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1 Kings 3

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1 2 πλὴν ὁ λαὸς ἦσαν θυμιῶντες ἐπὶ τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς ὅτι οὐκ ᾠκοδομήθη οἶκος τῷ ὀνόματι κυρίου ἕως νῦν

1 By now, Solomon’s power was firmly established, and he allied himself by mar-riage to the king of Egypt, whose daughter he wedded. He took her to live in the Keep of David; not yet had he built his own palace, or the Lord’s house; not yet had he finished walling in Jerusalem. 2 In those days, the Lord had no temple built for him, and men used to sacrifice on hill-tops.

1 Confirmatum est igitur regnum in manu Salomonis, et affinitate conjunctus est Pharaoni regi Ægypti: accepit namque filiam ejus, et adduxit in civitatem David, donec compleret ædificans domum suam, et domum Domini, et murum Jerusalem per circuitum. 2 Attamen populus immolabat in excelsis: non enim ædificatum erat templum nomini Domini usque in diem illum.

3 καὶ ἠγάπησεν Σαλωμων τὸν κύριον πορεύεσθαι ἐν τοῖς προστάγμασιν Δαυιδ τοῦ πατρὸς αὐτοῦ πλὴν ἐν τοῖς ὑψηλοῖς ἔθυεν καὶ ἐθυμία 4 καὶ ἀνέστη καὶ ἐπορεύθη εἰς Γαβαων θῦσαι ἐκεῖ ὅτι αὐτὴ ὑψηλοτάτη καὶ μεγάλη χιλίαν ὁλοκαύτωσιν ἀνήνεγκεν Σαλωμων ἐπὶ τὸ θυσιαστήριον ἐν Γαβαων 5 καὶ ὤφθη κύριος τῷ Σαλωμων ἐν ὕπνῳ τὴν νύκτα καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς Σαλωμων αἴτησαί τι αἴτημα σαυτῷ 6 καὶ εἶπεν Σαλωμων σὺ ἐποίησας μετὰ τοῦ δούλου σου Δαυιδ τοῦ πατρός μου ἔλεος μέγα καθὼς διῆλθεν ἐνώπιόν σου ἐν ἀληθείᾳ καὶ ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ καὶ ἐν εὐθύτητι καρδίας μετὰ σοῦ καὶ ἐφύλαξας αὐτῷ τὸ ἔλεος τὸ μέγα τοῦτο δοῦναι τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ ὡς ἡ ἡμέρα αὕτη 7 καὶ νῦν κύριε ὁ θεός μου σὺ ἔδωκας τὸν δοῦλόν σου ἀντὶ Δαυιδ τοῦ πατρός μου καὶ ἐγώ εἰμι παιδάριον μικρὸν καὶ οὐκ οἶδα τὴν ἔξοδόν μου καὶ τὴν εἴσοδόν μου 8 ὁ δὲ δοῦλός σου ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ λαοῦ σου ὃν ἐξελέξω λαὸν πολύν ὃς οὐκ ἀριθμηθήσεται 9 καὶ δώσεις τῷ δούλῳ σου καρδίαν ἀκούειν καὶ διακρίνειν τὸν λαόν σου ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ τοῦ συνίειν ἀνὰ μέσον ἀγαθοῦ καὶ κακοῦ ὅτι τίς δυνήσεται κρίνειν τὸν λαόν σου τὸν βαρὺν τοῦτον

3 Great love had Solomon for the Lord, and followed the counsel of his father David, though indeed he too went to mountain shrines, to sacrifice and offer up incense. 4 Once he had betaken himself to Gabaon, where there was a famous mountain shrine, to worship there; a thousand victims king Solomon offered in burnt-sacrifice, there on the altar at Gabaon. 5 And that night the Lord appeared to him in a dream, bidding him choose what gift he would. 6 Thou hast been very merciful, answered Solomon, to my father David, a servant of thine that ever shewed himself loyal and observant, and kept his heart true to thee; and one great mercy thou didst keep till the last; thou hast granted the succession to a son of his own, the man thou seest. 7 Yes, Lord God, thou hast bidden this servant of thine reign where his father reigned; but, Lord, what am I? No better than a little child, that has no skill to find its way back and forth. 8 And here am I, thy servant, lost among the thousands of the people thou hast chosen, a people whose numbers are beyond all count and reckoning. 9 Be this, then, thy gift to thy servant, a heart quick to learn, so that I may be able to judge thy people’s disputes, and discern between good and ill. How else should a man sit in judgement over such a people as this, great as thy people is great?

