1 Kings 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).

1Ki 3:2-5.

HIGH

PLACES

BEING IN

USE,

HE

SACRIFICES AT

GIBEON.

3. And Solomon loved the Lord--This declaration, illustrated by what

follows, affords undoubted evidence of the young king's piety; nor is

the word "only," which prefaces the statement, to be understood as

introducing a qualifying circumstance that reflected any degree of

censure upon him. The intention of the sacred historian is to describe

the generally prevailing mode of worship before the temple was built.

The

high places were altars erected on natural or artificial eminences,

probably from the idea that men were brought nearer to the Deity. They

had been used by the patriarchs, and had become so universal among the

heathen that they were almost identified with idolatry. They were

prohibited in the law

(Le 17:3, 4;

De 12:13, 14;

Jer 7:31;

Eze 6:3, 4;

Ho 10:8).

But, so long as the tabernacle was migratory and the means for the

national worship were merely provisional, the worship on those high

places was tolerated. Hence, as accounting for their continuance, it is

expressly stated

(1Ki 3:2)

that God had not yet chosen a permanent and exclusive place for his

worship.

4. the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there--The old tabernacle and

the brazen altar which Moses had made in the wilderness were there

(1Ch 16:39; 21:29;

2Ch 1:3-6).

The royal progress was of public importance. It was a season of

national devotion. The king was accompanied by his principal nobility

(2Ch 1:2);

and, as the occasion was most probably one of the great annual

festivals which lasted seven days, the rank of the offerer and the

succession of daily oblations may help in part to account for the

immense magnitude of the sacrifices.

5. In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream--It was probably

at the close of this season, when his mind had been elevated into a

high state of religious fervor by the protracted services. Solomon felt

an intense desire, and he had offered an earnest petition, for the gift

of wisdom. In sleep his thoughts ran upon the subject of his prayer,

and he dreamed that God appeared to him and gave him the option of

every thing in the world--that he asked wisdom, and that God granted

his request

(1Ki 3:9-12).

His dream was but an imaginary repetition of his former desire, but

God's grant of it was real.

1Ki 3:6-15.

HE

CHOOSES

WISDOM.

6. Solomon said--that is, had dreamed that he said.

7. I am but a little child--not in age, for he had reached manhood

(1Ki 2:9)

and must have been at least twenty years old; but he was raw and

inexperienced in matters of government.

10. the speech pleased the Lord--It was Solomon's waking prayers

that God heard and requited, but the acceptance was signified in this

vision.

15. behold, it was a dream--The vivid impression, the indelible

recollection he had of this dream, together with the new and increased

energy communicated to his mind, and the flow of worldly prosperity

that rushed upon him, gave him assurance that it came by divine

inspiration and originated in the grace of God. The wisdom, however,

that was asked and obtained was not so much of the heart as of the

head--it was wisdom not for himself personally, but for his office,

such as would qualify him for the administration of justice, the

government of a kingdom, and for the attainment of general scientific

knowledge.

1Ki 3:16-28.

HIS

JUDGMENT BETWEEN

TWO

HARLOTS.

16. Then came there two women--Eastern monarchs, who generally

administer justice in person, at least in all cases of difficulty,

often appeal to the principles of human nature when they are at a loss

otherwise to find a clue to the truth or see clearly their way through

a mass of conflicting testimony. The modern history of the East abounds

with anecdotes of judicial cases, in which the decision given was the

result of an experiment similar to this of Solomon upon the natural

feelings of the contending parties.