1 Kings 3:3-9

3:3 Solomon demonstrated his loyalty to the Lord by following ¹  the practices ²  of his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.

3:4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for it had the most prominent of the high places. ³  Solomon would offer up ⁴  a thousand burnt sacrifices on the altar there. 3:5 One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared ⁵  to Solomon in a dream. God said, “Tell ⁶  me what I should give you.” 3:6 Solomon replied, “You demonstrated ⁷  great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served ⁸  you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. ⁹  You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne. ¹⁰  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. ¹¹  3:8 Your servant stands ¹²  among your chosen people; ¹³  they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number. 3:9 So give your servant a discerning mind ¹⁴  so he can make judicial decisions for ¹⁵  your people and distinguish right from wrong. ¹⁶  Otherwise ¹⁷  no one is able ¹⁸  to make judicial decisions for ¹⁹  this great nation of yours.” ²⁰ 

[3:3]  ¹ tn Heb “Solomon loved the Lord by walking in.”

[3:3]  ² tn Or “policies, rules.”

[3:4]  ³ tn Heb “for it was the great high place.”

[3:4]  ⁴ tn The verb form is an imperfect, which is probably used here in a customary sense to indicate continued or repeated action in past time. See GKC 314 §107.b.

[3:5]  ⁵ tn Or “revealed himself.”

[3:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “ask.”

[3:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “did.”

[3:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “walked before.”

[3:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “in faithfulness and in innocence and in uprightness of heart with you.”

[3:6]  ¹⁰ tn 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.”

[3:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and I do not know going out or coming in.”

[3:8]  ¹² tn There is no verb expressed in the Hebrew text; “stands” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:8]  ¹³ tn Heb “your people whom you have chosen.”

[3:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a hearing heart.” (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)

[3:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to judge.”

[3:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “to understand between good and evil.”

[3:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “for”; the word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.

[3:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”

[3:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “to judge.”

[3:9]  ²⁰ tn Heb “your numerous people.”