1 Kings 3:5-15

3:5 One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared ¹  to Solomon in a dream. God said, “Tell ²  me what I should give you.” 3:6 Solomon replied, “You demonstrated ³  great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served ⁴  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 stands ⁸  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 mind ¹⁰  so he can make judicial decisions for ¹¹  your people and distinguish right from wrong. ¹²  Otherwise ¹³  no one is able ¹⁴  to make judicial decisions for ¹⁵  this great nation of yours.” ¹⁶  3:10 The Lord ¹⁷  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 I ²⁰  grant your request, ²¹  and give ²²  you a wise and discerning mind ²³  superior to that of anyone who has preceded or will succeed you. ²⁴  3:13 Furthermore, I am giving ²⁵  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 instructions ²⁷  by obeying ²⁸  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 Trust ³³  in the Lord with all your heart, ³⁴ 

and do not rely ³⁵  on your own understanding. ³⁶ 

3:6 Acknowledge ³⁷  him in all your ways, ³⁸ 

and he will make your paths straight. ³⁹ 

[3:5]  ¹ tn Or “revealed himself.”

[3:5]  ² tn Heb “ask.”

[3:6]  ³ tn Heb “did.”

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Heb “walked before.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “in faithfulness and in innocence and in uprightness of heart with you.”

[3:6]  ⁶ 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]  ⁷ tn Heb “and I do not know going out or coming in.”

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

[3:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “your people whom you have chosen.”

[3:9]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “a hearing heart.” (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)

[3:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “to judge.”

[3:9]  ¹² tn Heb “to understand between good and evil.”

[3:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “for”; the word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.

[3:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”

[3:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “to judge.”

[3:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “your numerous people.”

[3:10]  ¹⁷ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in v.15 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[3:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “And the thing was good in the eyes of the Lord, for Solomon asked for this thing.”

[3:11]  ¹⁹ tn 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.”

[3:12]  ²⁰ tn This statement is introduced in the Hebrew text by the particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, “look”) which draws attention to and emphasizes what follows.

[3:12]  ²¹ tn 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.

[3:12]  ²² tn 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”).

[3:12]  ²³ tn Heb “heart.” (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)

[3:12]  ²⁴ tn Heb “so that there has not been one like you prior to you, and after you one will not arise like you.”

[3:13]  ²⁵ tn The translation assumes that the perfect tense here indicates that the action occurs as the statement is made.

[3:13]  ²⁶ tn Heb “so that there is not one among the kings like you all your days.” The LXX lacks the words “all your days.”

[3:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “walk in my ways.”

[3:14]  ²⁸ tn Or “keeping.”

[3:14]  ²⁹ tn Heb “walked.”

[3:14]  ³⁰ tn Heb “I will lengthen your days.”

[3:15]  ³¹ tn Heb “and look, a dream.”

[3:15]  ³² tn Or “tokens of peace”; NIV, TEV “fellowship offerings.”

[3:5]  ³³ sn 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.

[3:5]  ³⁴ sn The “heart” functions as a metonymy of subject encompassing mind, emotions and will (BDB 524 s.v. לֵב 2).

[3:5]  ³⁵ tn 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).

[3:5]  ³⁶ tn 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).

[3:6]  ³⁷ tn 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.

[3:6]  ³⁸ tn 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.

[3:6]  ³⁹ tn 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.