1 Kings 3:5-15

3:5 One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared¹ to Solomon in a dream. God said, “Tell² me what I should give you.” 3:6 Solomon replied, “You demonstrated³ great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served⁴ you faithfully, properly, and sincerely.⁵ You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne.⁶ 3:7 Now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in my father David’s place, even though I am only a young man and am inexperienced.⁷ 3:8 Your servant stands⁸ among your chosen people;⁹ they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number. 3:9 So give your servant a discerning mind¹⁰ so he can make judicial decisions for¹¹ your people and distinguish right from wrong.¹² Otherwise¹³ no one is able¹⁴ to make judicial decisions for¹⁵ this great nation of yours.”¹⁶ 3:10 The Lord¹⁷ was pleased that Solomon made this request.¹⁸ 3:11 God said to him, “Because you asked for the ability to make wise judicial decisions, and not for long life, or riches, or vengeance on your enemies,¹⁹ 3:12 I²⁰ grant your request,²¹ and give²² you a wise and discerning mind²³ superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you.²⁴ 3:13 Furthermore, I am giving²⁵ you what you did not request – riches and honor so that you will be the greatest king of your generation.²⁶ 3:14 If you follow my instructions²⁷ by obeying²⁸ my rules and regulations, just as your father David did,²⁹ then I will grant you long life.”³⁰ 3:15 Solomon then woke up and realized it was a dream.³¹ He went to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant, offered up burnt sacrifices, presented peace offerings,³² and held a feast for all his servants.

Proverbs 3:5-6

3:5 Trust³³ in the Lord with all your heart,³⁴

and do not rely³⁵ on your own understanding.³⁶

3:6 Acknowledge³⁷ him in all your ways,³⁸

and he will make your paths straight.³⁹

¹tn Or “revealed himself.”

²tn Heb “ask.”

³tn Heb “did.”

⁴tn Heb “walked before.”

⁵tn Heb “in faithfulness and in innocence and in uprightness of heart with you.”

⁶tn Heb “and you have kept to him this great loyalty and you gave to him a son [who] sits on his throne as this day.”

⁷tn Heb “and I do not know going out or coming in.”

⁸tn There is no verb expressed in the Hebrew text; “stands” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

⁹tn Heb “your people whom you have chosen.”

¹⁰tn Heb “a hearing heart.” (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)

¹¹tn Heb “to judge.”

¹²tn Heb “to understand between good and evil.”

¹³tn Heb “for”; the word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.

¹⁴tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”

¹⁵tn Heb “to judge.”

¹⁶tn Heb “your numerous people.”

¹⁷tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in v.15 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

¹⁸tn Heb “And the thing was good in the eyes of the Lord, for Solomon asked for this thing.”

¹⁹tn Heb “because you asked for this thing, and did not ask for yourself many days and did not ask for yourself riches and did not ask for the life of your enemies, but you asked for yourself understanding to hear judgment.”

²⁰tn This statement is introduced in the Hebrew text by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to and emphasizes what follows.

²¹tn Heb “I am doing according to your words.” The perfect tense is sometimes used of actions occurring at the same time a statement is made.

²²tn This statement is introduced by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to and emphasizes what follows. The translation assumes that the perfect tense here indicates that the action occurs as the statement is made (i.e., “right now I give you”).

²³tn Heb “heart.” (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)

²⁴tn Heb “so that there has not been one like you prior to you, and after you one will not arise like you.”

²⁵tn The translation assumes that the perfect tense here indicates that the action occurs as the statement is made.

²⁶tn Heb “so that there is not one among the kings like you all your days.” The LXX lacks the words “all your days.”

²⁷tn Heb “walk in my ways.”

²⁸tn Or “keeping.”

²⁹tn Heb “walked.”

³⁰tn Heb “I will lengthen your days.”

³¹tn Heb “and look, a dream.”

³²tn Or “tokens of peace”; NIV, TEV “fellowship offerings.”

³³sn The word בְּטַח (bÿtakh, “trust”) is used in the OT in (1) literal physical sense: to physically lean upon something for support and (2) figurative sense: to rely upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 105 s.v. I בְּטַח; HALOT 120 s.v. I בטח). The verb is often used with false securities, people trusting in things that prove to be worthless. But here the object of the secure trust is the Lord who is a reliable object of confidence.

³⁴sn The “heart” functions as a metonymy of subject encompassing mind, emotions and will (BDB 524 s.v. לֵב 2).

³⁵tn Heb “do not lean.” The verb שָׁעַן (sha’an, “to lean; to rely”) is used in (1) literal physical sense of leaning upon something for support and (2) figurative sense of relying upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 1043 s.v.). Here it functions figuratively (hypocatastasis: implied comparison); relying on one’s own understanding is compared to leaning on something that is unreliable for support (e.g., Isa 10:20).

³⁶tn Heb “your understanding.” The term בִּינָה (binah, “understanding”) is used elsewhere in this book of insight given by God from the instructions in Proverbs (Prov 2:3; 7:4; 8:14; 9:6, 10; 23:23). Here it refers to inherent human understanding that functions in relative ignorance unless supplemented by divine wisdom (Job 28:12-28; 39:26). The reflexive pronoun “own” is supplied in the translation to clarify this point. It is dangerous for a person to rely upon mere human wisdom (Prov 14:12; 16:25).

³⁷tn Heb “know him.” The verb יָדַע (yadah, “to know”) includes mental awareness of who God is and the consequential submission to his lordship. To know him is to obey him. The sage is calling for a life of trust and obedience in which the disciple sees the Lord in every event and relies on him. To acknowledge the Lord in every event means trusting and obeying him for guidance in right conduct.

³⁸tn The term דֶרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is figurative (hypocatastasis: implied comparison) referring to a person’s course of life, actions and undertakings (Prov 2:8; 3:6, 23; 11:5; 20:24; 29:27; 31:3; BDB 203 s.v. 5; cf. TEV “in everything you do”; NCV, NLT “in all you do”). This is a call for total commitment in trust for obedience in all things.

³⁹tn The verb יָשָׁר (yashar) means “to make smooth; to make straight” (BDB 444 s.v.). This phrase means “to make the way free from obstacles,” that is, to make it successful (e.g., Isa 40:3). The straight, even road is the right road; God will make the way smooth for the believer.