Greater than Solomon is Jesus’ own measure of Himself against Israel’s wisest king.
The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it,
for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon,
and behold,
something greater than Solomon is here.
God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure,
and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore.
Something greater is standing in the crowd.
A queen crossed a continent for proverbs.
This generation will not cross the street for the One the proverbs were leaning toward.
Solomon asked for a hearing heart and received a wisdom the nations came to audit. He spoke three thousand proverbs. He judged the two mothers. The queen of Sheba came with questions and left with no more breath in her. That wisdom was real. It was also borrowed. The same king who built the temple multiplied wives, and his heart turned. Ecclesiastes is the voice of a man who had the gift and still called life vapor under the sun until he feared God.
- Jesus does not borrow the title. He stands in a generation that wants signs and says the queen will condemn them, because she traveled for Solomon and they will not hear a greater wisdom in their own streets.
- Matthew pairs it with something greater than Jonah.
- Luke sets it next to the sign of Jonah.
The point is not that Solomon was small. The point is that the Wisdom they already admired has arrived in person. In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. He became to us wisdom from God. The fear of the Lord still begins knowledge.
The end of that school is not a larger library.
It is the Son who is greater than the king who built the library.
- Greater than Solomon is Jesus’ comparison, not a slight on the gift God gave the king.
- The queen’s journey is the rebuke. Distance did not stop her. Nearness does not excuse this generation.
- Solomon’s wisdom was real, broad, and finally compromised. Greater means a wisdom that does not turn.
- Paired with greater than Jonah: wisdom and resurrection-sign in one verdict.
- Treasures of wisdom hidden in Christ is where the proverb tradition lands.
- Christ became to us wisdom from God. The school has a person at the head.
- Wisdom Literature is not replaced. It is read toward Him.
- The Gift – A hearing heart; wisdom beyond measure; proverbs by the thousand.
- The Queen – Ends of the earth; hard questions; no breath left.
- The Turn – Many wives; heart not wholly true; vapor under the sun.
- The Verdict – She will rise and condemn a generation that will not hear.
- The Pair – Greater than Jonah; the sign they were refusing.
- The Person – Treasures hidden in Him; wisdom from God.
- The Beginning – Fear of the Lord still the door; the Son is the end of the search.
- Matthew 12:42 – “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”
- Luke 11:31 – “The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with the men of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.”
- Matthew 12:41 – “The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.”
- 1 Kings 3:9-12 – “Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people… Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you.”
- 1 Kings 4:29-34 – “God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure, and breadth of mind like the sand on the seashore… He also spoke 3,000 proverbs, and his songs were 1,005… people of all nations came to hear the wisdom of Solomon.”
- 1 Kings 10:1-9 – The queen of Sheba heard of the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the Lord, and she came to test him with hard questions… “The report was true… I did not believe the reports until I came and my own eyes had seen it. Your wisdom and prosperity surpass the report.”
- 2 Chronicles 9:1-8 – She came to Jerusalem to test him with hard questions… Solomon answered all her questions. There was nothing hidden from Solomon that he could not explain to her.
- 1 Kings 11:4 – “When Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father.”
- Ecclesiastes 12:13 – “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.”
- Colossians 2:2-3 – “…the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:30 – “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption.”
- Proverbs 1:7 – “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.”
- Proverbs 8:22-23 – “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.”
The queen of the South came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding beyond measure.
When Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart. Fear God and keep His commandments.
Something greater than Jonah is here.
In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Christ became to us wisdom from God.
Do not stop at the king who spoke three thousand proverbs. Honor the gift. Then hear the greater. A queen will rise and ask why a generation with the Son in the street still wanted a sign. The wisdom they crossed the world for is standing in front of you.
Entry compiled for the JESUSaves.com Bible Glossary. Optimized for wiki.js Visual Editor.