What did Solomon ask for when God invited him to choose a gift?

Atlas of Saints · Chapter summary

He asked for wisdom and knowledge to lead and worthily judge God’s great people. God granted them and also promised riches, wealth and glory unlike any king before or after him.

Chapter breakdown

Solomon offers sacrifices at Gabaon and chooses wisdom, which God gives him.

Solomon son of David was strengthened in his kingdom. The Lord his God was with him and greatly magnified him. Solomon gave orders to all Israel, captains of thousands and hundreds, rulers, judges of all Israel and family heads. He went with the whole multitude to the high place of Gabaon, where stood the Lord’s covenant tabernacle made in the wilderness by Moses, God’s servant. David had brought God’s ark from Cariathiarim to the place prepared for it in Jerusalem, where he had pitched a tabernacle for it. At Gabaon the brass altar made by Beseleel son of Uri son of Hur stood before the Lord’s tabernacle. Solomon and the assembly sought it, and he offered 1,000 victims on that altar before the covenant tabernacle.

That night God appeared to Solomon and invited him to ask what he wanted God to give him. Solomon recalled God’s great kindness to David and his making Solomon king in David’s place. He asked that God’s word promised to his father be fulfilled, since God had made him king over his great people, innumerable as the earth’s dust. He asked for wisdom and knowledge to come in and go out before the people, asking who could worthily judge so great a people.

God said this choice had pleased Solomon’s heart. He had not asked for riches, wealth, glory, the lives of those who hated him or many days of life, but for wisdom and knowledge to judge God’s people, over whom God had made him king. Wisdom and knowledge were granted. God would also give riches, wealth and glory so that no king before or after Solomon would be like him.

Solomon came from Gabaon’s high place to Jerusalem before the covenant tabernacle and reigned over Israel. He gathered 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen, placing them in chariot cities and with the king in Jerusalem. He made silver and gold in Jerusalem like stones, and cedar trees like the plentiful sycamores of the plains. The king’s merchants brought horses from Egypt and Coa, buying at a price: a four-horse chariot for 600 pieces of silver and a horse for 150. In the same manner a market was made in all the Hethite kingdoms and those of Syria’s kings.

The story inside

The chapter opens with Solomon strengthened and magnified by God. He gives orders to the named leaders and goes with the multitude to Gabaon, where Moses’ tabernacle and Beseleel’s altar stand; the ark has already been brought by David to Jerusalem. After the 1,000 victims, God appears that night and invites a request. Solomon links his kingship to God’s kindness to David and asks fulfillment of the promised word. His request concerns judging a people beyond counting like dust. God answers by distinguishing that request from wealth, glory, enemies’ lives and long life, granting wisdom and knowledge and promising the other stated gifts. The account then records Solomon’s return, chariots and horsemen, abundant materials and the merchants’ purchases with exact prices.

Lessons worth keeping

1
The worship locations are distinct. Moses’ wilderness tabernacle and the brass altar made by Beseleel, son of Uri, son of Hur, are at Gabaon, while David has placed the ark in Jerusalem. Keeping those details explains where Solomon offers without moving the ark to Gabaon.
2
Solomon gives a specific purpose for wisdom and knowledge: coming in and going out before God’s people and judging them worthily. God lists what he did not ask for, then grants the requested gifts and adds riches, wealth and glory. This is the response to Solomon in this account; it does not establish a promise of prosperity for every ruler or petitioner.
3
The closing numbers and prices belong to different parts of the record. There are 1,400 chariots and 12,000 horsemen stationed in chariot cities and Jerusalem. A four-horse chariot costs 600 pieces of silver and a horse 150. Egypt and Coa remain the named origins, with corresponding markets among Hethite and Syrian kings; no different place-name or purpose for the trade is supplied.

Test your recall

God strengthens and magnifies Solomon → he leads the assembly to Gabaon and offers 1,000 victims. God invites a request that night → Solomon asks wisdom and knowledge to judge the great people entrusted to him. That choice rather than the listed personal gifts → God grants wisdom and knowledge and promises unmatched riches, wealth and glory. Solomon returns to Jerusalem → the account records his forces, their locations, material abundance and the merchants’ priced purchases.

Source edition and notes

Douay–Rheims, revised by Richard Challoner (1749–1752). Project Gutenberg no. 1581. Locators refer to lines in the admitted pg1581.txt edition. Source notes may include Challoner commentary.

Lines 44390–44394
2 Paralipomenon Chapter 1 Solomon offereth sacrifices at Gabaon. His choice of wisdom which God giveth him.
Lines 44395–44416
1:1. And Solomon the son of David was strengthened in his kingdom, and the Lord his God was with him, and magnified him to a high degree. 1:2. And Solomon gave orders to all Israel, to the captains of thousands, and of hundreds, and to the rulers, and to the judges of all Israel, and the heads of the families: 1:3. And he went with all the multitude to the high place of Gabaon, where was the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, which Moses the servant of God made, in the wilderness. 1:4. For David had brought the ark of God from Cariathiarim to the place, which he had prepared for it, and where he had pitched a tabernacle for it, that is, in Jerusalem. 1:5. And the altar of brass, which Beseleel the son of Uri the son of Hur had made, was there before the tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon and all the assembly sought it: 1:6. And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar, before the tabernacle of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up on it a thousand victims.
Lines 44418–44430
1:7. And behold that night God appeared to him, saying: Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee. 1:8. And Solomon said to God: Thou hast shewn great kindness to my father David: and hast made me king in his stead. 1:9. Now therefore, O Lord God, let thy word be fulfilled, which thou hast promised to David my father: for thou hast made me king over thy great people, which is as innumerable as the dust of the earth. 1:10. Give me wisdom and knowledge that I may come in and go out before thy people: for who can worthily judge this thy people, which is so great?
Lines 44432–44440
1:11. And God said to Solomon: Because this choice hath pleased thy heart, and thou hast not asked riches, and wealth, and glory, nor the lives of them that hate thee, nor many days of life: but hast asked wisdom and knowledge, to be able to judge my people, over which I have made thee king, 1:12. Wisdom and knowledge are granted to thee: and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and glory, so that none of the kings before thee, nor after thee, shall be like thee.
Lines 44442–44461
1:13. Then Solomon came from the high place of Gabaon to Jerusalem before the tabernacle of the covenant, and reigned over Israel. 1:14. And he gathered to himself chariots and horsemen, and he had a thousand four hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen: and he placed them in the cities of the chariots, and with the king in Jerusalem. 1:15. And the king made silver and gold to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedar trees as sycamores, which grow in the plains in great multitude. 1:16. And there were horses brought him from Egypt, and from Coa by the king’s merchants, who went, and bought at a price, 1:17. A chariot of four horses for six hundred pieces of silver, and a horse for a hundred and fifty: in like manner market was made in all the kingdoms of the Hethites, and of the kings of Syria.