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; Jeremiah 44:30). The formation, on equal terms, of this matrimonial alliance with the royal family of Egypt shows the high consideration to which the Hebrew kingdom had now risen. Rosellini has given, from the Egyptian monuments, what is supposed to be a portrait of this princess. She was received in the land of her adoption with great eclat; because the Song of Songs and Psalms 45:1-17 are supposed to have been composed in honour of this occasion, although they may both have a higher typical reference to the introduction of the Gentiles into the Church. Assuming that they have a historical basis, they furnish evidence of the attractive and graceful appearance of Solomon's person-an important quality for Eastern monarchs-his being "fairer than the children of men" (Song of Solomon 5:10-16).
Brought her into the city of David - i:e., Jerusalem. She was not admissible into the stronghold of Zion, the building where the ark was (Deuteronomy 23:7-8). She seems to have been lodged at first in his mother's apartments (Song of Solomon 3:4; Song of Solomon 8:2), as a suitable residence was not yet provided for her in the new palace (1 Kings 7:8; 1 Kings 9:24; 2 Chronicles 8:11).
Building ... the wall of Jerusalem. Although David had begun (Psalms 51:18), it was, according to Josephus ('Antiquities,' b. 8:, ch. 2:, sec. 1), reserved for Solomon to extend and complete, the fortifications of the city. Her arrival in Jerusalem was previous to the finishing of the temple, which was in the eleventh year of Solomon's reign (see the notes at 1 Kings 6:1; 1 Kings 6:37-38). It has been questioned whether this marriage was in conformity with the law (see Exodus 34:16; Deuteronomy 7:3; Ezra 10:1-10; Nehemiah 13:26). But it is nowhere censured in Scripture, as are the connections Solomon formed with other foreigners (1 Kings 11:1-3); whence it may be inferred that he had stipulated for her abandonment of idolatry, and conforming to the Jewish religion (Psalms 45:10-11). At all events, the princess of Egypt was not the cause of his seduction into idolatry.