1 Kings 3:16-28 “When Wisdom Reigns”
Solomon has returned home from an awesome worship event to find duty waiting for him. • Worshipping at Gibeon – God had spoken to Solomon in a dream. • Heights of intimacy with the Lord are often cut short by the reality of living in a fallen world. o Coming home from a retreat – reality is waiting. • Solomon here demonstrates the wisdom God had granted him. o Never been responsible for someone before. o Recently married to Abishag o Recently married to an Egyptian Princess § Funny how marriage and kids can change everything around you!
16 Now two women who were harlots came to the king, and stood before him. • Amazing that any King would entertain a plea from 2 harlots o Shouldn’t they rather be taken out and stoned to death to the pleasure of the entire city? • two women. Le. 19:29. De. 23:17. Jos. 2:1. harlots. o The word zanoth, rendered harlots, is here translated by the Targumist, the best judge in this case, pundekon, ‘tavern-keepers:’ see on Joshua 2:1; Judges 11:1. § Could this be the reason Rahab remains a “harlot” in Hebrews o Had these women been harlots, it is not likely that they would have dared to appear before Solomon; nor is it likely that such persons would have been permitted in the reign of David. Their husbands might at this time have been following their necessary occupations in distant parts. stood. Ex. 18:13, 16. Nu. 27:2. 1 o Harlots translates two Hebrew words, which are literally “women committing fornication.” When the verb “to commit fornication” is used in the form of a participle, as here, it often refers to “prostitutes.”2 § See last page of these notes for another opinion
• Jesus entertained sinners and publicans – among whom there surely would have been true harlots and adulterers. Luke 15:1–2 1 Then all the tax collectors and the sinners drew near to Him to hear Him. 2 And the Pharisees and scribes complained, saying, “This Man receives sinners and eats with them.”
1 B. Blayney, Thomas Scott, and R.A. Torrey with John Canne, Browne, The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 234. 2 Donald Slager, “Preface,” in A Handbook on 1 & 2 Kings, ed. Paul Clarke et al., vol. 1–2, United Bible Societies’ Handbooks (New York: United Bible Societies, 2008), 119. [Type the document title] 1
17 And one woman said, “O my lord, this woman and I dwell in the same house; and I gave birth while she was in the house. 18 Then it happened, the third day after I had given birth, that this woman also gave birth. And we were together; no one was with us in the house, except the two of us in the house. 19 And this woman’s son died in the night, because she lay on him. 20 So she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from my side, while your maidservant slept, and laid him in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 And when I rose in the morning to nurse my son, there he was, dead. But when I had examined him in the morning, indeed, he was not my son whom I had borne.” • And when I rose in the morning [while it was still dusk] to give my child suck, behold it was dead: but when I had considered it in the morning [i.e., in broad daylight; Vulg. clara luce] behold [this second “behold” marks a second discovery] it was not my son which I did bear. 3
22 Then the other woman said, “No! But the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” And the first woman said, “No! But the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king. 23 And the king said, “The one says, ‘This is my son, who lives, and your son is the dead one’; and the other says, ‘No! But your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.’ ” • 2 Prostitutes (Innkeepers, maids, etc.), living in the same house, each had a baby – 3 days apart. o Must have been a convention in town 9 months earlier! o No husbands mentioned
24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword before the king. • And they brought a [Heb. the; the sword, i.e., of the executioner, or the sword for which he asked] sword before the king. 4 • Did Solomon even know how to hold a sword? o “a sword” not “my sword” • Would he have the strength to wield it and actually use it? o David was able to do both at a young age. 25 And the king said, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to one, and half to the other.”
3 H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., 1 Kings, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 62. 4 H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., 1 Kings, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 62.
• What true Mother could ever agree to such a thing? o It takes 5 minutes to become a child bearer – it takes a lifetime to be a Mother.
• Imagine Mary watching as the sword, the whip, the hammer and nails are driven into her son. o Would not Mary cry out for her son? – the horror is unimaginable.
• Hatred, Pride, Envy and a Murderous spirit drove Lucifer to see the end of Jesus’ life. • Even as Jesus was a child Lucifer drove Herod to seek his life with the sword. o End my pain by hurting everyone around me. Zechariah 13:7 “Awake, O sword, against My Shepherd, Against the Man who is My Companion,” Says the LORD of hosts. “Strike the Shepherd, And the sheep will be scattered; Then I will turn My hand against the little ones.
26 Then the woman whose son was living spoke to the king, for she yearned with compassion for her son; and she said (lit.: kept on saying over sand over), “O my lord, give her the living child, and by no means kill him!” But the other said, “Let him be neither mine nor yours, but divide him.”
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• Ver. 23.—The one saith (Heb. “this is saying,” i.e., keeps saying] 5 27 So the king answered and said, “Give the first woman the living child, and by no means kill him; she is his mother.” 28 And all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had rendered; and they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice. • God’s wisdom is all sufficient – even when He will not agree with us! Ephesians 3:10–12 10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, 11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord, 12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.
Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!
Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
5 H. D. M. Spence-Jones, ed., 1 Kings, The Pulpit Commentary (London; New York: Funk & Wagnalls Company, 1909), 62. • Montgomery and Gehman note “some ancient texts try to modify or ignore the ugly noun” by reading the term as “Innkeeper” (A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Book of Kings, ICC [Edinburgh: T & T Clark, 1986] 109). Such changes are incorrect, since, as G. H. Jones observes, “harlots were unashamedly visited in ancient Israel (cf. Gen. 38; Jos 2:1)” (1 and 2 Kings, NCB [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984] 1:131). 6
• On this account, it can scarcely allude to harlots, because they, as Calmet remarks, seldom have many is generally זָנָה children, and if they have, do not usually care much about providing for them. As spoken of intercourse which is extra-matrimonial, or adulterous, so this passage refers to “those who have had children, being unmarried” (Gerlach). 7
(.zānâ) commit fornication, be a harlot, play the harlot. (ASV and RSV similar) זָנָה 563 Derivatives
.zĕnûnîm) fornication) זְנוּנִים 563a .zĕnût) fornication) זְנוּת 563b .taznût) fornication) תַּזְנוּת 563c KB identify a second root using these consonants, meaning “be angry” (Jud 19:2). Evidence for understanding this one usage to mean “be angry,” when “play the harlot” is quite possible, is lacking. Most authorities (BDB included) hold to one root only. The verb appears eighty-nine times in the Qal stem, once in the Pual, and nine times in the Hiphil. Five of the Hiphil instances call for the causative meaning. The basic idea of the word is “to commit illicit intercourse” (especially of women). This verb is used in both literal and figurative senses. Figuratively, the thought may concern forbidden international intercourse, of one nation (especially Israel) having dealings with other nations. It may also refer to religious intercourse, of Israel worshiping false gods. The literal meaning is illicit heterosexual intercourse. The word regularly refers to women; it refers only twice to men (Ex 34:16; Num 25:1). The participial form is regularly used to designate the harlot (Gen 34:31). Such persons received hire (Deut 23:19), had identifying marks (Gen 38:15; Prov 7:10; Jer 3:3), had their own houses (Jer 5:7), and were to be shunned (Prov 23:27). Rahab, who hid the spies sent by Joshua, is called by this term. The contention that she was merely an innkeeper is based on finding the root of this participal in zûn “to feed,” rather than zānâ; but for this little evidence exists.8 Certain distinctions exist between zānâ and the parallel root nāʾap “to commit adultery.” nāʾap commonly refers to men rather than women. nāʾap connotes sexual intercourse between a married person and someone other than his/her spouse (Lev 20:10). The two words are set in significant contrast in Hos 4:13–14, where “daughters” are said to “commit whoredom” (ASV and RSV “play the harlot,” zānâ) and “spouses” to “commit adultery” (nāʾap). A few times the woman, with whom the act is done, is definitely identified as married (Lev 20:10; Jer 29:23). Never is the person said to be unmarried. The words are sufficiently parallel, however, that they can be used for the same person (Hos 3:1, 3, concerning Gomer; Ezk 16:32–36, concerning Israel as an unfaithful nation). A third distinction is that nāʾap is not used to designate the professional prostitute. A similarity between the two roots is found in the fact that both are used in a figurative as well as a literal sense; and also that, in the figurative, they are employed for the same basic concepts.
6 Paul R. House, 1, 2 Kings, vol. 8, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1995). 7 John Peter Lange et al., A Commentary on the Holy Scriptures: 1 Kings (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2008), 42. ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament ”,זָנָה Leon J. Wood, “563 8 (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 246. [Type the document title] 5
zānâ also refers figuratively to Israel as committing national harlotry (Ezk 16;26–28). Tyre (Isa 23:17) and Nineveh (Nah 3:4) are also mentioned in this way. The thought seems to be of having relations with these nations for the sake of political and monetary benefit, although in the case of Nineveh the added element of alluring, deceitful tactics leading on to oppressive dominance is implied. Still a third figurative meaning is found in Isa 1:21, where the Israelites’ departure from God’s approved moral standards is called harlotry. The three derivatives are used as almost exact synonyms, each being employed both literally and figuratively. The third (taznût) is unusual in that it is employed only by Ezekiel, and that in only two chapters:16 (nine times) and 23 (eleven times). Although Ezekiel uses also the other two derivatives (total of five times), his preference for taznût is clear. Bibliography: Brooks, Beatrice A., “Fertility Cult Functionaries in the Old Testament,” JBL 60:227–53. Gordis, Robert, “Hosea’s Marriage and Message: A New Approach,” HUCA 25:9–35. Rabinowitz, Jacob J., “The ‘Great Sin’ in Ancient Egyptian Marriage Contracts,” JNES 18:73, Richardson, TWB, p. 16. Rowley, H. H., “The Marriage of Hosea,” BJRL 39:200–33. Tushingham, Douglas A., “A Reconsideration of Hosea, Chapters 1–3,” JNES 12:150–59. Wiseman, D. J., “Rahab of Jericho,” Tyndale House Bulletin 14:8–11. TDNT, VI, pp. 584–90. L.J.W.9
SUETONIUS, in his Life of the emperor Claudian, tells us, that this emperor discovered a woman to be the real mother of a young man, whom she refused to acknowledge, by commanding her to marry him, the proofs being doubtful on both sides; for, rather than commit incest, she confessed the truth.
DIODORUS SICULUS also informs us, that Ariopharnes, king of Thrace, being appointed to decide between three young men, each of whom professed to be the son of the deceased king of the Cimmerians, and claimed the succession, discovered the real son by ordering each to shoot an arrow into the dead body of the king: two of them did this without hesitation; but the real son of the deceased monarch refused. 10
ed. R. Laird Harris, Gleason L. Archer Jr., and Bruce K. Waltke, Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament ”,זָנָה Leon J. Wood, “563 9 (Chicago: Moody Press, 1999), 246–247. 10 B. Blayney, Thomas Scott, and R.A. Torrey with John Canne, Browne, The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, vol. 1 (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 234.