This verse repeats, and not for the first time, what we may call the theme that was begun in 1 Kings 3:1–28, which is Solomon’s wisdom and the source of that wisdom in the gift of the God of Israel. Not only does this repetition serve to settle this idea in our minds, but it gives us a vantage point from which we may view the true wisdom that lies behind the historical event that the writer sets before us.
From the vantage point of Solomon’s God-given wisdom, therefore, the writer points to two matters. The first issue is the general peace that existed between Hiram and Solomon. We ought not to minimize the benefit of such a circumstance.
In the ancient world, as in our world today, great nations tended to look at other great nations as rivals and potential, if not real, enemies. Such a situation had a number of negatives. It required the gathering of a large standing army, which was expensive and, if war ensued, costly in human life and property. If conflict did arise between the two rivals, one of them might well come into slavish obedience to the other.
The general state of peace was not the only result of the divine gift of wisdom to Solomon. The writer speaks of the immediate conclusion of the negotiations between the two kings in their making a treaty between them.
12 And the LORD gave Solomon wisdom, as he promised him. And there was peace between Hiram and Solomon, and the two of them made a treaty.