(Theodoret). It is just possible, as Thenius maintains, that the narrative was handed down to a succeeding age by tradition, and was not incorporated into any of the documents from which our historian compiled his narrative; but this argues nothing against its authenticity or its inspiration. It is, as Bähr observes, a thoroughly Oriental story. 1 KINGS 3:16 THEN CAME THERE TWO WOMEN THAT WERE HARLOTS [The Jewish writers here, as in th

AND SHE AROSE AT MIDNIGHT,.... Perceiving what she had done, that she had overlaid her child, and it was dead; either through fear of punishment inflicted on persons thus negligent, or because of the disgrace of it, taking no more care of her child, she made use of the following stratagem: AND TOOK MY SON FROM BESIDE ME, WHILE THINE HANDMAID SLEPT; this served to puzzle the cause, for how could she know what she did when she was asleep? this she could not prove, it was only conjecture: AND LAID IT IN HER BOSOM, AND LAID HER DEAD CHILD IN MY BOSOM; where she found it in the morning; but still what proof was there that it was the other woman's, and not her own, that lay dead in her bosom?...

2. JEHOVAH APPEARS TO SOLOMON HIS PRAYER AND THE ANSWER CHAPTER 3 _ 1. Affinity with Pharaoh and Pharaoh's daughter (1 Kings 3:1)_ 2. Solomon loved the LORD (1 Kings 3:2) 3. Jehovah appears to Solomon (1 Kings 3:5) 4. The wisdom granted and exemplified (1 Kings 3:16) We shall now see how the Lord kept His promise He made unto David in the establishment of his kingdom. After the execution of the demanded judgment Solomon entered into affinity with Pharaoh King of Egypt (probably the last King of the 21 Tanitic dynasty) and married his daughter. She was with him in David's city until he made an end of

1 KINGS 3:1 TO 1 KINGS 4:34. EARLY DAYS, REIGN, AND WISDOM OF SOLOMON. The sources of this section are various, and the arrangement of the narrative in the LXX should be noticed. There are (_a_) a statistical account of Solomon s reign, referred to, apparently in 1 Kings 11:41, as the book of the acts of Solomon; (_b_) a number of narratives about this reign; (_c_) several Deuteronomic additions_ e.g._ 1 Kings 3:6; 1 Kings 3:14, etc.: and (_d_) some very late passages, possibly originally explanatory notes. The history of Solomon's reign

_and laid it in her bosom_ It is not easy to account for the action of this woman. We need not however suppose her to have been possessed of very fine feelings, as indeed her after-behaviour shews. But it is somewhat more than unnatural to adopt such a scheme as this described here at a moment's notice. It may be that she was chiefly moved by anxiety to preserve her own health, which would be imperilled through the sudden loss of the babe which she was meant to nurse....

THEN CAME THERE TWO WOMEN, &C.— See Judges 2:1 respecting the word זנות _zonoth_ rendered _harlots._ Solomon knew at once, that the only sign whereby to discover the true mother, would be her affection and compassionate tenderness for her child; and therefore, in order to distinguish between the two, his business was to make trial of this. And if we suppose, that when he commanded the child to be divided he spake with a sedate countenance and seeming earnestness, as the true mother's petition to the king makes it apparent that he did, then we may suppose further, not only that the two women, but all the people present, with horror and admiration expected the execution of the thing; but when the whole ended in so just a decision, quite contrary to what they looked for, it raised joy in every breast, and gave a more advantageous commendation to the judge. It may not be improper, upon th

B. THE DEMONSTRATION OF HIS Wisdom 3:16-28 TRANSLATION (16) Then two women, harlots, came unto the king, and stood before him. (17) And the one woman said, O my lord the king, I and this woman were sleeping in one house; and I brought forth a child with her in the house. (18) And it came to pass on the third day after I brought forth a child, this woman brought forth a child also, and we were together; there was no stranger with us in the house besides the two of us in the house. (19) And the son of this woman died in the night when she laid on top of him. (20) And she arose in the middle of the night, and took my son from beside me while your handmaiden slept, and she laid him in her breast, and her dead son she laid in my breast. (21) When I arose in the morning to nurse my son, behold he was dead. But I considered him closely in the morning, and behold he was not my son to whom I had...

SOLOMON'S CHOICE This chapter relates how Solomon, out of various gifts offered to him by the Almighty, chose wisdom, and adds an illustration of the use he made of the gift with which he was endowed....

GOD’S LESSONS FROM HISTORY 1 KINGS _PHILIP SMITH_ CHAPTER 3 GOD SPEAKS TO SOLOMON V1 Solomon made an agreement with Pharaoh, king of Egypt. And Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter. Solomon brought her to live in David’s city. She lived there until he finished the construction of his palace. He also wanted to finish the *temple of the *Lord and the wall round Jerusalem. V2 The people still made *sacrifices at different *altars on the mountains. This was because he had not yet built a *temple for the *Lord. V3 Solomon loved the *Lord and he obeyed the commands of his father David. However, he *sacrificed animals and he burned *incense on different *altars. V4 The king went to Gibeon