What Does 1 Kings 5:7 Mean?
And it came to be, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, who has given to David a wise son over this great people.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
And it came to pass, when Hiram heard the words of Solomon, that he rejoiced greatly, and said, Blessed be the LORD this day, which hath given unto David a wise son over this great people.THE KEY
The Hebrew verb נָתַן (natan, give/set/place) presents the wise son as a gift positioned over a people, so authority appears as received responsibility.
THE MEANING
Wisdom is received, then placed where it affects a whole people; it is more than private insight. The son’s authority does not make him its source, and another ruler’s joy recognizes the gift’s reach. Praise rises to the giver because the benefit becomes visible in human life.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that a leader’s wisdom is self-made and its benefits belong to him alone is undone: the verse names the LORD as giver and shows the gift reaching a people.
THE ROOT
נָתַן
natan
GROWS FROM
נתן
give, put, set, place
“given” in this verse is natan. The verb carries more than transfer: it can also mean putting or setting something in place. Wisdom is received and positioned over the people, making authority an entrusted responsibility whose effects reach beyond the one who holds it.
ALSO GROWS
mattan: gift, present
מַתָּן
This noun makes the connection between something given and a gift explicit.
mattanah: gift, present
מַתָּנָה
The same root names a gift as something received, illuminating the son’s wisdom as a provision rather than a self-made possession.
בָּרוּךְ
barukh
GROWS FROM
ברך
kneel, bless
“Blessed” in this verse is barukh. The root connects blessing with the knee, giving Hiram’s words a posture of acknowledgment. His praise names the LORD as the source of the wisdom he sees at work.
ALSO GROWS
berekh: knee
בֶּרֶךְ
This branch shares the root behind the act of blessing, bringing bodily posture into the word’s resonance.
berakhah: blessing
בְּרָכָה
This related noun names the blessing itself, linking praise with recognition of the giver.
דָּוִד
Dawid
GROWS FROM
דוד
beloved; beloved one
David’s name carries the language of the beloved, so the verse presents the gift within a relationship as well as a line of authority. The phrase then widens the gift’s reach from David to the people.
ALSO GROWS
dod: beloved one; also uncle in another use
דּוֹד
This word carries the beloved sense echoed in David’s name, giving relational depth to the phrase ‘given unto David.’
dodim: loves, endearments
דֹּדִים
This related form keeps the language of affection near the name, underscoring that the wisdom is received within relationship.
THE PATTERN
Wisdom is given by God as a capacity for work and discernment whose effects can serve others.
And I have filled him with the breath of God, in wisdom, and in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of work.And he changes the times and the seasons. He removes kings and raises up kings. He gives wisdom to the wise, and knowledge to those who know understanding.But if any of you is left behind in wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all without doubling and without taunting, and it will be given him.THE THREAD
Behold, I have done according to your word. Look, I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there was none like you before you, and after you none shall rise like you.The same Hebrew root נָתַן (natan, give/set/place) appears where the LORD gives Solomon a wise heart. Hiram’s praise recognizes what that gift becomes when wisdom is placed in service over a people.
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