1 Kings 3:1

EXPOSITION

THE BEGINNING OF SOLOMON 'S REIGN .—In the preceding chapter we have seen the establishment of Solomon's rule (verse 46) by the removal of internal foes, i.e; of disaffected and rebellious subjects. In this we see him strengthening his position by an external alliance, by a marriage with an Egyptian princess. This event, however, is related here, not because the historian had this connexion of ideas in his mind, but probably because the marriage came next in order of time.

And Solomon made affinit y [Not "alliance" (as some have supposed) but relationship. Lit; made himself son-in-law ] with Pharaoh king of Egypt [which of the Pharaohs this was, it is impossible to say with certainty. As, however, Shishak ( 1 Kings 11:40 ; 1 Kings 14:25 ) is undoubtedly the Sheshonk who succeeded to the throne of Egypt in the 26th year of Solomon (Poole), and who was the first king of the 22nd dynasty of Manetho, we may safely identify this Pharaoh with "a late king of the 21st dynasty." It has been assumed (Bunsen, Ewald, Brugsch, al. ) that it was Psusennes II ; the last king of that house, on the supposition that he reigned 35 years, (as stated by Eusebius), but according to Africanus, his reign was limited to 14 years. It is wiser to say, therefore, with Mr. Poole (Dict. Bib; "Pharaoh") that this Pharaoh "cannot yet be identified on Manetho's list." It is also impossible to decide whether the alliance was first sought by Solomon with a view to win over a powerful and dangerous neighbour (Thenius), to whose inroads his northern border was exposed, and especially to counteract the influence ( 1 Kings 11:21 ) of Hadad (Plumptre), or whether the marriage was proposed by Pharaoh because the 21st dynasty "had then become very weak" (Rawlinson) and its head desired "friendly relations with the kingdom of Israel, which had grown into a power to be dreaded" (Keil). But we may reasonably suppose that the alliance "must have been to most Israelites a very startling one" (Plumptre.) Egypt (Rahab, Psalms 89:10 ; Isaiah 51:9 ) was to every Israelite a name both of triumph and dread. The Pharaohs were their ancestral foes], and took Pharaoh's daughter [A marriage such as this was not without precedent ( Genesis 41:45 ; Exodus 2:21 ; Numbers 12:1 ; Matthew 1:5 ; Ruth 4:13 ), nor was it condemned by the Law, which only forbade intermarriage with the nations of Canaan ( Exodus 34:16 ; Deuteronomy 7:3 ), and sanctioned the union of an Israelite with a captive taken in war ( Deuteronomy 21:13 ; cf. Deuteronomy 20:14 ). "At the same time, it was only when the foreign wives renounced idolatry, that such marriages were in accordance with the spirit of the law" (Keil). As Solomon at this period of his life faithfully observed the law, as he is never blamed for this marriage, and as there is no trace whatever of the introduction of Egyptian rites into Israel, it is a fair presumption that the Egyptian princess conformed to the religion of her adopted country], and brought her into the city of David [ 2 Chronicles 8:11 speaks of her dwelling in "the house of David," i.e; it would seem, the palace which David had occupied] until he had made an end [this hardly shows that he had begun to build, as Keil infers. He did not begin building the Temple until the fourth ( 1 Kings 6:1 ), nor his own house until the eleventh year ( 1 Kings 7:1 ) after his accession, and the marriage, though not at the very commencement of his reign, can hardly have been delayed to the eleventh year, and may have taken place before the death of Shimei] of building his own house [cf. 1 Kings 7:7 ] and the house of the Lord [cf. 1 Kings 6:1-38 .; 1 Kings 7:51 ] and the wall of Jerusalem round about. [Probably, he both strengthened and extended the city walls, as Josephus (Ant. 8.6. 1) affirms. Acc. to the LXX . addition to 1 Kings 12:1-33 ; it was on this task that Jeroboam was employed ( 1 Kings 11:27 ; cf. 1 Kings 9:15 ). David had fortified a part of the city ( 2 Samuel 5:9 ).