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, ver. 1. II. A general view of his religion, ver. 2-4. III. A
particular account of his prayer to God for wisdom, and the answer to that
prayer, ver. 5-15. IV. A particular instance of his wisdom in deciding the
controversy between the two harlots, ver. 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.
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Solomon
Marries Pharaoh's Daughter.
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B. C. 1014.
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1
And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's
daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end
of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem
round about. 2 Only the people sacrificed in high places,
because there was no house built unto the name of the LORD,
until those days. 3 And Solomon loved the LORD, walking in the statutes
of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in high
places. 4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for
that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon
offer upon that altar.
We are here told
concerning Solomon,
I. Something that was
unquestionably good, for which he is to be praised and in which he is to be
imitated. 1. He loved the Lord, v. 3. Particular notice was
taken of God's love to him, 2 Sam. xii. 24. He had his name from it: Jedidiah--beloved
of the Lord. And here we find he returned that love, as John, the
beloved disciple, was most full of love. Solomon was a wise man, a rich man;
yet the brightest encomium of him is that which is the character of all the
saints, even the poorest, He loved the Lord, so the Chaldee; all that
love God love his worship, love to hear from him and speak to him, and so to
have communion with him. 2. He walked in the statutes of David his
father, that is, in the statutes that David gave him, ch. ii. 2,
3; 1 Chron. xxviii. 9, 10 (his dying father's charge was sacred, and as a
law to him), or in God's statutes, which David his father walked in before
him; he kept close to God's ordinances, carefully observed them and
diligently attended them. Those that truly love God will make
conscience of walking in his statutes. 3. He was very free and
generous in what he did for the honour of God. When he offered sacrifice he
offered like a king, in some proportion to his great wealth, a thousand
burnt-offerings, v. 4. Where God sows plentifully he expects to
reap accordingly; and those that truly love God and his worship will not
grudge the expenses of their religion. We may be tempted to say, To what
purpose is this waste? Might not these cattle have been given to the
poor? But we must never think that wasted which is laid out in the service
of God. It seems strange how so many beasts should be burnt upon one altar
in one feast, though it continued seven days; but the fire on the altar is
supposed to be more quick and devouring than common fire, for it represented
that fierce and mighty wrath of God which fell upon the sacrifices, that the
offerers might escape. Our God is a consuming fire. Bishop Patrick
quotes it as a tradition of the Jews that the smoke of the sacrifices
ascended directly in a straight pillar, and was not scattered, otherwise it
would have choked those that attended, when so many sacrifices were offered
as were here.
II. Here is something
concerning which it may be doubted whether it was good or no. 1. His
marrying Pharaoh's daughter, v. 1. We will suppose she was
proselyted, otherwise the marriage would not have been lawful; yet, if so,
surely it was not advisable. He that loved the Lord should, for his
sake, have fixed his love upon one of the Lord's people. Unequal matches of
the sons of God with the daughters of men have often been of pernicious
consequence; yet some think that he did this with the advice of his friends,
that she was a sincere convert (for the gods of the Egyptians are not
reckoned among the strange gods which his strange wives drew him in to the
worship of, ch. xi. 5, 6), and that the book of Canticles and the
45th Psalm were penned on this occasion, by which these nuptials were made
typical of the mystical espousals of the church to Christ, especially the
Gentile church. 2. His worshipping in the high places, and thereby tempting
the people to do so too, v. 2, 3. Abraham built his altars on
mountains (Gen. xii. 8; xxii. 2), and worshipped in a grove, Gen. xxi. 33.
Thence the custom was derived, and was proper, till the divine law confined
them to one place, Deut. xii. 5, 6. David kept to the ark, and did not care
for the high places, but Solomon, though in other things he walked in the
statutes of his father, in this came short of him. He showed thereby a
great zeal for sacrificing, but to obey would have been better. This was an
irregularity. Though there was as yet no house built, there was a tent
pitched, to the name of the Lord, and the ark ought to have been the centre
of their unity. It was so by divine institution; from it the high places
separated; yet while they worshipped God only, and in other things according
to the rule, he graciously overlooked their weakness, and accepted their
services; and it is owned that Solomon loved the Lord, though he burnt
incense in the high places, and let not men be more severe than God is.
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God's
Appearance to Solomon.
