1 Kings 3:1

_AND 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 THE LORD, AND THE WALL OF JERUSALEM ROUND ABOUT._ 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, of the 21st dynasty, called the military Pontiffs, whose dominion extended to Upper Egypt, as appears from monumental inscriptions at Karnac. But Ewald identifies him with Psusennes, the last king of the 29th dynasty, whose metropolis was Tanis in Lower Egypt. He is erroneously stated by Josephus to have been the last king of Egypt who bore the title of Pharaoh ('Antiquities,' b. 8:, ch. vi., sec. 2:: cf. 2 Kings 23:29;...

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....

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....

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 were in no case dedicated to Eg

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. 1 KINGS 3:1 AND SOLOMON MADE AFFINITy [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,

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 Gers...

2. JEHOVAH APPEARS TO SOLOMON HIS PRAYER AND THE ANSWER CHAPTER 3 _ 1. Affinity with Pharaoh and Pharaoh's daughter (1 Kings 3:1)_ 2. Solomon loved the LORD (1 Kings 3:2) 3. Jehovah appears to Solomon (1 Kings 3:5) 4. The wisdom granted and exemplified (1 Kings 3:16) We shall now see how the Lord kept His promise He made unto David in the establishment of his kingdom. After the execution of the demanded judgment Solomon entered into affinity with Pharaoh King of Egypt (probably the last King of the 21 Tanitic dynasty) and married his daughter. She was with him in David's city until he made an end of

1 KINGS 3:1 TO 1 KINGS 4:34. EARLY DAYS, REIGN, AND WISDOM OF SOLOMON. The sources of this section are various, and the arrangement of the narrative in the LXX should be noticed. There are (_a_) a statistical account of Solomon s reign, referred to, apparently in 1 Kings 11:41, as the book of the acts of Solomon; (_b_) a number of narratives about this reign; (_c_) several Deuteronomic additions_ e.g._ 1 Kings 3:6; 1 Kings 3:14, etc.: and (_d_) some very late passages, possibly originally explanatory notes. The history of Solomon's reign

AFFINITY. relationship by marriage....

_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 preced...