1 Kings 3:5

Bible in Basic English

In Gibeon, Solomon had a vision of the Lord in a dream by night; and God said to him, Say what I am to give you.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, “Ask. What should I give you?”

Hebrew Names Version
In Giv`on the LORD appeared to Shlomo in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give you.

King James Version
In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

English Standard Version
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and God said, "Ask what I shall give you."

New Century Version
While he was at Gibeon, the Lord appeared to him in a dream during the night. God said, "Ask for whatever you want me to give you."

New English Translation
One night in Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream. God said, "Tell me what I should give you."

Amplified Bible
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, "Ask [Me] what I shall give you."

New American Standard Bible
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, "Ask what you wish Me to give you."

Geneva Bible (1587)
In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Salomon in a dreame by night: and God sayd, Aske what I shal giue thee.

Legacy Standard Bible
In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, "Ask what I should give to you."

Contemporary English Version
One night while Solomon was in Gibeon, the Lord God appeared to him in a dream and said, "Solomon, ask for anything you want, and I will give it to you."

Complete Jewish Bible
At Giv‘on Adonai appeared to Shlomo in a dream at night; God said, "Tell me what I should give you."

Darby Translation
In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

Easy-to-Read Version
While Solomon was at Gibeon, the Lord came to him at night in a dream. God said, "Solomon, ask me what you want me to give you."

George Lamsa Translation
Then the LORD appeared to Solomon in a vision by night; and God said to him, Ask that which I should give you.

Good News Translation
That night the Lord appeared to him in a dream and asked him, "What would you like me to give you?"

Lexham English Bible
Yahweh appeared to Solomon at Gibeon in a dream at night, and God said, "Ask what I should give to you."

Literal Translation
Jehovah appeared to Solomon in Gibeon in a dream of the night. And God said, Ask. What shall I give to you?

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And the LORDE appeared vnto Salomon at Gibeon in a dreame of the nighte, and God sayde: Axe what I shal geue ye.

American Standard Version
In Gibeon Jehovah appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And in Gibeon the Lorde appeared to Solomon in a dreame by night, and God sayd: Aske what thou wilt, that I may geue it thee.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said: 'Ask what I shall give thee.'

King James Version (1611)
In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dreame by night: and God sayd, Aske what I shall giue thee.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, and the Lord said to Solomon, Ask some petition for thyself.

English Revised Version
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

Berean Standard Bible
One night at Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, "Ask, and I will give it to you!"

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sotheli the Lord apperide to Salomon bi sleep in the nyyt, and seide, Axe thou `that, that thou wolt, that Y yyue to thee.

Young's Literal Translation
In Gibeon hath Jehovah appeared unto Solomon, in a dream of the night, and God saith, `Ask -- what do I give to thee?'

Update Bible Version
In Gibeon Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give you.

Webster's Bible Translation
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee.

World English Bible
In Gibeon Yahweh appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, Ask what I shall give you.

New King James Version
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask! What shall I give you?"

New Living Translation
That night the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream, and God said, "What do you want? Ask, and I will give it to you!"

New Life Bible
The Lord came to Solomon in a special dream in Gibeon during the night. God said, "Ask what you wish Me to give you."

New Revised Standard
At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I should give you."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
In Gibeon, Yahweh appeared unto Solomon, in a dream by night, - and God said, Ask, what I shall give thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night, saying: Ask what thou wilt that I should give thee.

Revised Standard Version
At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream by night; and God said, "Ask what I shall give you."

New American Standard Bible (1995)
In Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night; and God said, "Ask what you wish me to give you."

Contextual Overview

⁵ In Gibeon, Solomon had a vision of the Lord in a dream by night; and God said to him, Say what I am to give you. ⁶ And Solomon said, Great was your mercy to David my father, as his life before you was true and upright and his heart was true to you; and you have kept for him this greatest mercy, a son to take his place this day. ⁷ And now, O Lord my God, you have made your servant king in the place of David my father; and I am only a young boy, with no knowledge of how to go out or come in. ⁸ And your servant has round him the people of your selection, a people so great that they may not be numbered, and no account of them may be given. ⁹ Give your servant, then, a wise heart for judging your people, able to see what is good and what evil; for who is able to be the judge of this great people? ¹⁰ Now these words and Solomon's request were pleasing to the Lord. ¹¹ And God said to him, Because your request is for this thing, and not for long life for yourself or for wealth or for the destruction of your haters, but for wisdom to be a judge of causes; ¹² I have done as you said: I have given you a wise and far-seeing heart, so that there has never been your equal in the past, and never will there be any like you in the future. ¹³ And with this I have given you what you made no request for: wealth and honour, so that no king was ever your equal. ¹⁴ And if you go on in my ways, keeping my laws and my orders as your father David did, I will give you a long life.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the Lord: 1 Kings 9:2

in a dream: Genesis 28:12, Genesis 28:13, Numbers 12:6, Job 33:14, Job 33:15, Matthew 1:20, Matthew 2:13, Matthew 2:19