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B. C. 1014.
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5
In Gibeon the LORD
appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give
thee. 6 And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant
David my father great mercy, according as he 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 hast given him a son to sit on
his throne, as it is this day. 7 And now, O LORD
my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am
but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
8 And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast
chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for
multitude. 9 Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart
to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is
able to judge this thy so great a people? 10 And the speech
pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11 And God
said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for
thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the
life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern
judgment; 12 Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I
have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none
like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto
thee. 13 And I have also given thee that which thou hast not
asked, both riches, and honour: so that there shall not be any among the
kings like unto thee all thy days. 14 And if thou wilt walk in
my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did
walk, then I will lengthen thy days. 15 And Solomon awoke; and,
behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before
the ark of the covenant of the LORD,
and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a
feast to all his servants.
We have here an account of
a gracious visit which God paid to Solomon, and the communion he had with
God in it, which put a greater honour upon Solomon than all the wealth and
power of his kingdom did.
I. The circumstances of
this visit, v. 5. 1. The place. It was in Gibeon; that was the great
high place, and should have been the only one, because there the tabernacle
and the brazen altar were, 2 Chron. i. 3. There Solomon offered his great
sacrifices, and there God owned him more than in any other of the high
places. The nearer we come to the rule in our worship the more reason we
have to expect the tokens of God's presence. Where God records his name,
there he will meet us and bless us. 2. The time. It was by night, the night
after he had offered that generous sacrifice, v. 4. The more we
abound in God's work the more comfort we may expect in him; if the day has
been busy for him, the night will be easy in him. Silence and retirement
befriend our communion with God. His kindest visits are often in the night,
Ps. xvii. 3. 3. The manner. It was in a dream, when he was asleep, his
senses locked up, that God's access to his mind might be the more free and
immediate. In this way God used to speak to the prophets (Num. xii. 6) and
to private persons, for their own benefit, Job xxxiii. 15, 16. These divine
dreams, no doubt, were plainly distinguishable from those in which there are
divers vanities, Eccl. v. 7.
II. The gracious offer God
made him of the favour he should choose, whatever it might be, v. 5.
He saw the glory of God shine about him, and heard a voice saying, Ask
what I shall give thee. Not that God was indebted to him for his
sacrifices, but thus he would testify his acceptance of them, and signify to
him what great mercy he had in store for him, if he were not wanting to
himself. Thus he would try his inclinations and put an honour upon the
prayer of faith. God, in like manner, condescends to us, and puts us in the
ready way to be happy by assuring us that we shall have what we will for the
asking, John xvi. 23; 1 John v. 14. What would we more? Ask, and it shall
be given you.
III. The pious request
Solomon hereupon made to God. He readily laid hold of this offer. Why do we
neglect the like offer made to us, like Ahaz, who said, I will not ask?
Isa. vii. 12. Solomon prayed in his sleep, God's grace assisting him; yet it
was a lively prayer. What we are most in care about, and which makes the
greatest impression upon us when we are awake, commonly affects us when we
are asleep; and by our dreams, sometimes, we may know what our hearts are
upon and how our pulse beats. Plutarch makes virtuous dreams one evidence of
increase in virtue. Yet this must be attributed to a higher source.
Solomon's making such an intelligent choice as this when he was asleep, and
the powers of reason were least active, showed that it came purely from the
grace of God, which wrought in him these gracious desires. If his reins
thus instruct him in the night season, he must bless the Lord
who gave him counsel, Ps. xvi. 7. Now, in this prayer,
1. He acknowledges God's
great goodness to his father David, v. 6. He speaks honourably of his
father's piety, that he had walked before God in uprightness of heart,
drawing a veil over his faults. It is to be hoped that those who praise
their godly parents will imitate them. But he speaks more honourably of
God's goodness to his father, the mercy he had shown to him while he lived,
in giving him to be sincerely religious and then recompensing his sincerity
and the great kindness he had kept for him, to be bestowed on the family
when he was gone, in giving him a son to sit on his throne. Children
should give God thanks for his mercies to their parents, for the sure
mercies of David. God's favours are doubly sweet when we observe them
transmitted to us through the hands of those that have gone before us. The
way to get the entail perpetuated is to bless God that it has hitherto been
preserved.
