Poole on 1 Kings 3:5-9: Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom

Verse 5:[1]  (1 Kings 9:2; 2 Chron. 1:7) In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon (Num. 12:6; Matt. 1:20; 2:13, 19) in a dream by night:  and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

[The Lord appeared]  In what form the Scripture has not expressed (Menochius).

[Through a dream by night[2] (thus Vatablus)]  Others:  in a nocturnal dream (certain interpreters in Vatablus, Piscator); through a dream in the same night (Junius and Tremellius), which immediately followed the sacrifice of Solomon, 2 Chronicles 1:7 (Malvenda out of Junius).  But the relative pronoun is not expressed here, but only the article is found (Piscator).  [The Hebrew is ‎הַלָּיְלָה, the night.]  Question:  Wherefore was this dream, or how was he able to pray in a dream?  Response 1:  It is the constant opinion of all, which also appears to be true; that in his dreams Solomon neither properly prayed, nor merited, because he had not the use of his free choice.  At the same time, wisdom is said to have been granted upon the prayer of Solomon, as Solomon teaches, Wisdom of Solomon 7:7.[3]  This is no small difficulty (Sanchez).  But it is to be said, that God did not respond to the prayer that Solomon offered in his dreams, but that he had while waking, at many other times (Sanchez out of Augustine and Thomas[4]), and on that very same night before sleep (Tirinus, thus Serarius); likewise after sleep; because, waking, he immediately sprung from his bed and worshipped God, says Josephus,[5] and renewed this prayer (Serarius).  Solomon does not please God by sleeping, but God appeared to him in dreams, because he had pleased him by keeping vigils and meditation; says Bonaventure[6] (Sanchez).  In some way he truly prayed while sleeping; because that vehement prayer for wisdom, which preceded, brought it to pass, that his very prayer while dreaming was in a certain way a human act; that is, with respect to the cause, from which arises that sort of prayer of one dreaming; which Thomas, Summa Theologiæ 2:2:95:6, calls an interior cause.  For,

All the thoughts that are turned over by the Waking mind,

Friendly repose returns at night,[7]

says Claudianus.[8]  And thus the dream of adultery is able to lead to Tartarus, and,

(God) is present as a witness in sleep, if there is any imitated pleasure[9]

(Serarius).

Thus Lucretius,[10] Concerning the Nature of Things[11] 4,

Dreams, which play tricks on the mind…

Are not the temples of the gods…

But each one makes them for himself.  For while, prostrated in sleep,

The limbs rest, the mind without its burdens frolics;

Whatever one shuns in the light of day, it does in darkness, etc.

Thus Seneca in Octavia 739-742,

Whatever intense vigor agitates the mind,

It, sacred and secret, in quiet brings back,

With swift perception, etc.

A dream, says Nonnus,[12] is an example of an accomplished work.  Thus Gregory of Nyssa,[13] in his On the Making of Man, says, that some dreams are like a lyre, the strings of which, even when the fingers or plectrum cease, are yet moving and sounding.  Hence Basil,[14] in his Second Oration on Prayer:  Do not render the half part of life useless; but divide the time of night, one part of which give to sleep, another part to prayer, and indeed, let even sleep itself meditate upon piety:  for the imaginations that arise in dreams are usually wont to be, as it were, certain resonances of diuturnam/lasting [perhaps diurnarum, of the day, is to be read] cares.  This appears to have been Solomon’s case (Sanchez).  Solomon while waking pondered the matter soundly and thoroughly, and petitioned for it while sleeping; for what things we earnestly desire while waking, those things are accustomed to occur in dreams (Martyr).  Response 2:  It appears more probable that this was a divine dream, and sent specifically by God; neither so much a dream as a prophetic dream or ecstasy, which sort was the dream of Adam, Genesis 2.  Such also was the dream of Abraham, Genesis 15, and of Joseph, Genesis 37:5.  It is proven, 1.  because here was a true appearance and speaking of God, which Solomon received, as the prophets were receiving the oracles of God through visions, both nocturnal and diurnal.  Solomon responds at length, and was able to speak no less wisely than even a waking man.  2.  God grants a reward to this request, and actually in sleep bestowed wisdom upon him.  Thus Lyra, Dionysius, Salmeron,[15] Suarez,[16] Hugo,[17] and the Glossa,[18] etc.  3.  In 2 Chronicles 1:7, where this same history is narrated, there is no mention of a dream, but only that God appeared.  Therefore, it was a true vision.  Objection:  But sleep hinders the use of reason, etc., because at that time the senses are bound.  Response:  In natural sleep this is true, but not in divine sleep.  For God is able to infuse intelligible ideas, without conversion to images in the imagination, and these do not hinder sleep; or rather is able thus to reinforce and clarify the imagination, and to dispel all the vapors that impede it in sleep, so that the mind is able true to apprehend and to judge; with the external senses in the meantime kept in the same disposition that they have in natural sleep; as Suarez teaches.  Also, the Lord appeared by night, because by day Solomon had been occupied in the offering of sacrifices (Lapide).

