1 Kings 3:23 Komentář

Solomon's reign looked bloody in the foregoing chapter, but the necessary acts of justice must not be called cruelty; in this chapter it appears with another face. We must not think the worse of God's mercy to his subjects for his judgments on rebels. We have here, I. Solomon's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter (Kg1 3:1). II. A general view of his religion (Kg1 3:2-4). III. A particular account of his prayer to God for wisdom, and the answer to that prayer (Kg1 3:5-15). IV. A particular instance of his wisdom in deciding the controversy between the two harlots (Kg1 3:16-28). And very great he looks here, both at the altar and on the bench, and therefore on the bench because at the altar.

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 3 This chapter relates the marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh's daughter, Kg1 3:1; his piety and devotion, Kg1 3:2; his prayer for wisdom and understanding, which was acceptable to God, who promised to grant his request, with an addition to it, Kg1 3:5; an instance and proof of the wisdom given him in determining a case between two harlots brought before him, which greatly raised his reputation, and gave him reverence among his people, Kg1 3:16.

And the king said, bring me a sword,.... The design of which might not at first appear to the court, and it might be thought strange, and greatly wondered at: what should be the meaning of it: and they brought a sword before the king; his commands were obeyed.

The two women indicate to us the church and the synagogue. The latter, after it tried to suppress the sacrament of human redemption and persecuted and killed the Redeemer through false accusations, claims, nevertheless, that its child should still be alive, that is, that the Jewish people should still be pleasing and acceptable to God and that he should give eternal life to the Mosaic law, which is dead. Since the [synagogue] is soaked in these errors, it perpetually quarrels with the church, which is represented by the other woman. However, the peaceful king settled the argument not by dividing but by gathering the children of both mothers, so that a single body might be created from the Jews and the Gentiles, whose head is Christ. And both mothers assert that they live under the same roof, because the church and the synagogue inhabit this world in dwellings, where they are mixed.

Is not that noble judgment of Solomon full of wisdom and justice? Let us see whether it is so. “Two women,” it says, “stood before King Solomon, and the one said to him, ‘Hear me, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house, and before the third day we gave birth and bore a son apiece and were together; there was no witness in the house, nor any other woman with us, only we two alone. And her son died this night, because she laid on him, and she arose at midnight, and took my son from my breast and laid him in her bosom, and her dead child she laid at my breast. And I arose in the morning to nurse my child and found him dead. And I examined him at dawn, and behold, it was not my son.’ And the other woman said, ‘No, but the living is my son, and the dead is your son.’ ” This was their dispute, in which either tried to claim the living child for herself and denied that the dead one was hers. Then the king commanded a sword to be brought and the infant to be cut in half, and either piece to be given to one, one half to the one, and one half to the other. Then the woman whose the child really was, moved by her feelings, cried out, “Do not divide the child, my lord; rather, let it be given to her and live, and do not kill it.” But the other answered: “Let it be neither mine nor hers; divide it.” Then the king ordered that the infant should be given to the woman who had said “do not kill it,” for, as it says, “her compassion earned over her son.”It is not wrong to suppose that the mind of God was in him; for what is hidden from God? What can be more hidden than the witness that lies deep within; into which the mind of the wise king as though to judge a mother’s feelings and elicited as it were the voice of a mother’s heart? For a mother’s feelings were laid bare when she chose that her son should live with another, rather than that he should be killed in his mother’s sight. It was therefore a sign of wisdom to distinguish between secret heart thoughts, to draw the truth from hidden springs and to pierce as it were with the sword of the Spirit not only the inward parts of the body but even of the mind and soul. It was the part of justice also that she who had killed her own child should not take away another’s but that the real mother should have her own back again. Indeed the Scriptures have declared this. “All Israel,” it says, “heard of the judgment that the king had judged, and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was present in judgment.” Solomon also himself had asked for wisdom, so that a prudent heart might be given him to hear and to judge with justice.