3 Dilexit autem Salomon Dominum, ambulans in præceptis David patris sui, excepto quod in excelsis immolabat, et accendebat thymiama. 4 Abiit itaque in Gabaon, ut immolaret ibi: illud quippe erat excelsum maximum: mille hostias in holocaustum obtulit Salomon super altare illud in Gabaon. 5 Apparuit autem Dominus Salomoni per somnium nocte, dicens: Postula quod vis ut dem tibi. 6 Et ait Salomon: Tu fecisti cum servo tuo David patre meo misericordiam magnam, sicut ambulavit in conspectu tuo in veritate et justitia, et recto corde tecum: custodisti ei misericordiam tuam grandem, et dedisti ei filium sedentem super thronum ejus, sicut est hodie. 7 Et nunc Domine Deus, tu regnare fecisti servum tuum pro David patre meo: ego autem sum puer parvulus, et ignorans egressum et introitum meum. 8 Et servus tuus in medio est populi quem elegisti, populi infiniti, qui numerari et supputari non potest præ multitudine. 9 Dabis ergo servo tuo cor docile, ut populum tuum judicare possit, et discernere inter bonum et malum. Quis enim poterit judicare populum istum, populum tuum hunc multum?

10 καὶ ἤρεσεν ἐνώπιον κυρίου ὅτι ᾐτήσατο Σαλωμων τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο 11 καὶ εἶπεν κύριος πρὸς αὐτόν ἀν{Q'} ὧν ᾐτήσω πα{R'} ἐμοῦ τὸ ῥῆμα τοῦτο καὶ οὐκ ᾐτήσω σαυτῷ ἡμέρας πολλὰς καὶ οὐκ ᾐτήσω πλοῦτον οὐδὲ ᾐτήσω ψυχὰς ἐχθρῶν σου ἀλ{L'} ᾐτήσω σαυτῷ σύνεσιν τοῦ εἰσακούειν κρίμα 12 ἰδοὺ πεποίηκα κατὰ τὸ ῥῆμά σου ἰδοὺ δέδωκά σοι καρδίαν φρονίμην καὶ σοφήν ὡς σὺ οὐ γέγονεν ἔμπροσθέν σου καὶ μετὰ σὲ οὐκ ἀναστήσεται ὅμοιός σοι 13 καὶ ἃ οὐκ ᾐτήσω δέδωκά σοι καὶ πλοῦτον καὶ δόξαν ὡς οὐ γέγονεν ἀνὴρ ὅμοιός σοι ἐν βασιλεῦσιν 14 καὶ ἐὰν πορευθῇς ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ μου φυλάσσειν τὰς ἐντολάς μου καὶ τὰ προστάγματά μου ὡς ἐπορεύθη Δαυιδ ὁ πατήρ σου καὶ πληθυνῶ τὰς ἡμέρας σου 15 καὶ ἐξυπνίσθη Σαλωμων καὶ ἰδοὺ ἐνύπνιον καὶ ἀνέστη καὶ παραγίνεται εἰς Ιερουσαλημ καὶ ἔστη κατὰ πρόσωπον τοῦ θυσιαστηρίου τοῦ κατὰ πρόσωπον κιβωτοῦ διαθήκης κυρίου ἐν Σιων καὶ ἀνήγαγεν ὁλοκαυτώσεις καὶ ἐποίησεν εἰρηνικὰς καὶ ἐποίησεν πότον μέγαν ἑαυτῷ καὶ πᾶσιν τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ

10 The Lord listened well pleased, and looked with favour on the choice he had made. 11 For this request of thine, he told Solomon, thou shalt be rewarded. Thou didst not ask for a long life, or riches, or vengeance upon thy enemies, but for wisdom to administer justice. 12 Thy prayer is granted; hereby I grant thee a heart full of wisdom and discernment, beyond all that went before thee or shall come after thee. 13 And I grant thee moreover all thou didst not ask for; in wealth, in glory, no king that ever was may compare with thee. 14 And if thou wilt follow the paths I have chosen for thee, as thy father did, keeping charge and commandment of mine, long life thou shalt have too. 15 With that, Solomon awoke; it was a dream. But when he came back to Jerusalem, he stood before the ark that bears record of the Lord’s covenant, and brought burnt-sacrifice, and made welcome-offerings, with a great feast for all his servants.