In a dream:  Question:  How could Solomon pray in his dream, or that prayer be acceptable to God, as this was, verse 10?  Answer:  The dreams of men are not such insignificant things as many imagine.  That good dreams are oftentimes praiseworthy, and evil dreams blameworthy, is not only the opinion of the Jews and Christians, but of divers of the wiser and better heathens; and the reason hereof is evident, because men’s dreams are commonly the images of their minds and tempers, and do only reflect and represent, though but faintly and imperfectly, those very things which are most imprinted upon their hearts by their waking meditations and daily conversation; and therefore it is not unreasonable, that either the sinful dreams of evil-minded men should be imputed to them, and punished in them, or the virtuous dreams of good men be imputed to and rewarded in them:  which was Solomon’s case; for his heart having been daily and constantly employed in passionate longings and prayers for the wisdom which here he begs, it was a natural and likely thing that his heart should, as it did, work that way even in his dreams.  Although, to speak truly and strictly, Solomon’s prayer made in his dream would have been no way pleasing to God, nor profitable to himself, if it had not been the result of his daily and most serious practice; and though God signified his mind in a dream, yet it was Solomon’s waking prayers (which were shadowed by this dark representation) which God accepted and requited; and this acceptance of God was signified to him in an extraordinary manner, and by a Divine dream, which was one of those ways whereby God oft used to communicate his will to his prophets and people.  So the whole business lies thus:  Solomon dreamed that God bid him ask what he would, verse 5, and that he did ask wisdom, verse 6, etc., and that God accepted his desire, verse 10, and gave him that gracious answer, verse 11, etc.  And all this was done in a dream, but with this difference; Solomon’s prayer was but imaginary, but God’s answer was real, though conveyed in a dream.  And when he awoke, he knew by Divine inspiration that this was a dream sent from God to assure him that he would give him wisdom, and riches, and honour, and this with respect unto his frequent, constant, and fervent waking desires, which his dream of his prayers did sufficiently intimate.  See more on verse 6.  God said, that is, he dreamed that God said so.

[Ask what thou wilt]  He know what he wanted; but He wanted by inquiry the attention to be renewed, and his affection to be applied to the present matter (Menochius).

[‎שְׁאַ֖ל מָ֥ה אֶתֶּן־לָֽךְ׃]  Ask (understanding, of me) what I shall give to thee:  that is to say, what thou desirest that I should give to thee? or, Ask what I should give thee? (Vatablus).

Verse 6:[19]  (2 Chron. 1:8, etc.) And Solomon said, Thou hast shewed unto thy servant David my father great mercy (or, bounty[20]), according as he (1 Kings 2:4; 9:4; 2 Kings 20:3; Ps. 15:2) walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou (1 Kings 1:48) hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day.

