Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
Solo.nim Marries Pliaruoh's Daughter. 1 KINGS III, IV. Solomon'!! Choice of WUdui/l.
Ezekiel 0. 3, 4 ; Rosea 10. 8). But, .so long as the tabernacle was migratory, and the means for the national worship were merely provisional, the worsliip on those high places was tolerated, and hence, as accounting for tlieir continuance, it is expressly stated (v. 2) that God had not yet cliosen a permanent and exclusive place for his worsliip. 4. the king went to Gibeou to sacrifice there—The prominent distinction of this place arose from the old tabernacle and the brazen altar wlilch Moses had made in the wilderness, being there (1 Chronicles 16.39; 21.29; 2 Chronicles 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 (2 Chronicles 1, 2), and, as the occasion was most probably one of the great annual festivals which lasted seven days, the rank of the oflerer and the succession of daily oblations nuiy help in part to account for the immense magnitude of the sacrirtces. 5. In Gibcon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream— It was probablj' at the close of this season, when liis mind liad been elevated into a high state of religious fervour by the protracted services. Solomon felt an intense desire, and he had of Tered 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. His dream was but an Imaginary repetition of his former desire, but God's grant of it was real.
detenniiied that the Inw should take its course (Deutoronoiiiy 19. lo). 33. Tlieir blood «liall return upon the
Iieacl of Joab, &c. — A leferc Mice is here made to the curse publicly and solemnly i)ronounced by King David
(2 Samuel i.'2S, 29). 34. BenalaU . . . went up, and fell upon liiin—According to the tcrrasoJ tlie statute (Exodus
21. H), and the practice in similar cases (2 Kings 11. 16), the criminal was to be dragged from the altar and slain elsewhere. Bui the truth is, that the sanctity of the altar was violated as much by the violence used in forcing the criminal from the place as in shedding his blood there; the express command of God authorized the former, and therefore by implication permitted the latter, was buried in Ills otvn house- -Or family vault, at his properly in the wi Merness of ludah. His interment was included in the king s order, as enjoined in the Divine law (Deuteronomy 21. 2;?).
34-lti. .SHIMEI PCT TO DEATH. 36. the king sent and called for Shlniei—He was probably residing at Kahurim, his native place. But, as he was a suspicions character, Solomon condemned him henceforth to live in Jerusalem, on the penalty of death, for going without the gates. He submitted to this confinement for three years, when, violating his oath, he was arrested and put to death by Solomon for perjury, aggravated by liis former crime of high treason against David. 46. the lilngdoin was established in the Itand of Solomon— Kow, that by the death of Shimei, all the leaders of the rival factions had been cut off.
6-15. He Chooses Wisdom. 6. Solomon said. e., had dreamed that he said. 7. I am but a little child—Not in age, for he had reached manhood (ch. 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 Loi-d— It was Solomon's waking prayers that God lieard and requited, but the acceptance was signified in this vision. 15. bcltold, it was a dream—The vivid impression, the indelible recollection he had of this dream, together with the new and increased energy coramunicated 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 niucli of the heart as the liead—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.
CHAPTER III.
Ver. 1. Solomon Marries Pharaoh's Daughter. 1. Solomon made at Gnity with Pliaraoh—This was a royal title, equivalent to sultan, and the personal name of this monarch is said to have been Vaph res. The formation, on equal terms, of tills 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. Slie was received in the land of her adoption with great eclat; for the Song of .Songs, and the forty-fifth Psalm are supposed to have been composed in liononr of this occasion, although they may both have a higher typical reference to the introduclion of the Gentiles into the church, brought her into the city of David—i. i-., .lerusalem. She was not admissible into the stronghold of Zlon, the building where the
16-28. Bis Judgment Between Two Harlots. 16. Then came tlicre two womeji—Eastern monarchs, who generally administer justice in person, at least in all cases of dlthculty, 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 conai k was (Deuteronomy 2.'i. 7, S). She seems to have been loilgcd at first in his mother's apartments (Song 3. 4; 8.2), as a suitable residence was not yet provided for her in the new palace (ch. 7. 8; 9.21; 2 Chronicles 8. 11). building. . . tlie wall of Jerusalem—Although David had begun (Psalm 51. 18), it was, a/'cording to .Tosephus, reserved for Solomon to extend and comi)lete the fortifications of the city. It has been questioned whether this marriage was in conformity with the law (see on Exo<lus 3j. Ki; Deuteronomy 7. 3; Ezra 10. 1-lU ; Nehemiah 13. 2(!). Rut it is nowhere censured In Scripture, as are tlieconnectlons Solomon formed with other foreigners (ch. 11. 1-3); whence it may be inferred that he had stipulated for her abandonment, of idolatry, and conforming to the Jewish religion (Psalm 15. 11), 11).
flicting testimony. The modern history of the East abounds with anecdotes of judicial cases, in which tlie decision given was the result of an experiment similar to this of Solomon upon the natural feelings of the contending parties.
CHAPTER IV.
1-6. Solomon's Princes. 1. So King Solomon M-nn king over all Israel—Tills chapter contains a general description of the state and glory of the Hebrew kingdom during the more flourishing or later years of his reign. 3. these were tlie princes—Or chief ofllcers, as Is evident from two of them marrying Solomon's daughters. Aza-
2-5. High Pi,a(,i:s Being in TTsk, He Sacrifices at GlItEON. 3. Solomon hived tlie Lord—This declaration, illustrated l)y what follows, affords undoubted evidence of the young king's piety; nor is the word "only," which rinli the son of Zndok the priest—Rather, the prince, as the Hebrew word friquently signifies (Genesis 41. 45; Exodus 2. 16; 2 Samuel 8. 18); so that from the precedency given to this person in the list, he seems to have been prime minister, the liighcstin oltlce next the king. 3. Scribes— I. c, secretaries of state. Under David, there had been only one. And the employment of three functionaries In this department Indicates either iiU|)roved regulations by the division of labour, or a great Increase jirefaces tlie statement, to be understood as Introducing a
ririrumstance that reflected any degree of cenHU re upon him. The Intention of the sacred historian is to describe the generally j)revalllng mode of worship before the temple was bulH. The " high places " were altars erected on natural or artl Hclal emliicmu's, prol)ably from the Idea that men were lirouglit nearer to the Deity. They nad been used by tlie patriar<-hs, and had become so universal among the heathen that thoy were almost identiof business, occasioned b,v the growing prosper! t.v of the kingdom, or a more extensive correspondence with foreign countries, recorder— i. c. Historiographer, or an> fied with idolatry. They were prohll)lted In the law (r>evltlcuB 17.3, 4; Deuteronomy 12. 13, 11; Jeremiah 7. 31; 2U