Historical
Solomon’s Marriage and Sacrifices
3 Then (A)Solomon [a]formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter (B)and brought her to the city of David (C)until he had completed building his own house and the house of Yahweh and (D)the wall around Jerusalem. 2 (E)The people were still sacrificing on the high places because there was no house built for the name of Yahweh until those days.
3 And (F)Solomon loved Yahweh, (G)walking in the statutes of his father David, except he sacrificed and burned incense on the high places. 4 (H)And the king went to (I)Gibeon to sacrifice there, (J)for that was the great high place; Solomon offered one thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 (K)In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon (L)in a dream at night; and God said, “(M)Ask what I should give to you.”
God Gives Wisdom to Solomon
6 Then Solomon said, “(N)You have shown great lovingkindness to Your slave David my father, (O)according to how he walked before You in [b]truth and righteousness and uprightness of heart toward You; and (P)You have kept for him this great lovingkindness, that You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7 So now, O Yahweh my God, (Q)You have made Your slave king in place of my father David, yet (R)I am but a little child; (S)I do not know how to go out or come in. 8 (T)And Your slave is in the midst of Your people which You have chosen, (U)a numerous people who are too many to be numbered or counted. 9 So (V)give Your slave a listening heart to judge Your people (W)to discern between good and evil. For who is able to [c]judge this glorious people of Yours?”
10 [d]And it was pleasing in the sight of the Lord that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 And God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing and have (X)not asked for yourself [e]long life, nor have asked riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself discernment to listen to justice, 12 behold, (Y)I have done according to your words. Behold, (Z)I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you. 13 (AA)I have also given you what you have not asked, both (AB)riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you all your days. 14 (AC)Now if you walk in My ways, keeping My statutes and commandments, as your father David walked, then I will (AD)prolong your days.”
15 Then (AE)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 burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and (AF)made a feast for all his servants.
Solomon Wisely Judges
16 Then two women who were harlots came to the king and stood before him. 17 And the one woman said, “Oh, my lord, [f]this woman and I live in the same house; and I gave birth to a child while she was in the house. 18 And it happened on the third day after I gave birth, that this woman also gave birth to a child, and we were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, only the two of us in the house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night because she lay on him. 20 So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead son in my bosom. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my son, behold, he was dead; but when I looked at him carefully in the morning, behold, he was not my son, whom I had borne.” 22 Then the other woman said, “No! For the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” But [g]the first woman said, “No! For the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.
23 Then the king said, “[h]The one says, ‘This is my son who is living, and your son is the dead one’; and [i]the other says, ‘No! For your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’” 24 And the king said, “Get me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. 25 Then the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one and half to the other.” 26 Then the woman whose son was the living one spoke to the king, for [j](AG)she was deeply stirred with compassion over her son and said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and by no means put him to death.” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours; divide him!” 27 Then the king said, “Give [k]the first woman the living child, and by no means put him to death. She is his mother.” 28 Then all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had [l]handed down, and they feared the king, for (AH)they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to do justice.
Solomon’s Officials
4 So King Solomon was king over all Israel. 2 These were his officials:
Azariah the son of Zadok was (AI)the priest;
3 Elihoreph and Ahijah, the sons of Shisha were scribes;
(AJ)Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was the recorder;
4 and (AK)Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the army;
and Zadok and (AL)Abiathar were priests;
5 and Azariah the son of Nathan was over (AM)the deputies;
and Zabud the son of Nathan, a priest, was the king’s friend;
6 and Ahishar was over the household;
and Adoniram the son of Abda was over the men subject to forced labor.
7 Now Solomon had twelve deputies over all Israel, who sustained the king and his household; each man had to sustain them for a month in the year. 8 These are their names:
Ben-hur, in the (AN)hill country of Ephraim;
9 Ben-deker in Makaz and (AO)Shaalbim and (AP)Beth-shemesh and Elonbeth-hanan;
10 Ben-hesed, in Arubboth ((AQ)Socoh was his and all the land of (AR)Hepher);
11 Ben-abinadab, in all [m]the (AS)height of Dor (Taphath the daughter of Solomon was his wife);
12 Baana the son of Ahilud, in (AT)Taanach and Megiddo, and all (AU)Beth-shean which is beside (AV)Zarethan below Jezreel, from Beth-shean to (AW)Abel-meholah as far as the other side of (AX)Jokmeam;
13 Ben-geber, in (AY)Ramoth-gilead (now [n](AZ)Havvoth-Jair—Jair being the son of Manasseh—which is in Gilead was his: (BA)the region of Argob, which is in Bashan, sixty great cities with walls and bronze bars were his);
14 Ahinadab the son of Iddo, in (BB)Mahanaim;
15 (BC)Ahimaaz, in Naphtali (he also married Basemath the daughter of Solomon);
16 Baana the son of (BD)Hushai, in Asher and [o]Bealoth;
17 Jehoshaphat the son of Paruah, in Issachar;
18 (BE)Shimei the son of Ela, in Benjamin;
19 Geber the son of Uri, in the land of Gilead, (BF)the country of Sihon king of the Amorites and of Og king of Bashan; and he was the only deputy who was in the land.
