Chapter 3

1 Solomon marrieth Pharaoh’s daughter. 2 High places being in use, Solomon sacrificeth at Gibeon. 5 Solomon at Gibeon, in the choice which God gave him, preferring wisdom, obtaineth wisdom, riches, and honour. 16 Solomon’s judgment between the two harlots maketh him renowned.

1. Affinity with Pharaoh. This verse is closely connected with the preceding one. Solomon’s first objective after taking the throne was to establish internal security. That end achieved, he was in a position to give his attention to outside interests. The first item mentioned is the royal marriage to a daughter of Pharaoh. In the case of the reign of David over Judah, there is also first the mention of measures taken to ensure internal security (2 Sam. 2:1–32; 3:1), followed by a mention of David’s sons and wives (2 Sam. 3:2–5), and after his anointing as king of Israel (2 Sam. 5:1–3), the first item reported is the establishment of his power over Israel (2 Sam. 5:6–12), followed once more by a mention of his wives and concubines (2 Sam. 5:13–16).

The Pharaoh with whom Solomon is mentioned as having made affinity is believed to be one of the kings of the Twenty-first Dynasty, whose capital was at Tanis in Lower Egypt. It must have been a predecessor of Shishak (Sheshonk), founder of the Twenty-second Dynasty, who invaded Judah in the fifth year of Rehoboam (1 Kings 14:25). The Pharaoh with whom Solomon made affinity is thought by many authorities to have been Psousennes.

The time when Solomon made an alliance with Egypt was a period when Egypt was weak and divided. It also was a period of weakness for Assyria and Babylon, and the once powerful Hittites were no longer a nation. Such a period of general weakness in the Near East offered an unparalleled opportunity for David and Solomon to establish a strong nation for the people of God in the land He had set apart for them.

Took Pharaoh’s daughter. Political alliances were frequently sealed by marriages between the royal families. No rebuke is given by the sacred historian for Solomon’s marriage with this idolatrous princess. He simply records the incident. But his absence of censure places no sanction upon the act. The marriage was in direct violation of the command of God. Though Pharaoh’s daughter forsook the religion of her native Egypt and threw in her lot with the Hebrews, among whom she had come to live (PK 53), this salutary result did not justify the foreign marriage. Pharaoh took the city of Gezer from the Canaanites and presented it to his daughter as a dowry and to the nation of Israel (1 Kings 9:16).

City of David. A distinction is here made between David’s city and Jerusalem. The ancient citadel of Zion, stronghold of the Jebusites (2 Sam. 5:7–9), was situated on the southern end of the eastern ridge, to the west of the spring Gihon in the Kidron Valley, and south of the area where the Temple was later to be constructed.

His own house. The residence of Pharaoh’s daughter in the City of David was only temporary, until Solomon had constructed his own palace. This palace was to be north of David’s city, in the Temple area. A separate house was later to be built for his Egyptian wife (1 Kings 7:8).

2. Sacrificed in high places. According to the law of Moses, sacrifices were to be brought to the tabernacle and were not to be offered in the open field (Lev. 17:3–5). The Lord had promised to designate a special place where the sacrifices were to be brought (Deut. 12:10, 11). Before the selection of this central place, however, sacrifices were offered at various places throughout the country (Judges 6:25, 26; 13:16; 1 Sam. 7:10; 13:9; 14:35; 1 Chron. 21:26), with a seeming unconsciousness of guilt on the part of the worshipers. Two prime reasons may be given for the prohibition of sacrifices at high places: (1) to keep the Israelites from the places where the corrupting idolatrous worship of the land was carried on; (2) to prevent the springing up of unauthorized sanctuaries of the Lord, where false practices might be developed.

3. Only he sacrificed. This is not to be construed as evidence of idolatrous worship at this time in Solomon’s life. The record has just stated that he “loved the Lord” and was “walking in the statutes of David.” But he did not observe the Mosaic directives forbidding sacrifice except at a central shrine. Although this directive had been ignored during the period of the judges and even under Samuel and David (v. 2), Israel had now come to a new hour in its religious experience. It was beginning to be recognized that God would no longer condone a situation that He had formerly “winked at” (Acts 17:30).

4. Went to Gibeon. Gibeon was nearly 6 mi. (9.6 km.) northwest of Jerusalem. After the success of the measures taken to establish the kingdom Solomon held a great festival at Gibeon for the whole nation (2 Chron. 1:1–3), in grateful thanksgiving to the Lord for the blessings conferred. The tabernacle that had been built in the wilderness was located there (2 Chron. 1:3). It will be recalled that, long before, the Gibeonites had deceived Joshua, and accordingly had been sentenced to be “hewers of wood and drawers of water for the house of my God” (Joshua 9:23).