10 Placuit ergo sermo coram Domino, quod Salomon postulasset hujuscemodi rem. 11 Et dixit Dominus Salomoni: Quia postulasti verbum hoc, et non petisti tibi dies multos, nec divitias, aut animas inimicorum tuorum, sed postulasti tibi sapientiam ad discernendum judicium: 12 ecce feci tibi secundum sermones tuos, et dedi tibi cor sapiens et intelligens, in tantum ut nullus ante te similis tui fuerit, nec post te surrecturus sit. 13 Sed et hæc quæ non postulasti, dedi tibi: divitias scilicet, et gloriam, ut nemo fuerit similis tui in regibus cunctis retro diebus. 14 Si autem ambulaveris in viis meis, et custodieris præcepta mea et mandata mea, sicut ambulavit pater tuus, longos faciam dies tuos. 15 Igitur evigilavit Salomon, et intellexit quod esset somnium: cumque venisset Jerusalem, stetit coram arca fœderis Domini, et obtulit holocausta, et fecit victimas pacificas, et grande convivium universis famulis suis.

16 τότε ὤφθησαν δύο γυναῖκες πόρναι τῷ βασιλεῖ καὶ ἔστησαν ἐνώπιον αὐτοῦ 17 καὶ εἶπεν ἡ γυνὴ ἡ μία ἐν ἐμοί κύριε ἐγὼ καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη οἰκοῦμεν ἐν οἴκῳ ἑνὶ καὶ ἐτέκομεν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ 18 καὶ ἐγενήθη ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ τῇ τρίτῃ τεκούσης μου καὶ ἔτεκεν καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὕτη καὶ ἡμεῖς κατὰ τὸ αὐτό καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν οὐθεὶς με{Q'} ἡμῶν πάρεξ ἀμφοτέρων ἡμῶν ἐν τῷ οἴκῳ 19 καὶ ἀπέθανεν ὁ υἱὸς τῆς γυναικὸς ταύτης τὴν νύκτα ὡς ἐπεκοιμήθη ἐ{P'} αὐτόν 20 καὶ ἀνέστη μέσης τῆς νυκτὸς καὶ ἔλαβεν τὸν υἱόν μου ἐκ τῶν ἀγκαλῶν μου καὶ ἐκοίμισεν αὐτὸν ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ αὐτῆς καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς τὸν τεθνηκότα ἐκοίμισεν ἐν τῷ κόλπῳ μου 21 καὶ ἀνέστην τὸ πρωὶ θηλάσαι τὸν υἱόν μου καὶ ἐκεῖνος ἦν τεθνηκώς καὶ ἰδοὺ κατενόησα αὐτὸν πρωί καὶ ἰδοὺ οὐκ ἦν ὁ υἱός μου ὃν ἔτεκον 22 καὶ εἶπεν ἡ γυνὴ ἡ ἑτέρα οὐχί ἀλλὰ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ζῶν ὁ δὲ υἱός σου ὁ τεθνηκώς καὶ ἐλάλησαν ἐνώπιον τοῦ βασιλέως

16 And now two women, harlots both of them, came and stood in the royal presence. 17 Justice, my lord! said one of them. This woman and I share a single house, and there, in her presence, I gave birth to a child; 18 three days after my delivery, she too gave birth. We were still living together; none else was in the house but we two. 19 Then, one night, she overlay her child as she slept, and it died. 20 So, rising at dead of night, when all was still, she took my son from beside me, my lord, while I slept, put him in her own bosom, and her dead son in mine. 21 In the morning, when I raised myself to give my child suck, a dead child was there; and it was not till I looked at it more closely under the full light of day that I found this was never the child I bore. 22 And when the other woman said, No, it is thy child that is dead, mine that is alive, she persisted in answering, Thou liest; it is my child that lives, thine that is dead. Such was the angry debate they held in the king’s presence.

16 Tunc venerunt duæ mulieres meretrices ad regem, steteruntque coram eo: 17 quarum una ait: Obsecro, mi domine: ego et mulier hæc habitabamus in domo una, et peperi apud eam in cubiculo. 18 Tertia autem die postquam ego peperi, peperit et hæc: et eramus simul, nullusque alius nobiscum in domo, exceptis nobis duabus. 19 Mortuus est autem filius mulieris hujus nocte: dormiens quippe oppressit eum. 20 Et consurgens intempestæ noctis silentio, tulit filium meum de latere meo, ancillæ tuæ dormientis, et collocavit in sinu suo: suum autem filium, qui erat mortuus, posuit in sinu meo. 21 Cumque surrexissem mane ut darem lac filio meo, apparuit mortuus: quem diligentius intuens clara luce, deprehendi non esse meum quem genueram. 22 Responditque altera mulier: Non est ita ut dicis, sed filius tuus mortuus est, meus autem vivit. E contrario illa dicebat: Mentiris: filius quippe meus vivit, et filius tuus mortuus est. Atque in hunc modum contendebant coram rege.

