When it is said
It is a prayer from the Bible rather than from the Church’s services. Anyone may pray it.
It fits a choice you cannot make alone: a new task, a hard decision, a time when you must tell right from wrong. Solomon prayed it feeling like a little child before a task too great for him.
Where it comes from
Author known
A dream at Gibeon
Solomon went to Gibeon to offer sacrifice. There the Lord appeared to him in a dream by night and said: ask, and I will give it to you. Solomon called himself a little child, who did not know how to go out or come in. He asked for one thing: a heart to judge God’s people and to tell good from evil.
1 Kings 3:4-9, Berean Standard Bible
What God gave him
The request pleased the Lord. Solomon had not asked for long life or riches, or for the death of his enemies. So God gave him a wise and understanding heart, and the riches and honour he had not asked for too. The Book of Chronicles tells the same night, in Solomon’s words: “Now give me wisdom and knowledge.”
1 Kings 3:10-14 and 2 Chronicles 1:7-12, Berean Standard Bible
The two mothers
Soon after, two women came before Solomon, each claiming the same baby. He called for a sword and ordered the child cut in two. The true mother gave up her claim to save its life, and he gave the child to her. All Israel saw that the wisdom of God was in him.
1 Kings 3:16-28, Berean Standard Bible
What the words mean
A heart that listens
In the Greek Old Testament, the Septuagint, Solomon asks for “a heart to hear”. Brenton’s English keeps those words. The King James Bible has “an understanding heart”. This page follows the Greek: a heart that listens.
3 Kingdoms 3:9 in Greek (Brenton’s edition), on eBible.org; 1 Kings 3:9, King James Bible
1 Kings or 3 Kingdoms?
In the Greek Bible this book is called 3 Kingdoms, and Brenton calls it Kings III. It is the book most English Bibles call 1 Kings.
Brenton, The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, on eBible.org
The Scripture in it
“Therefore give Your servant an understanding heart to judge Your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”
“Now grant me wisdom and knowledge, so that I may lead this people. For who is able to govern this great people of Yours?”
Bible text: Berean Standard Bible, public domain.
In Greek
Καὶ νῦν, Κύριε ὁ Θεός μου, Σὺ ἔδωκας τὸν δοῦλόν Σου ἀντὶ Δαυὶδ τοῦ πατρός μου·
καὶ ἐγώ εἰμι παιδάριον μικρὸν, καὶ οὐκ οἶδα τὴν ἔξοδόν μου καὶ τὴν εἴσοδόν μου.
Ὁ δὲ δοῦλός Σου ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ λαοῦ Σου, ὃν ἐξελέξω, λαὸν πολὺν, ὃς οὐκ ἀριθμηθήσεται.
Καὶ δώσεις τῷ δούλῳ Σου καρδίαν ἀκούειν καὶ διακρίνειν τὸν λαόν Σου ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ,
καὶ τοῦ συνιεῖν ἀναμέσον ἀγαθοῦ καὶ κακοῦ·
ὅτι τίς δυνηθήσεται κρίνειν τὸν λαόν Σου τὸν βαρὺν τοῦτον;
From the Greek Old Testament (the Septuagint), 3 Kingdoms 3:7-9, in Brenton’s edition, on eBible.org.