1 Kings 3:1

3:1-4 He that loved the Lord, should, for his sake, have fixed his love upon one of the Lord's people. Solomon was a wise man, a rich man, a great man; yet the brightest praise of him, is that which is the character of all the saints, even the poorest, He loved the Lord. Where God sows plentifully, he expects to reap accordingly; and those that truly love God and his worship, will not grudge the expenses of their religion. We must never think that wasted which is laid out in the service of God.

And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt,.... Pharaoh was a common name of the kings of Egypt, of whom no mention is made in Scripture from the times of Moses until this time; which may seem strange, when it is considered that that kingdom was a potent one, and near the land of Canaan; but it was governed by a race of kings in this period of time, of whom, as Diodorus Siculus (i) says, there is nothing worthy of relation. The name of this Pharaoh, according to Eupolemus (k), an Heathen writer, was Vaphres; for he says, that David contracted a friendship with this king, and he relates some letters which passed between him and Solomon, concerning sending him workmen for the building of the temple, which are still preserved; but Calvisius (l) thinks it was Sesostris; what this affinity was is next observed: and took Pharaoh's daughter: that is, married her; who, according to Ben Gersom, was proselyted first to the Jewish religion; which is very probable, or otherwise it can hardly be thought Solomon would marry her; and as the forty fifth psalm, Psalm 45:1, and the book of Canticles, supposed to be written on that occasion, seem to confirm; to which may be added, that it does not appear she ever enticed or drew him into idolatry; for, of all the idols his wives drew him into the worship of, no mention is made of any Egyptian deities.

The Jews say (m) Rome was built the same day Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter, but without foundation: this was not Solomon's first wife; he was married to Naamah the Ammonitess before he was king, for he had Rehoboam by her a year before that for Solomon reigned only forty years, and Rehoboam, who succeeded him, was forty one years of age when he began to reign, 1 Kings 11:41; and brought her into the city of David; the fort of Zion: until he had made an end of building his own house: which was thirteen years in building, and now seems to have been begun, 1 Kings 7:1; and the house of the Lord; the temple, which according: to the Jewish chronology (n), was begun building before his marriage of Pharaoh's daughter, and was seven years in building; and therefore this marriage must be in the fourth year of his reign; for then he began to build the temple, 1 Kings 6:37; and so it must be, since Shimei lived three years in Jerusalem before he was put to death, after which this marriage was, 1 Kings 2:37; and the wall of Jerusalem round about; all which he built by raising a levy on the people, 1 Kings 9:15; and when these buildings were finished, he built a house for his wife, but in the mean while she dwelt in the city of David. (i) Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 42. (k) Apud. Euseb. Praeparet. Evangel. l. 9. c. 30, 31, 32. (l) Chronolog. p. 191, 192. (m) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 56. 2. & Sanhedrin, fol. 21. 2.((n) Seder Olam Rabba, c. 15. p. 41.

1 Kings 3:1 . Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh — As being a powerful neighbour. And took Pharaoh’s daughter — To wife, which was not unlawful, if she was first instructed in, and made a proselyte to, the Jewish religion, as, in all probability, she was. For Solomon was not yet fallen from God, but loved the Lord, and walked in the statutes of David, ( 1 Kings 3:3 ,) and therefore would not have married a gross idolater, which would have been directly contrary to God’s law, and most pernicious in its consequences. It is true he afterward loved many strange women, and the wives he married alienated his heart from Jehovah, and drew him in to worship strange gods: but the gods of the Egyptians are not reckoned among them, nor does it appear that Pharaoh’s daughter was one of the wives whose example or conversation had such a pernicious influence. On the contrary, it is likely she was a worshipper of the true God, and that Solomon’s taking her to wife was designed by God to be a type of Christ calling his church to himself and to the true religion, not only from among the Jews, but even out of the Gentile world. This, it is thought, plainly appears from the forty-fifth Psalm, and the book of Canticles. And brought her into the city of David — Into David’s palace there. Until he had made an end of building the house of the Lord — The temple designed for the worship and honour of God.

And the wall of Jerusalem round about — Which, though in some sort built by David, yet Solomon is here said to build, either because he made it higher and stronger, in which sense Nebuchadnezzar is said to have built Babylon, ( Daniel 4:30 ,) or because he built another wall besides the former, for after this time Jerusalem was encompassed with more walls than one.

(1) Pharaoh king of Egypt .—At this time it would appear, from the Egyptian records and traditions, that Egypt was weak and divided, and that what is called the twenty-first dynasty of the Tanite kings was ruling in Lower Egypt. This, and a corresponding abeyance (judging from the monuments) of Assyrian power, gave scope for the rise to sudden greatness and wealth of the Israelite kingdom under Solomon, and probably induced the Egyptian king of those days to consent to an alliance which, at other times, the greatness of the Pharaohs might have spumed. No fault is found with the alliance by the sacred historian, for the Egyptians were never looked upon with the same aversion as the strange women of the Canaanite races. As, moreover, it is not in any way connected with Solomon’s subsequent declension into idolatry, noticed in 1Kings 11:1-8 , it is not unlikely that the new queen literally acted on the call of the Psalmist ( Psalm 45:10 ) to “forget her own people and her father’s house.”

