1 Raja-raja 3:4-10

3:4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for it had the most prominent of the high places. ¹  Solomon would offer up ²  a thousand burnt sacrifices on the altar there. 3:5 One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared ³  to Solomon in a dream. God said, “Tell ⁴  me what I should give you.” 3:6 Solomon replied, “You demonstrated ⁵  great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served ⁶  you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. ⁷  You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne. ⁸  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. ⁹  3:8 Your servant stands ¹⁰  among your chosen people; ¹¹  they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number. 3:9 So give your servant a discerning mind ¹²  so he can make judicial decisions for ¹³  your people and distinguish right from wrong. ¹⁴  Otherwise ¹⁵  no one is able ¹⁶  to make judicial decisions for ¹⁷  this great nation of yours.” ¹⁸  3:10 The Lord ¹⁹  was pleased that Solomon made this request. ²⁰ 

[3:4]  ¹ tn Heb “for it was the great high place.”

[3:4]  ² tn The verb form is an imperfect, which is probably used here in a customary sense to indicate continued or repeated action in past time. See GKC 314 §107.b.

[3:5]  ³ tn Or “revealed himself.”

[3:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “ask.”

[3:6]  ⁵ tn Heb “did.”

[3:6]  ⁶ tn Heb “walked before.”

[3:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “in faithfulness and in innocence and in uprightness of heart with you.”

[3:6]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn Heb “and I do not know going out or coming in.”

[3:8]  ¹⁰ tn There is no verb expressed in the Hebrew text; “stands” is supplied in the translation for clarification.

[3:8]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your people whom you have chosen.”

[3:9]  ¹² tn Heb “a hearing heart.” (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)

[3:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “to judge.”

[3:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “to understand between good and evil.”

[3:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “for”; the word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.

[3:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”

[3:9]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “to judge.”

[3:9]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “your numerous people.”

[3:10]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew term translated “Lord” here and in v.15 is אֲדֹנָי (’adonay).

[3:10]  ²⁰ tn Heb “And the thing was good in the eyes of the Lord, for Solomon asked for this thing.”