2. He owns his own
insufficiency for the discharge of that great trust to which he is called, v.
7, 8. And here is a double plea to enforce his petition for wisdom:-- (1.)
That his place required it, as he was successor to David ("Thou hast
made me king instead of David, who was a very wise and good man: Lord,
give me wisdom, that I may keep up what he wrought, and carry on what he
began") and as he was ruler over Israel: "Lord, give me wisdom to
rule well; for they are a numerous people, that will not be managed without
much care, and they are thy people, whom thou hast chosen, and therefore to
be ruled for thee, and the more wisely they are ruled the more glory thou
wilt have from them." (2.) That he wanted it. As one that had a humble
sense of his own deficiency, he pleads, "Lord, I am but a little
child (so he calls himself, a child in understanding, though his father
called him a wise man, ch. ii. 9); I know not how to go out
or come in as I should, nor to do so much as the common daily business
of the government, much less what to do in a critical juncture." Note,
Those who are employed in public stations ought to be very sensible of the
weight and importance of their work and their own insufficiency for it, and
then they are qualified for receiving divine instruction. Paul's question (Who
is sufficient for these things?) is much like Solomon's here, Who is
able to judge this thy so great a people? v. 9. Absalom, who was
a wise man, trembles at the undertaking and suspects his own fitness for it.
The more knowing and considerate men are the better acquainted they are with
their own weakness and the more jealous of themselves.
3. He begs of God to give
him wisdom (v. 9); Give therefore thy servant an understanding
heart. He calls himself God's servant, pleased with that relation
to God (Ps. cxvi. 16) and pleading it with him: "I am devoted to thee,
and employed for thee; give me that which is requisite to the services in
which I am employed." Thus his good father prayed, and thus he pleaded.
Ps. cxix. 125, I am thy servant, give me understanding. An
understanding heart is God's gift, Prov. ii. 6. We must pray for it (James i.
5), and pray for it with application to our particular calling and the
various occasions we have for it; as Solomon, Give me an understanding,
not to please my own curiosity with, or puzzle my neighbours, but to
judge thy people. That is the best knowledge which will be serviceable
to us in doing our duty; and such that knowledge is which enables us to discern
between good and bad, right and wrong, sin and duty, truth and
falsehood, so as not to be imposed upon by false colours in judging either
of others' actions or of our own.
4. The favourable answer
God gave to his request. It was a pleasing prayer (v. 10): The
speech pleased the Lord. God is well pleased with his own work in his
people, the desires of his own kindling, the prayers of his Spirit's
inditing. By this choice Solomon made it appear that he desired to be good
more than great, and to serve God's honour more than to advance his own.
Those are accepted of God who prefer spiritual blessings to temporal, and
are more solicitous to be found in the way of their duty than in the way to
preferment. But that was not all; it was a prevailing prayer, and prevailed
for more than he asked. (1.) God gave him wisdom, v. 12. He fitted
him for all that great work to which he had called him, gave him such a
right understanding of the law which he was to judge by, and the cases he
was to judge of, that he was unequalled for a clear head, a solid judgment,
and a piercing eye. Such an insight, and such a foresight, never was prince
so blessed with. (2.) He gave him riches and honour over and above into the
bargain (v. 13), and it was promised that in these he should as much
exceed his predecessors, his successors, and all his neighbours, as in
wisdom. These also are God's gift, and, as far as is good for them, are
promised to all that seek first the kingdom of God and the righteousness
thereof, Matt. vi. 33. Let young people learn to prefer grace to gold in
all that they choose, because godliness has the promise of the life that
now is, but the life that now is has not the promise of
godliness. How completely blessed was Solomon, that had both wisdom and
wealth! He that has wealth and power without wisdom and grace is in danger
of doing hurt with them; he that has wisdom and grace without wealth and
power is not capable of doing so much good with them as he that has both.
Wisdom is good, is so much the better, with an inheritance, Eccles. vii. 11.
But, if we make sure of wisdom and grace, these will either bring outward
prosperity with them or sweeten the want of it. God promised Solomon riches
and honour absolutely, but long life upon condition (v. 14). If
thou wilt walk in my ways, as David did, then I will lengthen thy days.
