CLAIM: God told Solomon, “I have given you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has been no one like you before you, nor shall one like you arise after you” (1 Kings 3:12). Does this mean that Solomon was even wiser than Jesus? How is this possible?

RESPONSE: The scope of this promise is relative to humans and other kings of the Earth, as the context makes clear (v.13). Moreover, God himself gave this gift to Solomon. Does this mean that Solomon was wiser than God? Of course not. Similarly, since Jesus was God, this doesn’t apply to him. This is why Jesus could say, “Something greater than Solomon is here” (Mt. 12:42).