And now, O LORD my God, You have made Your servant king in my father David’s place. But I am only a little child, not knowing how to go out or come in.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now, Yahweh my God, you have made your servant king instead of David my father. I am just a little child. I don’t know how to go out or come in.
- KJV And now, O LORD my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in.
- NKJV Now, O Lord my God, You have made Your servant king instead of my father David, but I am a little child; I do not know how to go out or come in.
- NASB And now, Lord my God, You have made Your servant king in place of my father David, yet I am like a little boy; I do not know how to go out or come in.
- NLT “Now, O Lord my God, you have made me king instead of my father, David, but I am like a little child who doesn’t know his way around.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Solomon confesses his inadequacy, calling himself a little child who does not know how to lead. His humility opens the way for God's gift of wisdom.
Overview
Though an experienced adult, Solomon describes himself as a 'little child' to express his sense of inability before the weight of kingship. This honest acknowledgment of weakness is the seedbed of true wisdom, for the fear of the LORD begins with humility. God delights to empower those who know their need of Him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- 1 Chr 29:1Then King David said to the whole assembly, “My son Solomon, the one whom God has chosen, is young and inexperienced. The task is great because this palace is not for man, but for the LORD God.
- Num 27:17who will go out and come in before them, and who will lead them out and bring them in, so that the congregation of the LORD will not be like sheep without a shepherd.”
- Jer 1:6“Ah, Lord GOD,” I said, “I surely do not know how to speak, for I am only a child!”
- Matt 18:3–4“Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.
- Eccl 10:16Woe to you, O land whose king is a youth, and whose princes feast in the morning.
- 1 Sam 18:16But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he was leading them out to battle and back.
- 2 Sam 5:2Even in times past, while Saul was king over us, you were the one who led Israel out and brought them back. And to you the LORD said, ‘You will shepherd My people Israel, and you will be ruler over them.’”
- Dan 4:32You will be driven away from mankind to live with the beasts of the field, and you will feed on grass like an ox. And seven times will pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.”
- Dan 2:21He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.
- Dan 5:21He was driven away from mankind, and his mind was like that of a beast. He lived with the wild donkeys and ate grass like an ox, and his body was drenched with the dew of heaven until he acknowledged that the Most High God rules over the kingdom of mankind, setting over it whom He wishes.
- Job 32:6–8So Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite declared: “I am young in years, while you are old; that is why I was timid and afraid to tell you what I know.
- Dan 5:18As for you, O king, the Most High God gave your father Nebuchadnezzar sovereignty and greatness, glory and honor.
- Ps 121:8The LORD will watch over your coming and going, both now and forevermore.
- John 10:3–4The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen for his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
- John 10:9I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture.
- Dan 4:25You will be driven away from mankind, and your dwelling will be with the beasts of the field. You will feed on grass like an ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass you by, until you acknowledge that the Most High rules over the kingdom of mankind and gives it to whom He wishes.
- Deut 31:2he said to them, “I am now a hundred and twenty years old; I am no longer able to come and go, and the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross the Jordan.’
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 3:7 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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