Solomon said, that is, he dreamed that he said.  See on verse 5.  Or, he really said.  For although the use of reason is ordinarily so dark and imperfect in dreams, that such actings are not human actions; yet in extraordinary and Divine dreams it is but reasonable to allow something extraordinary.  For who can doubt but God may so clear up and assist a man’s reason in his dream, that he may have a true and strong apprehension of some things, which also may make a suitable impression upon the will or affections; and consequently such acts of the soul may be moral acts, and regardable by God and men?  And this might be a kind of ecstatical rapture, whereby his soul might be as it were carried out of his body, as St. Paul’s was, 2 Corinthians 12:3, for a season; in which case both his reason might clearly and distinctly apprehend God’s mind, and his gracious offer; and his will might make a free choice of wisdom; which therefore might be accepted and rewarded by God.

[Thou hast shown mercy]  That is, Thou hast conferred many blessings upon my father (Vatablus).

[As he walked in thy sight[21]]  Or before thee (Vatablus), that is, according to thy will, and in imitation of thee (Martyr):  that is to say, which mercy he requited (Menochius).

[In truth and righteousness]  That is, without any dissimulation toward God, and unrighteousness toward his neighbor (Vatablus).

In truth; either, first, Sincerely, and without dissimulation.  But that is more fully expressed in the following words, in uprightness of heart.  Or rather, secondly, In the true worship and service of God, in the profession, belief, practice, and defence of the truth, or of the true religion, or of God’s will or word, which is called truth, Proverbs 23:23; John 17:17; Galatians 3:1.  So truth here contains all his duties to God, as righteousness doth his duties to men, and uprightness the right manner of performing both sorts of duties.  Uprightness of heart with thee, that is, in thy judgment, to whom alone his heart was known; and to whom he oft appealed as the witness of his integrity; and with respect to whom he performed all his duties, even to men.  Thou hast kept, or, reserved, that which thou didst not reserve for Saul, whose posterity thou didst cut off from the kingdom.

Verse 7:[22]  And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father:  (1 Chron. 29:1) and I am but a little child:  I know not how (Num. 27:17) to go out or come in.

[Thou hast cause to reign]  Wherefore, since thou hast imposed this role, it also belongeth unto thee to bestow those things that are conducive for the administration of the Kingdom.  I have obtained the Kingdom by thy will, not by my strength or nature; indeed, I am a youth, and I had an older brother (Martyr).

[I am a little child[23]]  How old he was is uncertain; Scripture does not say (Martyr, similarly Sanchez).  He was twelve years old when he was anointed (Munster).  Thus Jerome and Ignatius.[24]  And it is the common opinion of the Hebrews, and of our men (Sanchez).  For he was born at the time when Amnon oppressed his sister[25] (Martyr).  You will say, he is called an old man, 1 Kings 11:4, 42, after forty years; that is, in his fifty-second year:  which does not appear to harmonize.  Responses:  1.  The fiftieth year does actually pertain to old age; 2.  premature old age is wont to happen to those that indulge Venus, which Solomon did[26] (Sanchez on verse 1).  To others the beginning of his kingdom was in his fifteenth or sixteenth year (Tostatus in Sanchez).  At this time Solomon was twenty years old (Lapide).  Others maintain that he entered into the kingdom in his twentieth year (Lapide on 1 Kings 11 in Sanchez).  [Sanchez moves the difficulty concerning Rehoboam; but that is more commodious resolved elsewhere.]  I am a child, that is, a youth (Menochius).  A child, with respect either to age, or to ability for such an office (Serarius).  A sincere confession of our infirmity greatly attracts the divine mercy (Sanchez).

I am but a little child; so he was in years; not as if he were now but twelve years old, as many gather from this name of child; for that name is given to Ishmael when eighteen years old, Genesis 21:14, 15,[27] and to Rehoboam when forty-one years old, 2 Chronicles 13:7,[28] where the word is the same in the Hebrew; and before this time David calls him a wise man, 1 Kings 2:9: but he was now not above twenty years old; and withal, (which he principally intends,) he was raw and unexperienced, as a child, in state affairs, and altogether unfit for so hard a task.

[Not knowing my going out and coming in]  That is, How I ought to conduct myself in the administration of the kingdom (Vatablus, similarly Junius, Piscator, Malvenda, Munster).  See Numbers 27:17 (Junius).  It is a Metaphor taken from a child (as he just called himself), who, by the teaching of his mother, learns to go out of, and to come into, the house (Lapide); or from shepherds, who go out from the house before the flock, and before the flock enter into the house; or from military officers (Vatablus).  This expression signifies power.  For, Princes, who have the key of the Kingdom, come in and go out as they please (Sanchez).

