Solomon Bible stories for kids
Solomon is David's son, and he becomes king young enough to say so out loud. When God offers him anything at all in a dream, he calls himself a little child who does not know how to go out or come in, and asks for an understanding heart. Children are often surprised that this is the whole wish. It is a good surprise to hand them, because most of them already have a list.
These three stories run from 1 Kings 3 to 1 Kings 8, about sixteen minutes together: the wish, the first time the wisdom is put to the test, and the house he built for God. Two are told for ages 3 to 8, and the middle one is written for 5 to 8.
3 stories, about 16 minutes of listening
Solomon’s story, in order
King Solomon Asks for Wisdom
Solomon is a young king with an enormous job, and one night God comes to him in a dream with an astonishing offer. He could ask for treasure, or a long life, or victory over every enemy.
1 Kings 3:1-15, 4 min, ages 3-8
King Solomon and the Two Mothers
Two women stand before young King Solomon, each saying the same baby boy is hers, and there is no proof either way. The whole court is watching to see what the king who asked God for a listening heart will do.
1 Kings 3:16-28, 7 min, ages 5-8
Solomon Builds the Temple
For seven years, Solomon builds a house for God, with walls of gold, carved angels and great beams of cedar from Lebanon. But one thing about how it goes up makes it unlike any other building site in the world.
1 Kings 6-8, 5 min, ages 3-8
Listening through Solomon’s life
King Solomon Asks for Wisdom is four minutes at Gibeon, and it is on our list for three-year-olds. David has grown old and died, the job is enormous, and God comes to Solomon in a dream and says: ask. He could have had treasure, a long life or every enemy beaten, and he asks for a listening heart instead. God gives him that, and the riches and honor he did not ask for as well.
King Solomon and the Two Mothers is seven minutes from 1 Kings 3, and the one to hear with a parent close by. Two women share a house, one baby has died in the night, and both say the living one is theirs. Solomon calls for a sword and orders the baby divided, and the telling says clearly, before anybody answers, that he never meant to do it. The real mother would rather give her son away than see him hurt, and that is how the king knows.
Solomon Builds the Temple is five minutes from 1 Kings 6 to 8: cedar floated down the sea from Lebanon, stones cut and shaped far away so that no hammer or iron tool is heard on the hill, and walls of gold carved with palm trees, open flowers and angels. When the ark is carried in, a cloud fills the house and the priests cannot stand up to do their work. Solomon's prayer is that even the highest heavens cannot hold God, never mind a building.
King Solomon Asks for Wisdom and King Solomon and the Two Mothers are published here in full. Solomon Builds the Temple carries its opening, with the rest of the narration in the app. Every page has a free audio preview, the memory verse from the World English Bible, discussion questions and a prayer.
Common questions
- Which Solomon story suits a young child?
- King Solomon Asks for Wisdom, which is four calm minutes and ends with a prayer a three-year-old can say under the blanket: God, give me a listening heart. Solomon Builds the Temple is gentle too, mostly gold and cedar and quiet. King Solomon and the Two Mothers is rated Ages 5-8, and it is worth reading the note on its page before you play it.
- Is the story of the two mothers too upsetting?
- It has two hard moments. A baby dies in the night at the start, and Solomon calls for a sword and says to divide the living child. The telling stops to say that he never meant it, not for a second, and the baby is never harmed. You can describe the sword as a test that showed which woman truly loved him. Most five-year-olds find the ending, a mother holding her boy again, more memorable than the scare.
- Which order should we listen in?
- The order here, which is the Bible's. The two mothers opens by remembering the dream, and the temple story looks back to the tabernacle Moses built in the desert and to David, who gathered the plans but was told his son would build it. If your child already knows David's stories, start there, since Solomon's first story begins with David's last words to him.
- What does the Bible say about Solomon that these stories leave out?
- The visit of the Queen of Sheba, who came to test him with hard questions, and the thousands of proverbs and songs he is said to have written. It also tells a sadder ending than our stories reach: in his old age his many wives turned his heart to other gods, and after he died the kingdom split in two. Our stories stay with the young king and the temple.
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