1 . Pharaoh king of Egypt ] This is the first notice since the Exodus of any connexion of Israel with Egypt. It is impossible to decide with certainty which Pharaoh it was whose daughter Solomon took to wife. The 22nd Egyptian dynasty commenced with Sheshonk I. (the Shishak of the Bible), about b.c. 990. This monarch did much to advance the Egyptian power, which under the previous Tanite sovereigns of the 21st dynasty had sunk very low. We shall find Shishak ( 1 Kings 11:40 ) receiving Jeroboam when he fled from Solomon. The wife of Solomon must therefore have been a daughter of a king in the previous dynasty, the kings of which would be likely to welcome an alliance with so powerful a monarch. The last of these was Psusennes 2, but as he is said by Manetho to have reigned only fourteen years, it seems more probable that the princess whom Solomon married was the daughter of Psinaces who preceded Psusennes. Pharaoh is used in the Bible as the royal title of the Egyptian kings, and not as the proper name of any single person. This wife of Solomon probably embraced Judaism, as we find no reproach against him for this marriage, nor is any Egyptian deity mentioned among those for whom Solomon at a later time built high places ( 1 Kings 11:1-8 ) when strange women turned away his heart after other gods. into the city of David ] This was the eastern portion of the hill of Zion on which the temple was afterwards built.

Solomon considered this too sacred a place for his own dwelling, because thither the ark of the Lord had come ( 2 Chronicles 8:11 ). his own house ] This was outside the city of David, and from 1 Kings 7:8 we can see that the house for Pharaoh’s daughter was close to the king’s own house, and built after the same fashion and of like grandeur. The time which Solomon took about building his own house was thirteen years (cf. 1 Kings 7:1 ), during this period the Egyptian wife continued to dwell in the city of David. The marriage song of the 5th Psalm is referred by the oldest interpreters to this marriage of Solomon with Pharaoh’s daughter. Ch. 1 Kings 3:1-4 . Solomon marries Pharaoh’s daughter. Sacrifices still offered on the high places. Solomon’s sacrifice at Gibeon ( 2 Chronicles 1:3 ) At the beginning of this Chapter the LXX. inserts a long passage which has nothing to correspond to it in the Hebrew. It speaks of Solomon’s wisdom, the number of the people, the presents of those who were tributary to Solomon, the provisions for his table, the names of his chief ministers, and contains a notice of his horses and chariots. Some portions of this passage are drawn from Chapter 4. and some from 2 Chronicles 9:25-26 . The verses of Chapter 4. which are introduced here are omitted by the LXX. in that place. See notes there.

What Pharaoh is meant is uncertain. It must have been a predecessor of Shishak (or Sheshonk), who invaded Judaea more than 40 years later 1 Kings 14:25 ; and probabilities are in favor, not of Psusennes II, the last king of Manetho's 21st dynasty, but of Psinaces, the predecessor of Psusennes. This, the Tanite dynasty, had become very weak, especially toward its close, from where we may conceive how gladly it would ally itself with the powerful house of David. The Jews were not forbidden to marry foreign wives, if they became proselytes. As Solomon is not blamed for this marriage either here or in 1 Kings 11 , and as the idol temples which he allowed to be built 1 Kings 11:5-7 were in no case dedicated to Egyptian deities, it is to be presumed that his Egyptian wife adopted her husband's religion. The city of David - The city, situated on the eastern hill, or true Zion, where the temple was afterward built, over against the city of the Jehusites (1 Kings 9:24; compare 2 Chronicles 8:11).

CHAPTER 3 1Ki 3:1. Solomon Marries Pharaoh's Daughter. 1. Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh—This was a royal title, equivalent to "sultan," and the personal name of this monarch is said to have been Vaphres. The formation, on equal terms, of this matrimonial alliance with the royal family of Egypt, shows the high consideration to which the Hebrew kingdom had now arisen. Rosellini has given, from the Egyptian monuments, what is supposed to be a portrait of this princess. She was received in the land of her adoption with great eclat; for the Song of Solomon and the forty-fifth Psalm are supposed to have been composed in honor of this occasion, although they may both have a higher typical reference to the introduction of the Gentiles into the church. and brought her into the city of David—that is, Jerusalem. She was not admissible into the stronghold of Zion, the building where the ark was (De 23:7, 8). She seems to have been lodged at first in his mother's apartments (So 3:4; 8:2), as a suitable residence was not yet provided for her in the new palace (1Ki 7:8; 9:24; 2Ch 8:11). building … the wall of Jerusalem round about—Although David had begun (Ps 51:18), it was, according to Josephus, reserved for Solomon to extend and complete the fortifications of the city. It has been questioned whether this marriage was in conformity with the law (see Ex 34:16; De 7:3; Ezr 10:1-10; Ne 13:26).

But it is nowhere censured in Scripture, as are the connections Solomon formed with other foreigners (1Ki 11:1-3); whence it may be inferred that he had stipulated for her abandonment of idolatry, and conforming to the Jewish religion (Ps 45:10, 11).Solomon marrieth Pharaoh’s daughter: high places being in use, he goeth to Gibeon to sacrifice, 1 Kings 3:1-4. There the Lord appeareth to him; gives him a choice: he preferreth wisdom; obtaineth it, and also riches and honour, 1 Kings 3:5-15. His judgment between the two harlots, 1 Kings 3:16-28. Made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, as being a powerful neighbour. Took Pharaoh’s daughter; upon what conditions is not here expressed; but it is probable she was first instructed in and proselyted to the Jewish religion; as may be gathered, 1. Because he was not yet fallen from God, but loved the Lord, and walked in the statutes of David, 1 Kings 3:3; and therefore would never have married a gross idolater, which was so contrary to God’s law, and so pernicious in its consequences. 2. Because he is no where reproved for this fact, as he is for loving many other strange women, 1 Kings 11:1. 3. By comparing Psa 45 and the Book of Canticles; whereby it plainly appears that this action had something extraordinary in it, and was designed by God to be a type of Christ, calling his church to himself, and to the true religion, not only out of the Jews, but even out of the Gentile world.