Judah’s and Israel’s Abundance and Security
20 (BG)Judah and Israel were as numerous as the sand that is on the [p]seashore in abundance; they were eating and drinking and being glad.
21 [q](BH)Now Solomon ruled over all the kingdoms (BI)from the [r]River to the land of the Philistines and to the border of Egypt; (BJ)they brought tribute and served Solomon all the days of his life.
22 And Solomon’s [s]provision for one day was [t]thirty kors of fine flour and [u]sixty kors of meal, 23 ten fat oxen, twenty [v]pasture-fed oxen, one hundred sheep besides deer, gazelles, roebucks, and fattened fowl. 24 For he had dominion over everything [w]west of the [x]River, from Tiphsah even to (BK)Gaza, (BL)over all the kings [y]west of the [z]River; and (BM)he had peace on all sides around about him. 25 (BN)So Judah and Israel lived in security, every man under his vine and his fig tree, (BO)from Dan even to Beersheba, all the days of Solomon. 26 (BP)Solomon had [aa]40,000 stalls of horses for his chariots, and 12,000 horsemen. 27 And these deputies sustained King Solomon and all who came to King Solomon’s table, each in his month; they left nothing lacking. 28 They also brought barley and straw for the horses and (BQ)swift steeds to the place where it should be, each according to the legal judgment for him.
29 And (BR)God gave Solomon wisdom and very great discernment and breadth of understanding in his heart, (BS)like the sand that is on the seashore. 30 And Solomon’s wisdom surpassed the wisdom of all (BT)the sons of the east and (BU)all the wisdom of Egypt. 31 And (BV)he was wiser than all men, than (BW)Ethan the Ezrahite, Heman, (BX)Calcol, and [ab]Darda, the sons of Mahol; and the renown of his name was in all the surrounding nations. 32 (BY)He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005. 33 And he spoke of trees, from the cedar that is in Lebanon even to the hyssop that grows on the wall; he spoke also of animals and birds and creeping things and fish. 34 [ac]And men (BZ)came from all peoples to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all the kings of the earth who had heard of his wisdom.
Covenant with Hiram King of Tyre
5 [ad](CA)Then Hiram king of Tyre sent his servants to Solomon, when he heard that they had anointed him king in place of his father, for (CB)Hiram had [ae]always been one who loved David. 2 And (CC)Solomon sent word to Hiram, saying, 3 “You know that (CD)David my father was unable to build a house for the name of Yahweh his God because of the wars which surrounded him, until Yahweh put them under the soles of his feet. 4 But now (CE)Yahweh my God has given me rest on every side; there is neither adversary nor [af]calamity. 5 So behold, (CF)I [ag]intend to build a house for the name of Yahweh my God, as Yahweh spoke to David my father, saying, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, he will build the house for My name.’ 6 So now, command that they cut for me (CG)cedars from Lebanon, and my servants will be with your servants; and I will give you wages for your servants according to all that you say, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.”
7 Now it happened, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, he was very glad and said, “Blessed be Yahweh today, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.” 8 So Hiram sent word to Solomon, saying, “I have heard the message which you have sent me; I will do [ah]what you desire concerning the cedar and cypress timber. 9 My servants will bring them down from Lebanon to the sea; and I will make them into rafts to go by sea (CH)to the place where you [ai]direct me, and I will have them broken up there, and you shall carry them away. Then (CI)you shall accomplish my desire by giving food to my household.” 10 So [aj]Hiram [ak]gave Solomon [al]as much as he desired of the cedar and cypress timber. 11 (CJ)Solomon then gave Hiram [am]20,000 kors of wheat as food for his household, and [an]20 kors of beaten oil; thus Solomon would give Hiram year by year. 12 (CK)Now Yahweh gave wisdom to Solomon, just as He [ao]promised him; and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them cut a covenant.
13 And (CL)King Solomon raised up forced laborers from all Israel; and the forced laborers [ap]numbered 30,000 men. 14 And he sent them to Lebanon, 10,000 a month in [aq]shifts; they were in Lebanon a month and two months at home. And (CM)Adoniram was over the forced laborers. 15 And (CN)Solomon had 70,000 [ar]who carried loads, and 80,000 hewers of stone in the mountains, 16 (CO)besides Solomon’s 3,300 chief deputies who were over the [as]project and who ruled over the people who were doing the work. 17 Then (CP)the king commanded, and they quarried great stones, precious stones, to lay the foundation of the house with cut stones. 18 So Solomon’s builders and [at]Hiram’s builders and (CQ)the Gebalites [au]carved them out, and prepared the timbers and the stones to build the house.
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