And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh.
Solomon and Pharaoh’s daughter
We are to see in Solomon’s action the working of a tender conscience; even though he may be appeasing his conscience by some trick or ceremony, yet he is showing us the working of the moral nature within the kingly breast. Yet there is a point to be noted here which is common to human experience: why should Solomon have married the daughter of Pharaoh? Why should he have, in the first instance, placed himself in so vital a relation to heathenism? Are there not men who first plunge into great mistakes, and then seek to rectify their position by zealous care about comparatively trifling details? Do not men make money by base means, and then zealously betake themselves to book-keeping, as if they would not spend money except in approved directions? Are there not those who have steeped their hearts in iniquity, and yet have washed their hands with soap and nitre? We are to beware of the creation of a false or a partial conscience, that makes up for sins of a larger kind by ostentatious devotion at the altar of detail and ceremony and petty ritual. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Solomon’s marriage
Consider Solomon’s marriage with an Egyptian princess--
I. As a matter of policy. It sprang from--
1. A desire to counteract the influence of Hadad (1 Kings 11:14-20).
2. The wish to obtain support for his new dynasty and recognition from one of older fame and greater power.
3. Anxiety to strengthen himself by foreign alliances.
II. As a source of moral perplexity. What must be done with her? Solomon felt that a broad distinction must be made between the worship of Jehovah and idolatry.
III. As the beginning of trouble. The policy advantageous at first, but ultimately proved hollow and impolitic. The reign which began so gloriously ended in gross darkness and fetish worship. (J. Wolfendale.)