To go out or come in, that is, to govern my people, and manage affairs, as that phrase signifies, Numbers 27:17; Deuteronomy 31:2; Joshua 14:11.

Verse 8:[29]  And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou (Deut. 7:6) hast chosen, a great people, (Gen. 13:16; 15:5) that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude.

[In the midst of the people]  To be in the midst of the people is to have supervision of the people, a Metaphor taken from the overseers of works, who have regard to the people committed to them, so that they might discharge as diligently as possible the work enjoined upon them (Vatablus).  Plato orders that the royal city be established in the midst of the region,[30] so that all from all sides might have equal resort to the King (Malvenda).

Is in the midst of thy people, that is, is set over them to rule and guide them; a metaphor from the overseer of divers workmen, who usually is in the midst of them, that he may the better observe how each of them dischargeth his office.

[Of the people which thou hast chosen]  That is to say, as they excel in number, so also in dignity.  It is a more grievous fault, when sin is committed against the people of God; therefore, the office of princes that preside over Christians is difficult (Martyr).

Which thou hast chosen; thy peculiar people, whom thou takest special care of, and therefore wilt expect a more punctual account of my government of them.

Verse 9:[31]  (2 Chron. 1:10; Prov. 2:3-9) Give therefore thy servant an understanding (Heb. hearing[32]) heart (Ps. 72:1, 2) to judge thy people, that I may (Heb. 5:14) discern between good and bad:  for who is able to judge this thy so great a people?

[Thou shalt give to thy servant a teachable heart (thus the Syriac, similarly Vatablus), ‎לֵ֤ב שֹׁמֵ֙עַ֙]  A heart (mind [Vatablus], soul [Junius and Tremellius]) hearing (Montanus, Tigurinus), or understanding (Jonathan, Munster, Pagnine, Piscator), wise (Arabic, Septuagint in Mariana).  The prince that listens is wise; but also to hear is to obey; that is, no one knows how to command, except the one that knows how to obey (Mariana).  A heart obedient to God (Menochius, similarly Vatablus).  A heart receptive of the divine laws (Mariana); which hears doctrine, that is, prudence, from thee, and draws it into itself (Lapide).  A teachable heart, so that, although age, judgment, and experience might be wanting to it, it might cleave to the counsels of the wise, and allow itself to be Ruled by them (Sanchez).  Wisdom (concerning things to be done) and understanding (of the law), 2 Chronicles 1:10 (Grotius, similarly Sanchez).

An understanding heart; whereby I may both clearly discern, and faithfully perform, all the parts of my duty; for both these are spoken of in Scripture as the effects of a good understanding; and he that lives in the neglect of his duties, or the practice of wickedness, is called a fool, and one void of understanding.[33]

[So that it might be able to judge thy people]  That is, the lawsuits of thy people (Vatablus).  Advisers are not advantageous enough to princes devoid of wisdom, since they, while various counsels are propounded to them, often admit the worse (Martyr).

Judge, or, govern, as that word is used, Judges 3:10; 4:4; Psalm 7:8; 67:4; Isaiah 2:4; 16:5.  That I may discern between good and bad, to wit, in causes and controversies among my people; that I may not through mistakes, or prejudices, or passions, give wrong sentences, and call evil good, or good evil.

[For who shall be able, etc.]  Without thy special illumination (Lyra).

Who is able of himself, or without thy gracious assistance.

[Thy great people]  Hebrew:  heavy,[34] as in Numbers 20:20[35] (Junius).  It is also a Roman expression.  Grave and graviter signify much, say Nonius[36] and Titinius:[37]  This began to please her graviter/much,[38] says Cæcilius.[39]  Thus in Genesis 50:9;[40] Exodus 10:14[41] (Bochart’s A Sacred Catalogue of Animals 2:4:17:559).

