{"id":62122,"date":"2019-09-01T20:57:18","date_gmt":"2019-09-01T17:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/?p=62122"},"modified":"2023-03-26T16:37:24","modified_gmt":"2023-03-26T13:37:24","slug":"solomon-used-his-wisdom-for-wise-purposes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.929.org.il\/en\/solomon-used-his-wisdom-for-wise-purposes\/","title":{"rendered":"Solomon Used His Wisdom For Wise Purposes"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[281],"tags":[384,838,372],"acf":{"old_id":"62122","type":"no","iframe":"","writer":34250,"related_cahpter":"297","type_929":"2","show_author_image":false,"old_create_date":"","old_url":"","post_main_content":{"description":"One of the key gauges of true wisdom - is to know what to do with one\u2019s wisdom\r\n\r\n","content":"

What was it that moved the queen of Sheba to come test Solomon, and what did she discover?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe queen of Sheba heard of Solomon\u2019s fame, through the name of the LORD, and she came to test him with hard questions\u201d (I Kings 10:1). What does \u201cthe name of the Lord\u201d mean, and how could she test that?<\/span><\/p>\n

Most commentaries explain that she had heard Solomon\u2019s wisdom was so great that it must be divine, and so the queen came \u201cwith hard questions.\u201d No one can possibly answer everything; if Solomon could, she would know his wisdom was supernatural. The Ralbag, however, suggests her interest may have been not the source of his wisdom but its direction \u2013 whether he utilized his wisdom \u201cin God\u2019s name\u201d or not.<\/span><\/p>\n

And indeed, after her questions and his answers, and her observations of his palace, she declared that \u201cyour wisdom and <\/span>tov<\/span><\/em> surpass the reports that I heard\u201d (10:7). What sort of \u201c<\/span>tov<\/span><\/em>,\u201d goodness, did she observe? What might this mysterious queen have defined as \u201cgood\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n

Some take it as \u201cwealth\u201d \u2013 which Solomon certainly had in abundance \u2013 but as the queen continues, it seems she saw something more: \u201cIt is because of the Lord\u2019s everlasting love for Israel that He made you king to administer justice and righteousness\u201d (vs. 10).<\/span><\/p>\n

What is the truly impressive element of wisdom: having it, or using it to pursue justice and righteousness? That it was granted by God, or that God judged a person fit to wield such a gift?<\/span><\/p>\n

After all, we know how Solomon got to be so wise: because he cared enough about justice to ask God for the wisdom to dispense it (<\/span>3:9).<\/span><\/p>\n

Perhaps, then, the questions of the source of Solomon\u2019s wisdom and its direction are actually bound up with each other: his extreme wisdom came from God, who gave it to him precisely because of how he would use it. As Ralbag notes, the queen of Sheba witnessed the influence of that wisdom in everything Solomon did \u2013 from his table settings to the placement of his servants to his palace to his justice. And as Ralbag further suggests, his use of wisdom itself grew the wisdom: \u201cShe heard of him, that everything he did, he did for the sake of God\u2026 and because of this, he grew excessively in wisdom, because this is one of the great tools for acquiring wisdom.\u201d A \u201ctool\u201d \u2013 not a unique divine gift, but something anyone can wield.<\/span><\/p>\n

The fact that God granted Solomon wisdom was not in itself what really impressed the queen of Sheba.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, the true source of Solomon\u2019s wisdom was his own drive to do right with it, and such commitment is a tool available to us all, to motivate our own growth and permeate everything we do. And it is that commitment that can truly earn the respect of others.<\/span><\/p>\n

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