1 Kings 3:1

Contextual Overview

¹Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the LORD , and the wall around Jerusalem.¹ Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord , and the wall around Jerusalem. ¹Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had completed building his own house and the house of Yahweh and the wall around Jerusalem. ¹ Then Solomon formed a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her to the city of David until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem.¹ Solomon made affinitie with Pharao king of Egypt, & toke Pharaos daughter, and brought her into the citie of Dauid, vntil he had made an ende of buylding his owne house, and the house of the Lorde, and the wall of Hierusalem round about. ¹ And Solomon made an alliance by marriage with Pharaoh the king of Egypt. And he took Pharaoh's daughter and brought her into the city of David, until he finished building his own house, and the house of Jehovah, and the wall of Jerusalem all around. ¹ Solomon made a peace treaty with Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, by marrying his daughter. Solomon brought her to the City of David. This was when Solomon was still building his palace, the Temple of the Lord , and the wall around Jerusalem. ¹ Solomon made a marriage alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt; he took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had finished building his own house and the house of the LORD and the wall around Jerusalem. ¹ Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh's daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of Yahweh, and the wall of Jerusalem round about. ¹ And Solomon made affinitie with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and tooke Pharaohs daughter, and brought her into the citie of Dauid, vntill he had made an end of building his owne house, and the house of the Lord, and the wall of Ierusalem round about.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

am 2990, bc 1014, An, Ex, Is, 477

affinity: 2 Chronicles 18:1, Ezra 9:14

and took: 1 Kings 7:8, 1 Kings 9:24, 1 Kings 11:1

the city: 2 Samuel 5:7, 1 Chronicles 11:7

his own: 1 Kings 7:1-12

the house: 1 Kings 6:1-38, 1 Kings 7:13-15, 2 Chronicles 2:1 - 2 Chronicles 4:22, Ezra 5:11

the wall: 1 Kings 9:15-19

Reciprocal: Genesis 12:15 - princes 1 Kings 2:10 - the city 1 Kings 9:16 - daughter 1 Chronicles 4:18 - Bithiah 2 Chronicles 8:11 - brought up

Cross-References

Genesis 3:13
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13
Then Yahweh God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" And the woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13
And the Lord God sayd vnto the woman: Why hast thou done this? And the woman sayde: the serpent begyled me, and I dyd eate.

Genesis 3:13
Then the Lord God said to the woman, "What have you done?" She said, "The snake tricked me, so I ate the fruit."

Genesis 3:13
Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman said, "The serpent beguiled me, and I ate."

Genesis 3:13
And the Lord seide to the womman, Whi didist thou this thing? Which answerde, The serpent disseyued me, and Y eet.

Genesis 3:13
And the LORD God said vnto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The Serpent beguiled me, and I did eate.

Genesis 3:13
And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

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, Psalms 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.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 11:0, 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).

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

CHAPTER III

Solomon marries Pharaoh's daughter, 1, 2.

He serves God, and offers a thousand burnt-offerings upon one

altar, at Gibeon, 3, 4.

God appears to him in a dream at Gibeon; and asks what he shall

give him, 5.

He asks wisdom; with which God is well pleased, and promises to

give him not only that, but also riches and honour; and, if

obedient, long life, 6-14.

He comes back to Jerusalem; and offers burnt-offerings and

peace-offerings, and makes a feast for his servants, 15.

His judgment between the two harlots, 16-27.

He rises in the esteem of the people, 28.

NOTES ON CHAP. III

Verse 1 Kings 3:1. Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh — This was no doubt a political measure in order to strengthen his kingdom, and on the same ground he continued his alliance with the king of Tyre; and these were among the most powerful of his neighbours. But should political considerations prevail over express laws of God? God had strictly forbidden his people to form alliances with heathenish women, lest they should lead their hearts away from him into idolatry. Let us hear the law: Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son; for they will turn away thy son from following me, c. Exodus 34:16; Deuteronomy 7:3-4. Now Solomon acted in direct opposition to these laws; and perhaps in this alliance were sown those seeds of apostacy from God and goodness in which he so long lived, and in which he so awfully died.

Those who are, at all hazards, his determinate apologists, assume,

1. That Pharaoh's daughter must have been a proselyte to the Jewish religion, else Solomon would not have married her.

2. That God was not displeased with this match.

3. That the book of Canticles, which is supposed to have been his epithalamium, would not have found a place in the sacred canon had the spouse, whom it all along celebrates, been at that time an idolatress.

4. That it is certain we nowhere in Scripture find Solomon blamed for this match. See Dodd.

Now to all this I answer,

1. We have no evidence that the daughter of Pharaoh was a proselyte, no more than that her father was a true believer. It is no more likely that he sought a proselyte here than that he sought them among the Moabites, Hittites, c., from whom he took many wives.

2. If God's law be positively against such matches, he could not possibly be pleased with this breach of it in Solomon but his law is positively against them, therefore he was not pleased.

3. That the book of Canticles being found in the sacred canon is, according to some critics, neither a proof that the marriage pleased God, nor that the book was written by Divine inspiration; much less that it celebrates the love between Christ and his Church, or is at all profitable for doctrine, for reproof, or for edification in righteousness.

4. That Solomon is most expressly reproved in Scripture for this very match, is to me very evident from the following passages: DID NOT SOLOMON, king of Israel, SIN by these things? Yet among many nations was there no king like him, who was beloved of his God, and God made him king over all Israel; nevertheless even him did outlandish women cause to sin; Nehemiah 13:26. Now it is certain that Pharaoh's daughter was an outlandish woman; and although it be not expressly said that Pharaoh's daughter is here intended, yet there is all reasonable evidence that she is included; and, indeed, the words seem to intimate that she is especially referred to. In 1 Kings 3:3 it is said, Solomon LOVED THE LORD, walking in the statutes of David; and Nehemiah says, Did not Solomon, king of Israel, SIN BY THESE THINGS, who WAS BELOVED of HIS GOD; referring, most probably, to this early part of Solomon's history. But supposing that this is not sufficient evidence that this match is spoken against in Scripture, let us turn to 1 Kings 11:1-2, of this book, where the cause of Solomon's apostasy is assigned; and there we read, But King Solomon loved many STRANGE WOMEN, TOGETHER WITH THE DAUGHTER OF PHARAOH, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites: of the nations concerning which the Lord said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in unto them; neither shall they come in unto you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: SOLOMON CLAVE UNTO THESE IN LOVE. Here the marriage with Pharaoh's daughter is classed most positively with the most exceptionable of his matrimonial and concubinal alliances: as it no doubt had its predisposing share in an apostacy the most unprecedented and disgraceful.

Should I even be singular, I cannot help thinking that the reign of Solomon began rather inauspiciously: even a brother's blood must be shed to cause him to sit securely on his throne, and a most reprehensible alliance, the forerunner of many others of a similar nature, was formed for the same purpose. But we must ever be careful to distinguish between what God has commanded to be done, and what was done through the vile passions and foolish jealousies of men. Solomon had many advantages, and no man ever made a worse use of them.