[1] Hebrew:  ‎בְּגִבְע֗וֹן נִרְאָ֧ה יְהֹוָ֛ה אֶל־שְׁלֹמֹ֖ה בַּחֲל֣וֹם הַלָּ֑יְלָה וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֱלֹהִ֔ים שְׁאַ֖ל מָ֥ה אֶתֶּן־לָֽךְ׃

[2] Hebrew:  ‎בַּחֲל֣וֹם הַלָּ֑יְלָה.

[3] Wisdom of Solomon 7:7:  “Wherefore I prayed, and understanding was given me:  I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me.”

[4] Thomas Aquinas (c. 1224-1274) was perhaps the greatest of the mediæval scholastic theologians.  He wrote on much of the Bible, gathering together the comments, observations, and interpretations of the Fathers.

[5] Antiquities 8:2.

[6] John Bonaventure (1221-1274) joined the order of St. Francis in 1243, and he was made the general of the order in 1256.  His theological abilities and piety are esteemed by Romanists and Protestants alike.  Bonaventure is remembered for his Breviloquium and Commentary on Lombard’s Sentences, and he commented on a number of Biblical books.

[7] Panegyric on the Sixth Consulship of the Emperor Honorius, “Preface”.

[8] Claudius Claudianus (c. 370-404) was a Latin poet of the court of Emperor Honorius. He wrote works in honor of his patrons, and on mythology.

[9] See Ovid’s Metamorphoses 9:480, 481.

[10] Titus Lucretius Carus (c. 99-c. 55 BC) was a Roman poet and Epicurean philosopher.  He was a proponent of a materialistic atomism, and thus a critic of religions.

[11] De Rerum Natura.

[12] Nonnus (late fourth, early fifth century AD) was a Greek poet.  He wrote the Nonnus (late fourth, early fifth century AD) was a Greek poet.  He wrote the Dionysiaca, which relates the story of Dionysus’ travels to India.  He later converted to Christianity., which relates the story of Dionysus’ travels to India.  He later converted to Christianity.

[13] Gregory Nyssen (c. 332-396) was Bishop of Nyssa, and a divine of profound learning and great piety.  He was a fierce opponent of Arianism, and he took an active part in drafting the Constantinopolitan enlargement of the Nicene Creed.

[14] Basil the Great was a fourth century Church Father and stalwart defender of Nicean Trinitarianism.

[15] Alfonso Salmeron (1515-1585) was a Catholic priest, and one of the first Jesuits.  He wrote sixteen volumes of New Testament commentary.

[16] Francisco Suárez (1548-1617) was a Spanish Jesuit, esteemed by some as the greatest scholastic philosopher-theologian since Thomas Aquinas.  Suárez’s interests included international law, metaphysics, and theology.

[17] Hugh of St. Cher, also known as Hugo Cardinalis because he was the first Dominican to achieve the office of cardinal (c. 1200-1263), was a French Dominican Biblical scholar.  His exegetical works, covering the entire canon, have been gathered into eight substantial volumes.

[18] Anselm of Laon (died 1117) became the dean and chancellor of the cathedral school at Laon.  The great contribution of Anselm and his school is the Glossa Ordinaria, a collection of Biblical glosses from the Church Fathers.  This collection was begun by Anselm and completed by his students, and was eventually printed in the margins of the Vulgate.  The Glossa Ordinaria became the standard commentary on the Scriptures in Western Europe.

[19] Hebrew: ‎וַיֹּ֣אמֶר שְׁלֹמֹ֗ה אַתָּ֙ה עָשִׂ֜יתָ עִם־עַבְדְּךָ֙ דָוִ֣ד אָבִי֘ חֶ֣סֶד גָּדוֹל֒ כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ הָלַ֙ךְ לְפָנֶ֜יךָ בֶּאֱמֶ֧ת וּבִצְדָקָ֛ה וּבְיִשְׁרַ֥ת לֵבָ֖ב עִמָּ֑ךְ וַתִּשְׁמָר־ל֗וֹ אֶת־הַחֶ֤סֶד הַגָּדוֹל֙ הַזֶּ֔ה וַתִּתֶּן־ל֥וֹ בֵ֛ן יֹשֵׁ֥ב עַל־כִּסְא֖וֹ כַּיּ֥וֹם הַזֶּֽה׃

[20] Hebrew:  ‎חֶסֶד.

