Discovery Box1 Kings 3:5-9 
Context3:5 One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared 1 to Solomon in a dream. God said, “Tell 2 me what I should give you.” 3:6 Solomon replied, “You demonstrated 3 great loyalty to your servant, my father David, as he served 4 you faithfully, properly, and sincerely. 5 You have maintained this great loyalty to this day by allowing his son to sit on his throne. 6 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. 7 3:8 Your servant stands 8 among your chosen people; 9 they are a great nation that is too numerous to count or number. 3:9 So give your servant a discerning mind 10 so he can make judicial decisions for 11 your people and distinguish right from wrong. 12 Otherwise 13 no one is able 14 to make judicial decisions for 15 this great nation of yours.” 16
1 tn Or “revealed himself.”
2 tn Heb “ask.”
3 tn Heb “did.”
4 tn Heb “walked before.”
5 tn Heb “in faithfulness and in innocence and in uprightness of heart with you.”
6 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.”
7 tn Heb “and I do not know going out or coming in.”
8 tn There is no verb expressed in the Hebrew text; “stands” is supplied in the translation for clarification.
9 tn Heb “your people whom you have chosen.”
10 tn Heb “a hearing heart.” (The Hebrew term translated “heart” often refers to the mental faculties.)
11 tn Heb “to judge.”
12 tn Heb “to understand between good and evil.”
13 tn Heb “for”; the word “otherwise” is used to reflect the logical sense of the statement.
14 tn Heb “who is able?” The rhetorical question anticipates the answer, “no one.”
15 tn Heb “to judge.”
16 tn Heb “your numerous people.”
