1 And Solomon {Shlomo: Royal Successor} became son-in-law to Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his house and the house of the LORD {YHWH: Worship Center}, and the wall of Jerusalem all around.
2 Only the people were sacrificing {mezabbechim: ritual offerings} at the high places because a house had not yet been built for the name of the LORD {YHWH, Dwelling Presence} until those days.
3 And Solomon loved the LORD {YHWH, Covenant Guide} by walking in the statutes of his father David, yet he sacrificed and burned incense at the high places {bamot: elevated worship sites}.
4 And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for it was the great high place; Solomon {Shelomoh: Peace Bringer} offered one thousand burnt offerings on that altar.
5 At Gibeon the LORD {YHWH, Blessing Giver} appeared to Solomon in a dream {chalom: revelatory dream} during the night, and God {Elohim, Divine Speaker} said, “Ask what I may give to you.”
6 And Solomon said, “You {YHWH, Steadfast Benefactor} have done with Your servant David, my father, great kindness {chesed: covenant loyalty}, just as he walked before You in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with You; and You have kept for him this great kindness, and You have given him a son to sit on his throne, as this day.”
7 And now, LORD my God {YHWH Elohai, Covenant Sovereign}, You have made Your servant {eved: faithful attendant} king in place of David my father, but I am only a small youth and do not know how to go out or come in.
8 Your {YHWH, Covenant Chooser} servant is in the midst of Your people whom You have chosen, a great people who cannot be counted or numbered because of their multitude{rov: overwhelming abundance}.
9 So give to Your {YHWH, Wisdom Giver} servant a heart that listens to judge {shaphat: rule with fairness} Your people and to discern between good and evil, for who is able to judge this great people of Yours?
10 And the matter was good in the eyes of the Lord {Adonai, Divine Judge} because Solomon had asked for this matter {davar: request or matter}.
11 And God {Elohim, Wise Giver} said to him, “Because you have asked for this thing and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have you asked for yourself riches, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to hear judgment {mishpat: just decision}.”
12 Behold {hinneh: attention marker}, I have done according to your words. Behold, I have given you a wise and discerning heart {lev: seat of understanding}, such that none like you has ever existed before you, nor will any like you arise after you.
13 Moreover, I have given you what you did not ask for—wealth {osher: material prosperity} and honor {kavod: social esteem}—so that there has been no one like you among the kings in all your days.
14 And if you walk in my ways {derekh: life pattern} to keep my statutes {chukkai: established decrees} and my commandments, as David your father walked, then I will lengthen your days.
15 And Solomon awoke, and behold, it was a dream. Then he came to Jerusalem and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord {Adonai, Divine Sovereign}. He offered up burnt offerings and made peace offerings, and he made a feast for all his servants {avadav: household staff}.
16 Then two women, prostitutes {zonot: women known for prostitution}, came to the king {ha-melekh: royal judge} and stood before him.
17 Then the one woman said, “Please, my lord {adoni: respectful address}, I and this woman dwell {yoshvot: share residence} in one house, and I gave birth with her present in the house.”
18 And it happened on the third day {hashelishi: ordinal sequence} after my giving birth that this woman also gave birth; and we were together—no stranger {zar: outsider, non-family} was with us in the house, only the two of us were in the house.
19 And the son of this woman died in the night {laylah: dark hours}, when she lay {shakhav: physical contact} on him.
20 And she arose in the middle of the night and took my son from beside me while your maidservant {amatkha: female servant} was sleeping, and she laid him in her bosom {cheikah: lap}, and she laid her dead son in my bosom.
21 And I rose in the morning to nurse my son {heinik: to feed at the breast}, and behold, he was dead. But when I returned and observed him {etbonen: careful scrutiny} in the morning, behold, it was not the son whom I had borne.
22 And the other woman said, “No {lo: emphatic refusal}, for my son is the living one, and your son is the dead one.” But this one replied, “No, for your son is the dead one, and my son is the living one.” Thus they spoke before the king {melekh: royal judge}.
23 The king {hamelekh: royal adjudicator} said, “This one says, ‘This is my son who is alive, and your son is deceased {hamet: deceased party}.’ But that one says, ‘No, your son is deceased and my son is alive.’”
24 And the king {melech: sovereign ruler} said, “Bring {kechu: collective command} me a sword.” So they brought the sword before the king.
25 And the king {melech: official arbiter} said, “Cut the living child {yeled: male infant} in two and give half to one and half to the other.”
26 Then the woman whose son was alive said to the king, because her compassion {rachamim: deep maternal feeling} was stirred for her son, and she said, “Please, my lord {adoni: respectful address}, give her the living child—do not kill him!” But the other said, “Neither for me nor for you shall he be; divide him!”
27 And the king {melekh: royal judge} answered and said, “Give her the living child {yalod: contested infant}, and do not kill him; she is his mother.”
28 And all Israel heard the judgment that the king had rendered, and they were in awe of the king, because they saw that the wisdom of God {Elohim, Divine Source} was in him to administer justice {mishpat: legal decision}.