1:7 That night God appeared 1 to Solomon and said to him, “Tell me 2 what I should give you.” 1:8 Solomon replied to God, “You demonstrated 3 great loyalty to my father David and have made me king in his place. 1:9 Now, Lord God, may your promise 4 to my father David be realized, 5 for you have made me king over a great nation as numerous as the dust of the earth. 1:10 Now give me wisdom and discernment so 6 I can effectively lead this nation. 7 Otherwise 8 no one is able 9 to make judicial decisions for 10 this great nation of yours.” 11
1 tn Or “revealed himself.”
2 tn Heb “ask.”
3 tn Heb “did.”
4 tn Heb “you word.”
5 tn Or “be firm, established.”
6 tn The cohortative with prefixed vav (ו) following the imperative here indicates purpose/result.
7 tn Heb “so I may go out before this nation and come in.” The expression “go out…and come in” here means “to lead” (see HALOT 425 s.v. יצא qal.4).
8 tn Heb “for.” The word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.
9 tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”
10 tn Heb “to judge.”
11 tn Heb “these numerous people of yours.”