And Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David unto the house that he had built for her: for he said, My wife shall not dwell in the house of David king of Israel, because [the places are] holy, whereunto the ark of the LORD hath come.
Ver. 11. For he said, My wife shall not dwell.] Or, He had said so, sc., before he built a house for her: and while the ark was yet in the city of David.
Because the places are holy.] And she not yet too holy, but retaining some of her Egyptian profanenesses: vel propter multiplices huius sexus immunditles legales. Solomon had, against the law of God, married this and other strange wives, for political ends no doubt, and as hoping that by his wisdom he should reclaim them, or at least rule them. He did so at first, as we see in this instance. For we may not think that Solomon did this out of superstition, - as the monks at this day pare and sweep the rooms of their monasteries wherein women have been, as if they were unclean creatures, - but out of the reverential fear of God, and a religious respect to the ark. Howbeit afterwards, overcome by the importunities of his strange wives, he yielded to them shamefully. Watch, therefore, and beware.