5. In a dream. In the days of Solomon’s father David, the will of the Lord had been revealed to men through the prophets Nathan and Gad (2 Sam. 7:2–17; 12:1–14; 24:11–14), and through special services rendered by the priests (1 Sam. 23:9–12; 30:7, 8). In addition, David himself also frequently spoke under inspiration, as, for example, when he wrote the psalms (see 2 Sam. 23:2). Solomon received his communication by a dream. God frequently chose dreams as a method of revealing Himself to His servants, for example, to Abraham (Gen. 15:12), Jacob (Gen. 28:12–16), Joseph (Gen. 37:5–10), and Daniel (Dan. 2:19; 7:1). He also spoke by dreams to those outside the ranks of Israel, for example, to Abimelech (Gen. 20:3–7), Laban (Gen. 31:24), Pharaoh and his servants (Gen. 40:5; 41:1–8), the Midianite (Judges 7:13), and Nebuchadnezzar (Dan. 2:1; 4:10–18).

Ask. God knew well what Solomon needed, but He bade him ask. The incident was to be a test to the young king. By the nature of his request Solomon would reveal the nature of his heart.

7. A little child. Solomon is not here conveying the thought that he is a child in years, but that he regards himself as a child in experience. The words are those of humility. With the heavy responsibilities of the nation resting upon him, he felt himself unequal to the task and in need of divine help. At the time of his accession he was already married and probably a father. This is suggested by the fact that he had a son 41 years old (2 Chron. 12:13) at the time of his death, after a reign of 40 years (1 Kings 11:42).

9. An understanding heart. Man’s first and greatest need is an understanding heart, a heart that can understand its own problems and needs as well as the will of God. The greater the responsibilities man is called upon to bear, the greater his need of an understanding heart. One who is placed in a position of authority needs to understand the problems of others and how to solve them. In the administration of justice and the conduct of the affairs of state, he needs much of practical wisdom, keenness of insight, and clearness of judgment. One of Solomon’s major functions would be the hearing of difficult cases that would be referred to him by the lesser judges of the land. Standing at the head of the people of God, he sensed his great need of wisdom from God. No better understanding of the basic nature of wisdom is found anywhere than in the words written by him: “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Prov. 9:10). “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding” (Prov. 4:7).

10. Pleased the Lord. God is pleased when man requests of Him that which is wise and good. It brings joy to the heart of God for man to relate himself wisely to the issues of life.

12. Wise and an understanding heart. Solomon’s wisdom seems to have been both moral and intellectual. It was wisdom of a practical kind, concerning all departments of life, concerning the things and the hearts of men and the works and thoughts of the Creator.

13. Hast not asked. Here is God’s own confirmation of the wisdom of Solomon’s request. He modestly asked for wisdom, which would bring all the other blessings of life in its train. “Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding” (Prov. 3:13). “Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her” (Prov. 3:17, 18). “Whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul” (Prov. 8:35, 36). This is the great law underlying the divine government concerning which Jesus said: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you” (Matt. 6:33).

15. A dream. Not simply a dream, but a dream from God. Solomon had every assurance that the dream was of divine inspiration, and that he had come in touch with God. So certain was he that this was the case that immediately upon his return to the capital, he went before the ark and offered sacrifices to God. The sequel shows beyond question that he was right, and that he had had a message direct from the Lord.

Before the ark. Solomon began his reign with a solemn religious ceremonial at each of the two holy places then in the land. The one was at Gibeon, where was the tabernacle of the congregation, and the other at Jerusalem before the ark, which some years before had been brought to the City of David (2 Sam. 6:12, 16).

Peace offerings. In addition to the religious ceremony of the sacrifice of burnt offerings, offered to the Lord as a sweet-smelling savor (Lev. 1:9, 13, 17) to signify an act of consecration to God, there was a large sacrifice of peace offerings, a joyous feast of communal fellowship in which the people were invited to participate in gladsome praise and thanksgiving for blessings received (see Lev. 7:12, 13, 15; 2 Sam. 6:18, 19; 1 Chron. 16:2, 3).

16. Two women. The case was one of no ordinary difficulty, or it would not have been brought to the king. The wisdom of Solomon was here to be put to a supreme test. Both disputants were of questionable character. The word of neither could be trusted. Their testimonies were evenly balanced, the stout affirmation of the one being met by the equally stout denial of the other. It seemed impossible to arrive at any certain or just decision. The whole court was in an atmosphere of suspense. Would the king have to admit that the matter was too difficult for him to handle? Inference, calculation, deduction, hypothesis—what were these but cumbersome weights to retard the wheels of justice in such a case as this? But Solomon cut across the cumbrous legal machinery of the court and gave a swift and certain verdict, the justice of which was beyond dispute. The child was returned to its mother, justice had had its way, and Solomon’s fame for wisdom and judgment was ensured for all time to come.

A mural from Pompeii now in the National Museum at Naples depicts what is thought to be the scene of Solomon judging between the two harlots.

Ellen G. White comments

1    PK 53; FE 498

3–15Ed 48

4     PP 27

5     PK 75; 9T 281

5–11PK 28

7     PK 30, 47; 3T 449

7–159T 281

12   FE 414; ML 236; 3T 449

12–14PK 29

16–28PK 57

28   PK 32