Beginning in Chapter 3 we find Solomon making an alliance with Egypt and actually marrying Pharoah’s daughter.
1Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married his daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem. 2 The people, however, were still sacrificing at the high places, because a temple had not yet been built for the Name of the Lord. 3 Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places.
First, why is Solomon making an alliance with Egypt? The alliance to Egypt was very important for both parties. It was most likely made with the Egyptian Pharoah Siamun, who ruled right in the same period as Solomon. Simaun, it is important to note, was ruling Egypt during a period where Egypt began to lose ground. Egypt, during the whole of the books of Moses, and even as far back as Genesis, was the chief superpower in the area. Like Rome or Greece, they wielded all of the power. But Egypt’s reign is precarious and it is fading, and for that reason Egypt is aligning itself with a new growing powerhouse: Israel. So why is this alliance important? When we look at 1 Kings 9:16 we get an idea. That verse tells us that the land of Gezer, which is in Canaan, was conquered by the Pharaoh and given to his daughter as a dowry. As we dig a little further we see that this area is incredibly important to both nations. It lies inside Israel, but is tactically needed by Egypt, due to the crossing of two important trade routes. A trade route in western Gezer is used by Egypt. A trade route in northern Gezer leads to the sea (Joppa) and is essential to Israel for the building of the wall, palace and temple that Solomon will be building. So what about the marriage? In that time period it was a political custom to use a daughter as a keepsake to insure there wouldn’t be ugliness to the alliance. Basically a king isn’t going to attack a nation where his daughter is held up. So it keeps the peace between the two nations until the alliance is done.
The Egyptian wife is also troubling. The Israelites were specifically warned to not intermarry the people in the land of Canaan. Although there is nothing explicitly against marrying an Egyptian, it does go against the tenants of a king as stated in Deuteronomy 17. And we know, plunging forward into the scripture (1 Kings 11:1-8) that Solomon struggles with an abundance of foreign women who ultimately turn his heart away from God. But this is first wife, right? Not so. 1 Kings 14:21 tells us that he is already married to at least one other woman named Naamah. This is the mother of Rehoboam, who will take the throne after his father. So early on we see Solomon dedicating himself to following the tenants set out by David, but already struggling with following God completely.
4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.”
Next we see Solomon burning sacrifices and incense at “high places”. High places are the sacrificial spots usually on mountaintops or hills, designated as places of sacrifice to different gods. To understand this concept we must recall the law of Moses. God would ordain certain areas for the Israelites to build places of worship. But there were also many places still hanging around from the idol worshippers of the land of Canaan. The idea is that Solomon was mostly doing it right, but he was also brought up in the mixed-motivations of the culture.
6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
But for his shortcomings, Solomon is a man, like his father, after God’s own heart. He goes to Gibeon and sacrifices 1000 animals to God at his ceremonial party as king. There all of the heads of the nation witness this almost gaudy display. God notices it too. God comes to Solomon in a dream that very night and tells Solomon, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” Solomon first thanks God for his tremendous mercy to his father and himself and doesn’t ask for wealth or honor or vanquishing his enemies but asks for a “discerning heart” to govern the people. You may note that this is a very specific type of wisdom. Like his father David he would struggle with women and sort of bypass that part of his life, but as we learn that is the element that actually turns his heart away. God tells Solomon that he is pleased that he didn’t ask for wealth or honor, so since he prayed for wisdom (see James 1:5) God will give him the trappings of success as well.
10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream. He returned to Jerusalem, stood before the ark of the Lord’s covenant and sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings. Then he gave a feast for all his court.
A Wise Ruling 16 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. 18 The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us. 19 “During the night this woman’s son died because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn’t the son I had borne.” 22 The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.” But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king. 23 The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,’ while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.’” 24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” 26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don’t kill him!” But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!” 27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.” 28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.
In verse 16 we read about one of Solomon’s wise (and most famous) rulings. It concerns two women who come before him. One woman’s baby has died and she accuses the other of swapping the babies. There are no other witnesses so they come before the king and Solomon says to split the baby in half. The real mother pleads for the baby’s life, even though it will go to the other woman, while the other woman tells Solomon to go ahead and cut the baby in half. Solomon declares that the woman who was willing to give up the baby is the true mother, and Israel is astounded at the new king’s wisdom. Solomon from there sets up a very structured arrangement of officials and governors. This is important because we see that Solomon is actually setting up a viable government. And in that Israel reaps the benefits of his success. Israel moves into a golden age with Solomon, an age of abundance and opportunity. His wisdom draws the other nations toward him and he is able to secure many other peaceful alliances.