to give · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
wisdom
חָכְמָ֤הchokh.mah
H2451
wisdom (in a good sense) · noun, common feminine singular absolute
knowledge
וּמַדָּע֙u.ma.Da'
H4093
intelligence or consciousness · conjunction + noun, common masculine singular absolute
out
וְאֵֽצְאָ֛הve.'e.tze.'Ah
H3318
to go (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common singular
in
וְאָב֑וֹאָהve.'a.Vo.'ah
H935
to go or come (in a wide variety of applications) · conjunction + verb, qal infinitive construct, 1st person common singular
before
לִפְנֵ֥יlif.Nei
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
people
הָֽעָםha.'om-
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
judge
יִשְׁפֹּ֔טyish.Pot
H8199
to judge · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
people
עַמְּךָ֥'a.me.Kha
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
great
הַגָּדֽוֹלha.ga.Dol
H1419
great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Kings 3:9 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 thi…
Proverbs 2:2-6 So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding;
Proverbs 4:7 Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.
2 Samuel 5:2 Also in time past, when Saul was king over us, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel: and the LORD said to thee, Thou shalt…
Psalms 119:34 Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.
Proverbs 3:13-18 Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.
Numbers 27:17 Which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the congregati…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 2 Chronicles 1:1-12
Here is, I. Solomon's great prosperity, Ch2 1:1. Though he had a contested title, yet, God being with him, he was strengthened in his kingdom; his heart and hands were strengthened, and his interest in the people. God's presence will be our strength.
II. His great piety and devotion. His father was a prophet, a psalmist, and kept mostly to the ark; but Solomon, having read much in his Bible concerning the tabernacle which Moses built and the altars there, paid more respect to them than, it should seem, David had done. Both did well, and let neither be censured. If the zeal of one be carried out most to one instance of religion, and of another to some other instance, let them not judge nor de…
HIS CHOICE OF WISDOM IS BLESSED BY GOD. (Ch2 1:7-13)
In that night did God appear unto Solomon--(See on Kg1 3:5).
Adam Clarke on 2 Chronicles 1:9
Let thy promise - דברך debarcha, thy word; פתגמך pithgamach, Targum. It is very remarkable that when either God or man is represented as having spoken a word then the noun פתגם pithgam is used by the Targumist; but when word is used personally, then he employs the noun מימרא meymera, which appears to answer to the Λογος of St. John, Joh 1:1, etc.
John Gill on 2 Chronicles 1:7
In that night did God appear unto Solomon,.... From hence to the end of 2 Chronicles 1:12 it is the same with 1 Kings 3:5. See Gill on 1 Kings 3:5, 1 Kings 3:6, 1 Kings 3:7, 1 Kings 3:8, 1 Kings 3:9, 1 Kings 3:10, 1 Kings 3:11, 1 Kings 3:12, 1 Kings 3:13, 1 Kings 3:14, 1 Kings 3:15
Keil & Delitzsch on 2 Chronicles 1:1-13
Ch2 1:1-6
The sacrifice at Gibeon, and the theophany. - Ch2 1:1-6. When Solomon had established himself upon his throne, he went with the princes and representatives of the congregation of Israel to Gibeon, to seek for the divine blessing upon his reign by a solemn sacrifice to be offered there before the tabernacle. Ch2 1:1 forms, as it were, the superscription of the account of Solomon's reign which follows. In וגו ויּתחזּק = Solomon established himself in his kingdom, i.e., he became strong and mighty in his kingdom, the older commentators saw a reference to the defeat of Adonijah, the pretender to the crown, and his followers (1 Kings 2). But this view of the words is too narrow; we find…
The Church Fathers
Hence, finally, Solomon is reported to have had several wives at once, to whom the Lord had said: "There has not been a wise man like you before you, and after you there shall not be." Because, therefore, the Lord had given him a multitude of prudence, "like the sand of the sea," that he might judge his people "in wisdom," therefore he was able to exercise several virtues at once.
The truth, and the whole Word, is full of difficulty and obscurity; and as it were with a small instrument we are undertaking a great work, when with merely human wisdom we pursue the knowledge of the self-existent, and in company with, or not apart from, the senses, by which we are borne hither and thither and led into error, we apply ourselves to the search after things that are only to be grasped by the mind, and we are unable by meeting bare realities with bare intellect to approximate somewhat more closely to the truth and to mold the mind by its concepts. Now the subject of God is harder to come at, in proportion as it is more perfect than any other and is open to more objections, and the solutions of them are more laborious. For every objection, however small, stops and hinders the course of our argument and cuts off its further advance, just like people who suddenly check with the rein the horses in full career and turn them right round by the unexpected shock. Thus Solomon, who was the wisest of all people, whether before him or in his own time, to whom God gave breadth of heart and a flood of contemplation, more abundant than the sand, even he, the more he entered into the depth, the more dizzy he became, and he declared the furthest point of wisdom to be the discovery of how very far off it was from him.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Gibeon — Hill-city, “one of the royal cities, greater than Ai, and all the men thereof were mighty” (Josh. 10:2). Its inhabitants were Hivites (11:19). It lay within the territory of Benjamin, and became a…
Solomon — Peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David’s second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father…
Communion · . — .
God · .To — .To
Humility · EXEMPLIFIED — EXEMPLIFIED
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Solomon received wisdom and knowledge so he could govern (Hebrew shapat) well. The word shapat, often rendered “judge” (e.g., in Judges), can also mean “govern.”
Rashi on 2 Chronicles 1:10
and I shall go forth before this people and come in And also, a king requires a wise heart to know how to judge, and I am young and tender. Even a thousand wise men would have difficulty judging such a large nation, because it is impossible that they should not have many disputes, which they come to litigate, and he has no time to deliberate on their case, for while this one is complaining and does not stop talking, another one comes and cries. Now who can decide a thousand legal decisions in one day, except one who is wise and astute, endowed with the spirit of God? Therefore, this I request, that You give me wisdom and knowledge to judge this great people of Yours, for this is what I requi…