[21] Hebrew:  ‎כַּאֲשֶׁר֩ הָלַ֙ךְ לְפָנֶ֜יךָ.

[22] Hebrew:  ‎וְעַתָּה֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹהָ֔י אַתָּה֙ הִמְלַ֣כְתָּ אֶֽת־עַבְדְּךָ֔ תַּ֖חַת דָּוִ֣ד אָבִ֑י וְאָֽנֹכִי֙ נַ֣עַר קָטֹ֔ן לֹ֥א אֵדַ֖ע צֵ֥את וָבֹֽא׃

[23] Hebrew:  ‎וְאָֽנֹכִי֙ נַ֣עַר קָטֹ֔ן.

[24] Epistle to the Magnesians 3.

[25] 2 Samuel 12:24, 25; 13.

[26] 1 Kings 11:1-3.

[27] Genesis 21:14, 15:  “And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and took bread, and a bottle of water, and gave it unto Hagar, putting it on her shoulder, and the child (‎וְאֶת־הַיֶּלֶד), and sent her away:  and she departed, and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-sheba.  And the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child (‎אֶת־הַיֶּלֶד) under one of the shrubs.”

[28] 2 Chronicles 13:7:  “And there are gathered unto him vain men, the children of Belial, and have strengthened themselves against Rehoboam the son of Solomon, when Rehoboam was young (‎נַעַר) and tenderhearted, and could not withstand them.”

[29] Hebrew:  ‎וְעַ֙בְדְּךָ֔ בְּת֥וֹךְ עַמְּךָ֖ אֲשֶׁ֣ר בָּחָ֑רְתָּ עַם־רָ֕ב אֲשֶׁ֧ר לֹֽא־יִמָּנֶ֛ה וְלֹ֥א יִסָּפֵ֖ר מֵרֹֽב׃

[30] Laws 5, 6.

[31] Hebrew: ‎וְנָתַתָּ֙ לְעַבְדְּךָ֜ לֵ֤ב שֹׁמֵ֙עַ֙ לִשְׁפֹּ֣ט אֶֽת־עַמְּךָ֔ לְהָבִ֖ין בֵּֽין־ט֣וֹב לְרָ֑ע כִּ֣י מִ֤י יוּכַל֙ לִשְׁפֹּ֔ט אֶת־עַמְּךָ֥ הַכָּבֵ֖ד הַזֶּֽה׃

[32] Hebrew:  ‎שֹׁמֵעַ.

[33] Proverbs 7:7; 10:13; 12:11; 17:18; 24:30.

[34] Hebrew:  ‎הַכָּבֵד.

[35] Numbers 20:20:  “And he said, Thou shalt not go through.  And Edom came out against him with much people (‎בְּעַ֥ם כָּבֵ֖ד, with a heavy people), and with a strong hand.”

[36] Nonius Marcellus was a fourth century Latin grammarian and lexicographer.  In his De Compendiosa Doctrina, he deals with lexicography, grammar, and a host of special topics.

[37] Titinius (second century BC) was a Roman Comic playwright.  His work survives only in fragments, preserved mostly by later grammarians and lexicographers, including Nonius Marcellus, who cites him frequently.

[38] The Necklace.

[39] Cæcilius (second century BC) was a Roman Comic playwright.  He wrote forty-two plays, but only fragments survive, preserved by later author, including Nonius Marcellus.

[40] Genesis 50:9:  “And there went up with him both chariots and horsemen:  and it was a very great company (‎הַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה כָּבֵ֥ד מְאֹֽד׃).”

[41] Exodus 10:14:  “And the locusts went up over all the land of Egypt, and rested in all the coasts of Egypt:  very grievous (‎כָּבֵ֣ד מְאֹ֔ד) were they; before them there were no such locusts as they, neither after them shall be such.”