These questions are for anyone studying 1 Kings 3, whether you are leading a small group, teaching a Sunday class, or reading on your own. The chapter shows Solomon at the start of his reign asking God for a discerning heart, and then using that wisdom in a hard case between two women. The questions below move from what the text says, to what it means, to how it shapes everyday life.
1 Kings 3 at a Glance
The chapter opens with Solomon’s alliance with Egypt and his worship at the high place in Gibeon, where God appears to him in a dream and offers to give him whatever he asks. Solomon requests an understanding heart to judge God’s people, and God grants that request along with riches and honor that he did not ask for. The second half moves to Jerusalem, where two women bring a dispute over a child before the king.
The story ends with the king’s verdict, which reveals the wisdom he has been given, and the chapter closes with all Israel recognizing that God’s wisdom is in him. Leaders can use the questions in order or pick the sections that fit the time available.
Observation Questions
Use this set first to make sure everyone has the facts of the chapter in view before anyone offers an interpretation. Keep the discussion close to the words on the page and resist the urge to jump ahead to the lesson.
1 Kings 3:5-9
5 In Gibeon, the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, “Ask for what I should give you.” 6 Solomon said, “You have shown to your servant David my father great loving kindness, because he walked before you in truth, in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with you. You have kept for him this great loving kindness, that you have given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is today. 7 Now, the LORD 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. 8 Your servant is among your people which you have chosen, a great people, that can’t be numbered or counted for multitude. 9 Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this great people of yours?”
(WEB)
Read this passage to set the scene of the dream and Solomon’s request. Hearing the full exchange aloud makes it easier for the group to notice the humility in his words and the simple nature of what he asks.
1 Kings 3:11-14
11 God said to him, “Because you have asked this thing, and have not asked for yourself long life, nor have you asked for riches for yourself, nor have you asked for the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern justice; 12 behold, I have done according to your word. Behold, I have given you a wise and understanding heart; so that there has been no one like you before you, and after you none will arise like you. 13 I have also given you that which you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that there will not be any among the kings like you for all your days. 14 If you will walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as your father David walked, then I will lengthen your days.”
(WEB)
This is God’s response to Solomon, and reading it together lets the group hear the full list of what was not requested. It works well as a pivot into a discussion about what we tend to ask God for first.
1 Kings 3:16-22
16 Then two women who were prostitutes came to the king, and stood before him. 17 The one woman said, “Oh, my lord, I and this woman dwell in one house. I delivered a child with her in the house. 18 The third day after I delivered, this woman delivered also. We were together. There was no stranger with us in the house, just us two in the house. 19 This woman’s child died in the night, because she lay on it. 20 She arose at midnight, and took my son from beside me, while your servant slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead child in my bosom. 21 When I rose in the morning to nurse my child, behold, it was dead; but when I had looked at it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, whom I bore.” 22 The other woman said, “No; but the living one is my son, and the dead one is your son.” The first one said, “No; but the dead one is your son, and the living one is my son.” Thus they spoke before the king.
(WEB)
Reading the women’s competing accounts aloud helps everyone feel the tension of the case before the verdict. It also prepares the group to follow the king’s reasoning in the verses that come after.
1 Kings 3:26-27
26 Then the woman whose the living child was spoke to the king, for her heart yearned over her son, and she said, “Oh, my lord, give her the living child, and in no way kill him!” But the other said, “He shall be neither mine nor yours. Divide him.” 27 Then the king answered, “Give her the living child, and definitely do not kill him. She is his mother.”
(WEB)
These two verses contain the turning point of the story. Reading them slowly gives the group a chance to hear the mother’s plea and the king’s response before moving to the discussion of what it reveals.
1 Kings 3:28
All Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged; and they feared the king; for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do justice.
(WEB)
This closing verse shows the public effect of Solomon’s judgment. Reading it at the end of the session reminds the group that wisdom given by God becomes visible to a whole people.
Memory Verse for 1 Kings 3
1 Kings 3:9
Give your servant therefore an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil; for who is able to judge this great people of yours?”
(WEB)
This verse holds Solomon’s central request in a short form that is easy to repeat. Memorizing it gives you a prayer to offer whenever you face a decision that needs wisdom beyond your own.
A Closing Prayer for the Group
Father, we come before you as people who often feel like little children in the decisions we face. Give us an understanding heart to discern good from evil, and to listen well to those we disagree with. Keep us from asking first for comfort or advantage, and teach us to seek your wisdom for the sake of others. Thank you for the generosity you show when we trust you with what we do not know. Help us walk in your ways this week, and let the people around us see that your wisdom is at work in us. Amen.
