as the effets of a good Underſitan:iling ; and he thar, lives in the negle& of his Duties, or the prattice of Wickedneſs, is called a F.ol, and one void of Underſtanding. 2 Or, govern, as that word is uſed, Judges 3: 10; and 4:4: Pſal: 7:8: and 67. 4: Iſa: 2: 4:and16.5. a To wit, in Cauſes and Controverſies among my people ; that I may nor through miſtakes, or prejudices, or paſſions, give wrong Sentences, and call evil good, or good evil. b Of himſelf, or withour thy graci- ous aſſiſtance.
Io And the ſpeech pleaſed the LORDe, that Solomon had asked chis ching.
c How ſuch adreaming Prayer could pleaſe God, ſee in the Notes en v. 5, and 6.
11 And God faid unto him, Becauſe thou haſt asked this thing, and haſt not asked for thy ſelf + long life, neither haſt asked riches for thy ſelf, nor haſt asked the life of thine enemies «4, but haſt asked for thy fe! underſtanding Þ to diſcern judgment ;
4 That God would take away their lives, or put them into thy power to deſtroy them.
I2 Behold, I have done according tothy word e: lo, I have given thee a wiſe and an underſtanding heart f, ſo that there was none g like thee before thee, neither after thee ſhall any ariſe like unto thee .*.. e I have granted, and do at this preſent grant unto thee thy de- fire. And accordingly at this time God did infuſe into him a far higher degree, and greater meaſure of Wiſdom than he naturally had. F i.e. Wiſdom to govern thy people, to know and do thy ſe- veral Duties ; which was the thing that Solemon deſired, v- 7, 9. and the effets whereof here follow, v. 16, &c, and withal, all Divine and Humane Wiſdom, the Knowledge of all Things, of all the Arts and SCIENCES as may be gathered from 1 Kings 4. 29, &c. and that in a far greater proportion than by his years, and the time he could get for his ſtudy, could poſſibly produce. g Either, no King : or ra- ther, no Man : for he is herein preferred not only before all Kings, bur before al men, chap. 4. 31. nomeer Man lince the Fall equalled, im, to wit, in univerſal Knowledge, and eſpecially inthe Art of well-governing his People. .*. Que#. Did not the Apoſtles excel him? Ai. They did notin Natural and Political Knowledge, bur only in the Knowledge of the Myſteries of Faith, which were |
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more freely and more fully imparted in thoſe Times ; the ignorance whereof was no diſparagement to Solomons Wiſdom, becauſe they were not diſcoverable by any Creature without Divine Revelation, which God ſaw fir not to afferd in Solomons time. I know no in= convenience in affirming that So/omons natural Capacities were higher than any of the Apoſtles ; and Sol:mon had a more comprehenſive Knowledge cf all things known in that Age, than the Apoſtles had in a!l the Diſcoveries of their Age. PEEL |
13 And 1 have alſo * given þ thee thac which thou haſt not asked, both riches and henour, ſo that there
[| (hall not be 3 any among the Kings like unto thee all thy days k.
hEirher, Firſt, I have granted and decreed to give: for words ſignifying ation, are oft pur only for the purpoſe of the ation. Or rather, Secondly, 1will give, as it is expretſcd in the Parallel place, 2 Chron, 1. 12. 1 will as certainly give them, as if I had attually done it ;. for futuye certain things are oft exprefled in Scripture in the paſt time, as is well known to all. 7 Soit is true of all the ſuc« ceeding Kings of Iſrael, of whom he ſpeaks: Or hath not been, ay It 1s in the Hebrew : and ſo it may be true of all the Kings that then were or had been in the World, whereof none was like to himy to wit. 1n all the things here mentioned, and wherein he is compa« red with them, which isnot only in Riches, but alſo in Wiſdom, and in Honour or Renown. & To wit, of thy Life. Whereby he ſignifies, that theſe Gifts of God were not temporary and tranhenty
" _y were 1n Saul, but ſuch as ſhould abide with him whilſt he ived.
bs And if thou wilt walk in my ways 1, to keep my ſta
David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days.
{ This Caution God gives him, leſt his great Wiſdom ſhould make him proud, or careleſs, or preſumptuous, as if he were out of all danger; and tooblige him to more care and circumſpe&ion to avoid the ſnares and miſchiefs to which ſo much proſperity and glor would probably expoſe him ; and withal to juſtitie himſelf in caſe he ſhould afterwards alter the courſe of his Providence towards Solomon ; and that, when Men are ſurprized with Selomoas dread= ful fall, they might know, it was no ſurpriſal ro God , bur that he wr foreſce it, and would over-rule it to Lis own Glory one way or OTNETe ;
I5 And Solomon awoke, and behold, is was a dream 2} and he came co Jeruſalem, and ſtood before the ark of the covenant of the LORD », and offered up burnt-offerings o, and offered peace-offeringsp, and made a feaſt to all his ſervants, |
” i.e. He perceived that it was a Dream 3 not a vain Dream, wherewith Men are commonly detuded ; but a Divine Dream, af- {juring him of the thing : which he knew, partly, by a Divine Im- preſſion and Inſpiration thereof in his mind after he was awakened : and partly, by the vaſt alteration which he preſently found within himielf in point of Wiſdom 2nd Knowledge. » Which was there in the Ciry of David, 2 Sam.6. 17. before which he preſented him= ſelf in way of holy Miniftrationand Adoration, which may be noted by the word, ſt-0d. Or, that word may note his abode there for ſome conſiderable time,as the offering ot ſo many Sacrifices required. o Chiefly for the expiation of his and his peoples Sin, through the Blood of Chriſt; manifeſtly ſignified in theſe Sacrifhices. p Solemn« ly to praiſe God for all his Mercies, and eſpecially for giving him a quier and fixed poſſeſſion of the Kingdom, and for his glorious Appearance to himin a Dream, and for the great promiſe therein made to him, and the aCtual accompliſhment of it ſince wrought in
him,
16 © Then came there two women that were harlots