Such a Shechem is the church; for Solomon chose her whose hidden love he had discerned. Such a Shechem is Mary, whose soul God’s sword pierces and divides. Such a Shechem is a “coming up,” even as it appears in the meaning of the word. As to what the “coming up” is, hear Solomon speaking in reference to the church, “Who is she that comes up clothed in white, leaning on her brother?” She is radiant, a word expressed in Greek as aktinodes, because she is resplendent in faith and in works. To her children it is said, “Let your works shine before my Father, who is in heaven.”

The interpretation of Solomon's judgment on the quarrel of two harlot women (1 Kings 3) is clear as far as the simple history is concerned: that a boy of twelve years judged with an affection beyond his age for the depths of human nature. Hence, he was both admired and feared by all Israel, because he would not miss what was so skillfully concealed. But regarding typical understanding, as the Apostle says: All these things were written to happen to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the ages have come. (1 Corinthians 10:11) Some Greeks hold that this should be understood in reference to the Synagogue and the Church, and that all things should be referred to that time when, after the crucifixion and resurrection, the true Solomon, that is, the peaceful one, began to reign both in Israel and among the Gentile people. But that adulteresses and prostitutes are called Synagogue and Church in the Scriptures, there is no doubt.

Solomon marries Pharaoh's daughter, Kg1 3:1, Kg1 3:2. He serves God, and offers a thousand burnt-offerings upon one altar, at Gibeon, Kg1 3:3, Kg1 3:4. God appears to him in a dream at Gibeon; and asks what he shall give him, Kg1 3:5. He asks wisdom; with which God is well pleased, and promises to give him not only that, but also riches and honor; and, if obedient, long life, Kg1 3:6-14. He comes back to Jerusalem; and offers burnt-offerings and peace-offerings, and makes a feast for his servants, Kg1 3:15. His judgment between the two harlots, Kg1 3:16-27. He rises in the esteem of the people, Kg1 3:28.

SOLOMON MARRIES PHARAOH'S DAUGHTER. (Kg1 3:1) Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh--This was a royal title, equivalent to "sultan," and the personal name of this monarch is said to have been Vaphres. The formation, on equal terms, of this matrimonial alliance with the royal family of Egypt, shows the high consideration to which the Hebrew kingdom had now arisen. Rosellini has given, from the Egyptian monuments, what is supposed to be a portrait of this princess. She was received in the land of her adoption with great eclat; for the Song of Solomon and the forty-fifth Psalm are supposed to have been composed in honor of this occasion, although they may both have a higher typical reference to the introduction of the Gentiles into the church. and brought her into the city of David--that is, Jerusalem. She was not admissible into the stronghold of Zion, the building where the ark was (Deu 23:7-8). She seems to have been lodged at first in his mother's apartments (Sol 3:4; Sol 8:2), as a suitable residence was not yet provided for her in the new palace (Kg1 7:8; Kg1 9:24; Ch2 8:11). building . . . the wall of Jerusalem round about--Although David had begun (Psa 51:18), it was, according to JOSEPHUS, reserved for Solomon to extend and complete the fortifications of the city. It has been questioned whether this marriage was in conformity with the law (see Exo 34:16; Deu 7:3; Ezr 10:1-10; Neh 13:26). But it is nowhere censured in Scripture, as are the connections Solomon formed with other foreigners (Kg1 11:1-3); whence it may be inferred that he had stipulated for her abandonment of idolatry, and conforming to the Jewish religion (Psa 45:10-11).

Solomon's Marriage; Worship and Sacrifice at Gibeon; and Wise Judicial Sentence - 1 Kings 3 The establishment of the government in the hands of Solomon having been noticed in 1 Kings 2, the history of his reign commences with an account of his marriage to an Egyptian princess, and with a remark concerning the state of the kingdom at the beginning of his reign (Kg1 2:1-3). There then follows a description of the solemn sacrifice and prayer at Gibeon, by which Solomon sought to give a religious consecration to his government, and to secure the assistance of the Lord and His blessing upon it, and obtained the fulfilment of his desire (Kg1 2:4-15). And then, as a practical proof of the spirit of his government, we have the sentence through which he displayed the wisdom of his judicial decisions in the sight of all the people (Kg1 2:16-28).