He failed in the condition; and therefore, though he had riches and honour,
he did not live so long to enjoy them as in the course of nature he might
have done. Length of days is wisdom's right-hand blessing, typical of
eternal life; but it is in her left hand that riches and honour are, Prov.
iii. 16. Let us see here, [1.] That the way to obtain spiritual blessings is
to be importunate for them, to wrestle with God in prayer for them, as
Solomon did for wisdom, asking that only, as the one thing needful.
[2.] That the way to obtain temporal blessings is to be indifferent to them
and to refer ourselves to God concerning them. Solomon had wisdom given him
because he did ask it and wealth because he did not ask it.
5. The grateful return
Solomon made for the visit God was pleased to pay him, v. 15. He
awoke, we may suppose in a transport of joy, awoke, and his sleep was
sweet to him, as the prophet speaks (Jer. xxxi. 26); being satisfied of
God's favour, he was satisfied with it, and he began to think what he
should render to the Lord. He had made his prayer at the high place at
Gibeon, and there God had graciously met him; but he comes to Jerusalem to
give thanks before the ark of the covenant, blaming himself, as it
were, that he had not prayed there, the ark being the token of God's
presence, and wondering that God had met him any where else. God's passing
by our mistakes should persuade us to amend them. There he, (1.) Offered a
great sacrifice to God. We must give God praise for his gifts in the
promise, though not yet fully performed. David used to praise God's word,
as well as his works (Ps. lvi. 10, and particularly, 2 Sam. vii. 18),
and Solomon trod in his steps. (2.) He made a great feast upon the
sacrifice, that those about him might rejoice with him in the grace of God.
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The
Wisdom of Solomon.
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B. C. 1014.
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16
Then came there two women, that were harlots, unto the king, and
stood before him. 17 And the one woman said, O my lord, I and
this woman dwell in one house; and I was delivered of a child with her in
the house. 18 And it came to pass the third day after that I was
delivered, that this woman was delivered also: and we were together; there
was no stranger with us in the house, save we two in the house.
19 And this woman's child died in the night; because she overlaid it.
20 And she arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while thine
handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my
bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to give my child suck,
behold, it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning, behold, it
was not my son, which I did bear. 22 And the other woman said,
Nay; but the living is my son, and the dead is thy son. And
this said, No; but the dead is thy son, and the living is my
son. Thus they spake before the king. 23 Then said the king, The
one saith, This is my son that liveth, and thy son is the
dead: and the other saith, Nay; but thy son is the dead, and my son is
the living. 24 And the king said, Bring me a sword. And they
brought a sword before the king. 25 And the king said, Divide
the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the
other. 26 Then spake the woman whose the living child was
unto the king, for her bowels yearned upon her son, and she said, O my lord,
give her the living child, and in no wise slay it. But the other said, Let
it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. 27
Then the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in no wise
slay it: she is the mother thereof. 28 And all Israel
heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king:
for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.
An instance is here given
of Solomon's wisdom, to show that the grant lately made him had a real
effect upon him. The proof is fetched, not from the mysteries of state and
the policies of the council-board, though there no doubt he excelled, but
from the trial and determination of a cause between party and party, which
princes, though they devolve them upon their judges, must not think it below
them to take cognizance of. Observe,
I. The case opened, not by
lawyers, but by the parties themselves, though they were women, which made
it the easier to such a piercing eye as Solomon had to discern between right
and wrong by their own showing. These two women were harlots, kept a public
house, and their children, some think, were born of fornication, because
here is no mention of their husbands. It is probable the cause had been
heard in the inferior courts, before it was brought before Solomon, and had
been found special, the judges being unable to determine it, that Solomon's
wisdom in deciding it at last might be the more taken notice of. These two
women, who lived in a house together, were each of them delivered of a son
within three days of one another, v. 17, 18. They were so poor that
they had no servant or nurse to be with them, so slighted, because harlots,
that they had no friend or relation to accompany them. One of them overlaid
her child, and, in the night, exchanged it with the other (v. 19,
20), who was soon aware of the cheat put upon her, and appealed to public
justice to be righted, v. 21. See, 1. What anxiety is caused by
little children, how uncertain their lives are, and to how many dangers they
are continually exposed. The age of infancy is the valley of the shadow of
death; and the lamp of life, when first lighted, is easily blown out. It is
a wonder of mercy that so few perish in the perils of nursing. 2. How much
better it was in those times with children born in fornication than commonly
it is now. harlots then loved their children, nursed them, and were loth to
part with them; whereas now they are often sent to a distance, abandoned, or
killed. But thus is was foretold that in the last days perilous times
should come, when people should be without natural affection, 2 Tim.
iii. 1, 3.