23 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐταῖς σὺ λέγεις οὗτος ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ζῶν καὶ ὁ υἱὸς ταύτης ὁ τεθνηκώς καὶ σὺ λέγεις οὐχί ἀλλὰ ὁ υἱός μου ὁ ζῶν καὶ ὁ υἱός σου ὁ τεθνηκώς 24 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς λάβετέ μοι μάχαιραν καὶ προσήνεγκαν τὴν μάχαιραν ἐνώπιον τοῦ βασιλέως 25 καὶ εἶπεν ὁ βασιλεύς διέλετε τὸ παιδίον τὸ θηλάζον τὸ ζῶν εἰς δύο καὶ δότε τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ καὶ τὸ ἥμισυ αὐτοῦ ταύτῃ 26 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ἡ γυνή ἧς ἦν ὁ υἱὸς ὁ ζῶν καὶ εἶπεν πρὸς τὸν βασιλέα ὅτι ἐταράχθη ἡ μήτρα αὐτῆς ἐπὶ τῷ υἱῷ αὐτῆς καὶ εἶπεν ἐν ἐμοί κύριε δότε αὐτῇ τὸ παιδίον καὶ θανάτῳ μὴ θανατώσητε αὐτόν καὶ αὕτη εἶπεν μήτε ἐμοὶ μήτε αὐτῇ ἔστω διέλετε 27 καὶ ἀπεκρίθη ὁ βασιλεὺς καὶ εἶπεν δότε τὸ παιδίον τῇ εἰπούσῃ δότε αὐτῇ αὐτὸ καὶ θανάτῳ μὴ θανατώσητε αὐτόν αὐτὴ ἡ μήτηρ αὐτοῦ 28 καὶ ἤκουσαν πᾶς Ισραηλ τὸ κρίμα τοῦτο ὃ ἔκρινεν ὁ βασιλεύς καὶ ἐφοβήθησαν ἀπὸ προσώπου τοῦ βασιλέως ὅτι εἶδον ὅτι φρόνησις θεοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ τοῦ ποιεῖν δικαίωμα

23 See, said the king, it is all, My child lives and thine is dead, on the one side, and Thy child is dead and mine lives, on the other. 24 Bring me a sword. So a sword was brought out before the king. 25 Cut the living child in two, he said, and give half to one, half to the other. 26 Whereupon the true mother of the living child, whose heart went out to her son, cried out, No, my lord, give her the living child; never kill it! Not so the other; Neither mine nor thine, she said; let it be divided between us.[1] 27 No, said the king, do not kill the living child, give It to the first; she is its mother.[2] 28 This award was talked of throughout all Israel, and men feared the king, that was so inspired by divine wisdom in the judgements he gave.

23 Tunc rex ait: Hæc dicit: Filius meus vivit, et filius tuus mortuus est: et ista respondit: Non, sed filius tuus mortuus est, meus autem vivit. 24 Dixit ergo rex: Afferte mihi gladium. Cumque attulissent gladium coram rege, 25 Dividite, inquit, infantem vivum in duas partes, et date dimidiam partem uni, et dimidiam partem alteri. 26 Dixit autem mulier, cujus filius erat vivus, ad regem (commota sunt quippe viscera ejus super filio suo): Obsecro, domine, date illi infantem vivum, et nolite interficere eum. E contrario illa dicebat: Nec mihi nec tibi sit, sed dividatur. 27 Respondit rex, et ait: Date huic infantem vivum, et non occidatur: hæc est enim mater ejus. 28 Audivit itaque omnis Israël judicium quod judicasset rex, et timuerunt regem, videntes sapientiam Dei esse in eo ad faciendum judicium.

[1] No indication is given whether the plaintiff or the defendant was in fact the true mother.

[2] ‘To the first’; literally, according to the Latin, ‘to this woman’, according to the Hebrew text and the Septuagint Greek, ‘to her’. But the context makes it evident that the first of the speakers in verse 26 is indicated.

Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd