1 Kings 3

1 Kings 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 ( Deuteronomy 23:7 Deuteronomy 23:8 ). She seems to have been lodged at first in his mother's apartments ( Solomon 3:4 , 8:2 ), as a suitable residence was not yet provided for her in the new palace ( 1 Kings 7:8 , 9:24 , 2 Chronicles 8:11 ).
building . . . the wall of Jerusalem round about--Although David had begun ( Psalms 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 Exodus 34:16 , Deuteronomy 7:3 , Ezra 10:1-10 , Nehemiah 13:26 ). But it is nowhere censured in Scripture, as are the connections Solomon formed with other foreigners ( 1 Kings 11:1-3 ); whence it may be inferred that he had stipulated for her abandonment of idolatry, and conforming to the Jewish religion ( Psalms 45:10 Psalms 45:11 ).

1 Kings 3:2-5 . HIGH PLACES BEING IN USE HIS 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 ( Leviticus 17:3 Leviticus 17:4 , Deuteronomy 12:13 Deuteronomy 12:14 , Jeremiah 7:31 , Ezekiel 6:3 Ezekiel 6:4 , Hosea 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 ( 1 Kings 3:2 ) that God had not yet chosen a permanent and exclusive place for his worship.