II. The difficulty of the
case. The question was, Who was the mother of this living child, which was
brought into court, to be finally adjudged either to the one or to the
other? Both mothers were vehement in their claim, and showed a deep concern
about it. Both were peremptory in their asseverations: "It is
mine," says one. "Nay, it is mine," says the other. Neither
will own the dead child, though it would be cheaper to bury that than to
maintain the other: but it is the living one they strive for. The living
child is therefore the parent's joy because it is their hope; and may not
the dead children be so? See Jer. xxxi. 17. Now the difficulty of the case
was that there was no evidence on either side. The neighbours, though it is
probable that some of them were present at the birth and circumcision of the
children, yet had not taken so much notice of them as to be able to
distinguish them. To put the parties to the rack would have been barbarous;
not she who had justice on her side, but she who was most hardy, would have
had the judgment in her favour. Little stress is to be laid on extorted
evidence. Judges and juries have need of wisdom to find out truth when it
thus lies hid.
III. The determination of
it. Solomon, having patiently heard what both sides had to say, sums up the
evidence, v. 23. And now the whole court is in expectation what
course Solomon's wisdom will take to find out the truth. One knows not what
to say to it; another, perhaps, would determine it by lot. Solomon calls for
a sword, and gives orders to divide the living child between the two
contenders. Now, 1. This seemed a ridiculous decision of the case, and a
brutal cutting of the knot which he could not untie. "Is this,"
think the sages of the law, "the wisdom of Solomon?" little
dreaming what he aimed at in it. The hearts of kings, such kings, are
unsearchable, Prov. xxv. 3. There was a law concerning the dividing of a
living ox and a dead one. (Exod. xxi. 35), but that did not reach this case.
But, 2. It proved an effectual discovery of the truth. Some think that
Solomon did himself discern it, before he made this experiment, by the
countenances of the women and their way of speaking: but by this he gave
satisfaction to all the company, and silenced the pretender. To find out the
true mother, he could not try which the child loved best, and must therefore
try which loved the child best; both pretended to a motherly affection, but
their sincerity will be tried when the child is in danger. (1.) She that
knew the child was not her own, but in contending for it stood upon a point
of honour, was well content to have it divided. She that had overlaid her
own child cared not what became of this, so that the true mother might not
have it: Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. By this it
appeared that she knew her own title to be bad, and feared Solomon would
find it so, though she little suspected she was betraying herself, but
thought Solomon in good earnest. If she had been the true mother she would
not have forfeited her interest in the child by agreeing so readily to this
bloody decision. But, (2.) She that knew the child was her own, rather than
the child should be butchered, gives it up to her adversary. How feelingly
does she cry out, O, my lord! give her the living child, v.
26. "Let me see it hers, rather than not see it at all." By this
tenderness towards the child it appeared that she was not the careless
mother that had overlaid the dead child, but was the true mother of the
living one, that could not endure to see its death, having compassion on the
son of her womb. "The case is plain," says Solomon; "what
need of witnesses? Give her the living child; for you all see, by
this undissembled compassion, she is the mother of it." Let
parents show their love to their children by taking care of them, especially
by taking care of their souls, and, with a holy violence, snatching them as
brands out of the burning. Those are most likely to have the comfort of
children that do their duty to them. Satan pretends to the heart of man, but
by this it appears that he is only a pretender, that he would be content to
divide with God, whereas the rightful sovereign of the heart will have all
or none.
IV. We are told what a
great reputation Solomon got among his people by this and other instances of
his wisdom, which would have a great influence upon the ease of his
government: They feared the king (v. 28), highly reverenced
him, durst not in any thing oppose him, and were afraid of doing an unjust
thing; for they knew, if ever it came before him, he would certainly
discover it, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, that is,
that wisdom with which God had promised to endue him. This made his face
to shine, Eccl. viii. 1. This strengthened him, Eccl. vii. 19.
This was better to him than weapons of war, Eccl. ix. 18. For this he
was both feared and loved.