Ask what: 2 Chronicles 1:7-12, Matthew 7:7, Matthew 7:8, Mark 10:36, Mark 10:38-51, Mark 11:24, John 14:13, John 14:14, John 15:16, James 1:5, James 1:6, 1 John 5:14, 1 John 5:15

Reciprocal: Genesis 31:10 - a dream Genesis 31:24 - dream Genesis 37:5 - dreamed Joshua 10:41 - Gibeon Joshua 18:25 - Gibeon 1 Kings 11:9 - which had appeared 1 Chronicles 14:4 - Solomon Nehemiah 2:4 - For what Esther 5:3 - What Psalms 72:2 - He shall Proverbs 4:8 - General Proverbs 30:7 - have Zechariah 1:8 - by night Matthew 20:21 - What Luke 18:41 - What 1 Corinthians 12:8 - is given

Cross-References

Genesis 2:17
But of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not take; for on the day when you take of it, death will certainly come to you.

Genesis 3:2
And the woman said, We may take of the fruit of the trees in the garden:

Genesis 3:3
But of the fruit of the tree in the middle of the garden, God has said, If you take of it or put your hands on it, death will come to you.

Genesis 3:6
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and a delight to the eyes, and to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit, and gave it to her husband.

Genesis 3:7
And their eyes were open and they were conscious that they had no clothing and they made themselves coats of leaves stitched together.

Genesis 3:10
And he said, Hearing your voice in the garden I was full of fear, because I was without clothing: and I kept myself from your eyes.

Genesis 3:13
And the Lord God said to the woman, What have you done? And the woman said, I was tricked by the deceit of the snake and I took it.

Genesis 3:14
And the Lord God said to the snake, Because you have done this you are cursed more than all cattle and every beast of the field; you will go flat on the earth, and dust will be your food all the days of your life:

Genesis 3:15
And there will be war between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed: by him will your head be crushed and by you his foot will be wounded.

Genesis 3:22
And the Lord God said, Now the man has become like one of us, having knowledge of good and evil; and now if he puts out his hand and takes of the fruit of the tree of life, he will go on living for ever.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night,.... This was not a common natural dream, but an extraordinary, divine, and supernatural one, a prophetic dream, a night vision, such as God used to speak in to his prophets; in which he had the full use of his reasoning powers, was under divine impressions, and in a spiritual frame of mind, and in the exercise of grace; it was not a mere dream that the Lord did appear to him, but he really did appear to him while sleeping and dreaming, by some display of his glory in some way or another:

and God said, ask what I shall give thee; he did not hereby dream that God said to him, but he really did say this; bid him ask what he would and it should be given him; he knew what he designed to give, but he would have it asked of him, as he will be inquired of by all his people to do that for them which he has intended and provided for them; and it is encouragement enough for them to ask, since he has promised to give.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The Lord appeared unto Solomon in a dream - Compare the marginal references and Genesis 15:1; Genesis 28:12; Genesis 37:5.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 3:5. The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream — This was the night after he had offered the sacrifices, (see 2 Chronicles 1:7), and probably after he had earnestly prayed for wisdom; see Wisdom 7:7: Wherefore I prayed, and understanding was given me: I called upon God, and the spirit of wisdom came to me. If this were the case, the dream might have been the consequence of his earnest prayer for wisdom: the images of those things which occupy the mind during the day are most likely to recur during the night; and this, indeed, is the origin of the greater part of our dreams. But this appears to have been supernatural.

Gregory Nyssen, speaking of different kinds of dreams, observes that our organs and brain are not unlike a musical instrument; while the strings of such instruments have their proper degree of tension, they give, when touched, a harmonious sound, but as soon as they are relaxed or screwed down, they give no sound at all. During our waking hours, our senses, touched by our reason, produce the most harmonious concert; but as soon as we are asleep, the instrument is no longer capable of emitting any sound, unless it happen that the remembrance of what passed during the day returns and presents itself to the mind while we are asleep, and so forms a dream; just as the strings of an instrument continue to emit feeble sounds for some time after the musician has ceased to strike them. - See GREG. NYSS. De opificio hominis, cap. xii., p. 77. Oper. vol. i., edit. Morell., Par. 1638.

This may account, in some measure, for common dreams: but even suppose we should not allow that Solomon had been the day before earnestly requesting the gift of wisdom from God, yet we might grant that such a dream as this might be produced by the immediate influence of God upon the soul. And if Solomon received his wisdom by immediate inspiration from heaven, this was the kind of dream that he had; a dream by which that wisdom was actually communicated. But probably we need not carry this matter so much into miracle: God might be the author of his extraordinary wisdom, as he was the author of his extraordinary riches. Some say, "He lay down as ignorant as other men, and yet arose in the morning wiser than all the children of men." I think this is as credible as that he lay down with a scanty revenue, and in the morning, when he arose, found his treasury full. In short, God's especial blessing brought him riches through the medium of his own care and industry; as the inspiration of the Almighty gave him understanding, while he gave his heart to seek and search out by his wisdom, concerning all things under the sun, Ecclesiastes 1:13. God gave him the seeds of an extraordinary understanding, and, by much study and research, they grew up under the Divine blessing, and produced a plentiful harvest; but, alas! they did not continue to grow.