Seek Wisdom Before Riches — Solomon's Prayer
When offered any gift, Solomon asked not for wealth but for wisdom to govern justly, and riches followed unbidden, teaching that competence and character precede and produce lasting prosperity.
In the First Book of Kings, God appears to the young Solomon and offers him whatever he desires; he asks only for an understanding heart to discern good from evil and to lead his people well. Pleased that he sought wisdom rather than long life or riches, God grants him both the wisdom he requested and the wealth and honor he did not. The narrative dramatizes a durable principle: the capacity to judge well, build well, and serve well is the seed from which material abundance grows, while riches sought directly often prove fleeting. Proverbs elaborates that wisdom herself carries enduring wealth and honor in her hands. The lesson maps cleanly onto modern human-capital theory, in which investment in knowledge, skill, and judgment yields the highest and most lasting economic returns, so that the wise pursuit of competence outperforms the anxious chase after money.
Because you have asked for wisdom and not for riches, I give you also what you did not ask: wealth and honor.
Gary Becker's human-capital theory provides the modern parallel to Solomon's prayer, showing that investment in knowledge and judgment yields the most durable economic returns, so wisdom reliably precedes wealth.
Hebrew Bible