Replies

"Since God said it was Solomon's hearts desire and Solomon asked "So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong" is about as selfless as it gets."

Could be. We can't really look into his heart and know everything that was there. When I read 1 Kings 3:5-14, I get the impression that Solomon was somewhat afraid of taking on the job. We know what he wanted to use the wisdom FOR because the text clearly states it, we don't know for certain his emotional state. Fear of failure, a desire for some measure of fame, a desire to serve others, they could have ALL been present in him then and provided motivation to ask for what he did.

"Since God said it was Solomon's hearts desire"

God said it was his desire to have "wisdom and knowledge to govern my people" he did not say WHY that was Solomons desire. In other words, there is no indication that Solomon expected some benifit to himself as a result of his request, and no indication that he expected his request to only be a benifit to others. We can't with certainty say it was a totaly unselfish request.

I guess it can also depend how you define what an unselfish act is. One could argue that in a way there really isn't such a thing as a totaly unselfish act. Those that know and live the gospel APPEAR unselfish, but really they just value the blessings that come from behaving that way over what worldly gains they could get by acting differently.

"That comment about being liked and remembered as a good leader is eisegesis and can be found nowhere in the text. "

Yes, I didn't mean to imply that was for a fact how it was, I meant to indicate that it was is a possible situation, so we are not justified calling the request unselfish. Sorry for the confusion.

Fear of failure, a desire for some measure of fame, a desire to serve others, they could have ALL been present in him then and provided motivation to ask for what he did.

That doesn't follow from God's actions. We know what the text says, what Solomon requested and what God granted. We see God responding to Solomon's request in 1 Kings 3:11b. God said Solomon requested "discernment in administering justice." That's what God said of his request.

We also have a list of items from God that Solomon could have asked for but didn't, further demonstrating his selfless request. God said "I will give you what you have not asked for-both riches and honor-so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings."

God said Solomon didn't ask for riches, honor, long life, wealth or the death of his enemies. It's almost like God knew you and I were going to have this discussion. Here is God laying it all out for us. The more we look at this the more selfless his request appears.

We can't with certainty say it was a totaly unselfish request.

With eisegesis you can say anything you want. The record demonstrates a selfless request. Even God said so.