And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom: Walsh suggests that the author may be making a sarcastic comment about Solomon here since Solomon appears to have acted unwisely in making such huge payments to Hiram. Walsh, therefore, says that the beginning of this verse should be understood to mean “And Yahweh had given Solomon wisdom [but he certainly didn’t use it]!” Such an interpretation is certainly possible, but most interpreters and translations understand the author’s words here to be a simple statement of fact. Translators will, nevertheless, have to pay careful attention to the verb form chosen here. The translation should not give the impression that this was the first time that the LORD had given wisdom to Solomon since the context shows earlier that he made very wise decisions and 1 Kgs 3.12 states specifically that God gave him wisdom (see also 1 Kgs 4.29). So if Walsh’s interpretation is not accepted, then some translators will have to render the clause as “The LORD gave Solomon more wisdom” or “… kept on giving Solomon wisdom.”
As he promised him: See 1 Kgs 3.12.
For the Hebrew word translated peace, see the comments on 1 Kgs 2.13 and 33.
Made a treaty is literally “cut a covenant.” The same Hebrew expression occurs often in 1-2 Samuel. A treaty or a “covenant” is an agreement that two persons or groups of persons make in which both promise either to do or not to do certain things. In the ancient Near Eastern world of the Old Testament, animals were sacrificed and cut up as part of the covenant-making ceremony. From this comes the technical phrase “to cut a covenant.”
What is the relationship between the first part of this verse (And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom) and the rest of this verse (and there was peace between Hiram and Solomon …)? In Hebrew the two parts of this verse are connected by the simple conjunction, which is translated and in Revised Standard Version and left untranslated in Good News Translation and New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh. The rendering in Bible en français courant seems to connect these two parts of the sentence more closely, indicating that it was because God gave Solomon wisdom that Solomon was able to have peace with Hiram. Bible en français courant reads:
• The Lord had given wisdom to Solomon, as he had promised him. Solomon was thus able to live in good relationship with Hiram and conclude an alliance with him.
The question may also be asked about the relationship between the final two clauses in this verse. The fact that there was peace between the two kings and that the two of them made a treaty are joined only by the conjunction and. However, it seems likely that the intent of the author was not to link two unrelated facts, but to state that the peace was maintained because of the treaty. For this reason it will probably be better to translate these clauses as “there was peace between Hiram and Solomon because they made a treaty together” or perhaps better “Hiram and Solomon made a peace treaty with each other because they were good friends.”
Quoted with permission from Omanson, Roger L. and Ellington, John E. A Handbook on 1-2 Kings, Volume 1. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2008. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .