1 Kings 2:45

“ But king Solomon will be blessed, and the throne of David will be established before YHWH for ever.”

And in contrast king Solomon and the throne of David, rather than being cursed would be especially blessed, and the throne established before YHWH for ever. For now through Shimei’s death any remnants of the curse would die with him, because the house of David would be removing wickedness from the land.

1 Kings 2:46 a ‘So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and he went out, and fell on him, so that he died.’

Once Shimei had left his presence, aware that he was sentenced to death, the king commanded that Benaiah once more act as executioner, and he went out and slew Shimei where he stood. In this way all the people about whom Solomon had been warned by David had been dealt with, having been given a fair opportunity to go straight, and having failed.

Shimei is the example of the person to whom every opportunity is given to truly serve the King, but who constantly fails to take advantage of the opportunity. In the end there can only be one result. Mercy comes to an end and judgment strikes. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

The Glory Of Solomon ( 1 Kings 2:46 to 1 Kings 10:29 ).

The reign of Solomon having been firmly established the writer will now expand on the glories and successes of Solomon’s reign, in a similar way to that in which the writer in Samuel had initially expanded on David’s successes (2 Samuel 4-10), before moving on to the downside of his reign. The events that follow in 1 Kings 2:46 to 1 Kings 10:29 are therefore not chronological but topical in order to bring out the overall glory and prosperity which Israel ‘enjoyed’ under Solomon, but with the proviso that we have mentioned that it is tinged with criticism.

With this in mind we have:

An introductory snap summary of Solomon’s glories, which does, however, contain a tinge of criticism on the religious level (1 Kings 2:46 to 1 Kings 3:4).

A description of the divine provision of God-given wisdom to Solomon by YHWH, which is then illustrated by an example (1 Kings 3:5-28).

A description of the magnificence of Solomon’s court, and the prosperity enjoyed by Judah and Israel as a whole, which is brought out by a description of his administration of Israel and especially of his taxation system which produced a large quantity of provisions which were regularly consumed by the court, followed by a brief summary description of Judah and Israel’s prosperity (1 Kings 4:1-28).

A description of the great practical wisdom of Solomon as contrasted with that of the great wise men of the Ancient Near East (1 Kings 4:29-34).

A description of the building of Solomon’s grand and magnificent Temple, a venture which was one of the ways in which great kings regularly demonstrated their greatness, which however resulted in his calling up compulsory levies of Israelites for the work, which disaffected many in Israel (1 Kings 5:1 to 1 Kings 6:38).

A description of the building of Solomon’s own magnificent palace (1 Kings 7:1-12).

A further expansion on the details of the building of the Temple, including details of Hiram its main architect and his innovations (1 Kings 7:3-51).

A description of the dedication of the Temple and of Solomon’s intercession before YHWH which made all the people rejoice and be glad (1 Kings 8:1-66).

A description of the renewal of the conditional everlasting covenant by YHWH concerning the everlastingness of his family’s rule which was, however, accompanied by warnings of what the consequences would be of falling short of YHWH’s requirements (1 Kings 9:1-9).

A description of Solomon’s generosity towards Hiram in giving him cities, something which was, however, at the same time depleting Israel of some of its own prosperous cities which were a part of the inheritance of YHWH, which would have caused concern to many in Israel (1 Kings 9:10-14).

A description of Solomon’s further magnificent building programme, which involved making slave levies on tributary nations (1 Kings 9:15-25).

A description of Solomon’s trading activities which included a visit from the Queen of Sheba to test out the wisdom of Solomon, which resulted in him giving her splendid gifts (1 Kings 9:26 to 1 Kings 10:13).

Further details of Solomon’s great wealth and prosperous trading (1 Kings 10:14-29).

So there is great emphasis on Solomon’s magnificence. Some of this magnificence can be discerned archaeologically, especially in terms of building work in Megiddo, Hazor and Gezer, but much of it would be hidden archaeologically by the fact that later centuries made use of his earlier buildings as raw materials for their own building programmes, and by the fact that on the whole Jerusalem remains unexcavated so that any traces there are undiscovered.

There are, however, no solid grounds for denying the outward magnificence of his reign, which can partly be accounted for by the fact that at this time Egypt was weak and inward looking, and Assyria was busy within its own borders. There was therefore no restraint on Solomon’s advancement from these quarters. Taking with this the fact that the kingdom straddled the two great trade routes, the first along the coastal road, and the second along the King’s highway, east of Jordan, to say nothing of the trade routes from Arabia, so that the world’s trade passed through his kingdom, and that he himself appeared to have had a good business brain, taking advantage of his friendship with Tyre and Sidon, and his control of the port of Ezion-geber, to trade by sea with the wider world, and we understand why he and the kingdom became so wealthy. What with tribute, tolls, and exploitation of business opportunities there is no reason for doubting that gold and silver flooded into his kingdom, with the result that ‘silver was not accounted of in the days of Solomon’.

Outwardly then all was splendour, but continually underneath we see elements which would cause the disaffection of the people, and demonstrate that such magnificence had a real cost to it, and this would be further exacerbated by Solomon’s own consequential disloyalty to YHWH. Prosperity regularly has this effect of reducing spirituality, as men cease to feel dependent on God and the world is allowed to take over the place that should be held by God.

Solomon had so much, and he could have used it for the glory of God. But once he had built the Temple his mind began to wander away from God and to be concentrated on his own glory. And the result was that what had begun in such a promising way, ended up in failure and disaster.

In A Brief Summary of His Reign Solomon Becomes The Son-In-Law Of The Pharaoh of Egypt, Builds Up Jerusalem, And Erects The House Of YHWH, While Meanwhile He And The People Sacrifice In High Places (1 Kings 2:46 to 1 Kings 3:4 ).

Each reign from now on throughout the book of Kings will commence with a summary of that reign, having in mind especially how the king behaved towards Yahwism and maintained its exclusivity, and in this passage we have the writer’s summary of Solomon’s reign. As with most of even the best kings, what was good was weighed up against their failings, and the same is also true of Solomon. For from the start the writer leaves us in no doubt that Solomon did not live up to the standard of his father David, even though this would not necessarily become apparent in the beginning.

After all the initial hiccups that were behind him, the kingdom was now firmly established in the hands of Solomon, and Solomon thus began to build on what he had begun. He married Pharaoh’s daughter, giving him a position of great prestige in the eyes of the world, built up Jerusalem, erected the house of YHWH, and in general demonstrated his full initial loyalty to YHWH. But while humanly speaking his marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter was a high point in his reign, for Pharaohs of Egypt would only allow the greatest of foreign kings to marry their daughters, it was already an indication of the compromises in which Solomon was prepared to involve himself for the sake of glory and pleasure, which would result in his later decline.

The writer certainly on the one hand wants us to see that Solomon was so great that he was even seen as an equal by Pharaoh, and yet on the other, in the back of his mind is a recognition of the fact that Pharaoh’s daughter would be a part of Solomon’s later downfall (1 Kings 11:1). This negative aspect especially comes out:

In that the name of the princess is not given.

In that Solomon did not introduce her into his own house until that had ceased to house the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord (2 Chronicles 8:11), presumably because he recognised that it would not be fitting.

In that the description here is paralleled in the chiasmus with the fact that he sacrificed and burned incense in high places in a way that the writer frowned on.

For the one major scar on what was otherwise an idealistic picture was the fact that the people, and clearly the king, sacrificed in the high places, many of which were syncretistic, mingling Canaanite practises with the true worship of YHWH, something which would then lead on to Solomon involving himself with all kinds of gods. And it is clear that this was all on a par with his having married an influential foreign princess to whom he would have to make concessions.

The Egyptian princess was not his first wife. He had already married Naamah the Ammonitess before ascending the throne, and had had a son by her (compare 1 Kings 14:21 where Rehoboam her son was forty one when he ascended the throne with 1 Kings 11:42-43 where Solomon’s reign lasted ‘forty years’), which was another marriage which may well have sealed a treaty and ensured the good behaviour of Ammon. But while an Ammonite princess could (at least in theory) be expected to tow the line, an Egyptian daughter of Pharaoh was another matter.

Analysis.

a And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon (1 Kings 2:46 b).

b And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David (1 Kings 3:1 a).

c Until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of YHWH, and the wall of Jerusalem round about (1 Kings 3:1 b).

d Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was no house built for the name of YHWH until those days (1 Kings 3:2).

c And Solomon loved YHWH, walking in the statutes of David his father (1 Kings 3:3 a).

b Only he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places (1 Kings 3:3 b).

a And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place, a thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer on that altar (1 Kings 3:4).

Note that in ‘a’ the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon, and in the parallel Solomon showed suitable gratitude to YHWH his Overlord. In ‘b’ Solomon married Pharaoh’s daughter, which would probably mean introducing foreign gods into Jerusalem for her own private worship, and in the parallel there is the reservation concerning him that he sacrificed in high places. In ‘c’ Solomon built the house of YHWH, and in the parallel he loved YHWH. Centrally in ‘d’ we discover that meanwhile the worship of the people was not on a fully satisfactory basis, something that was partly Solomon’s fault because of his poor example.

1 Kings 2:46 b ‘And the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.’

After a number of early hiccups the kingdom was now established in the hands of Solomon. All traces of uprising and rebellion had been sufficiently dealt with, and all appeared well. It was a regular feature of life in those days that when a new king came to the throne there would be initial unrest as rival claimants fought or manoeuvred for the right to rule, often resulting in bitter civil wars that lasted for years. It was one of the penalties of polygamy. But Solomon had got off fairly lightly, thanks largely to David’s wise, if delayed, intervention.

1 Kings 3:1 a ‘And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David.’

Indeed so great was Solomon in his rule over the whole area from the Euphrates down to the River of Egypt that the Pharaoh of Egypt entered into a treaty with him, and gave him one of his daughters to be his wife. Such marriages, made in order to seal international treaties, were a common feature of life in those days (compare 1 Kings 11:1), although the Pharaoh’s of Egypt were very particular about who married one of their daughters. It will, however, be noted that her name is not given. This was probably because, in spite of its high honour as seen from a worldly point of view, the writer was seeking to bring home his overall disapproval of Solomon’s act (which would help him on his way to disaster - 1 Kings 11:1-2).

It should also be noted that the Pharaoh allowed his daughter to live in the City of David, and not remain in Egypt, an indication of the warmness of the mutual relations between Egypt and Israel, for this meant that the daughter was a kind of ‘hostage’ for Egypt’s good behaviour. There is no suggestion that she tried to openly install the worship of Egyptian gods in Jerusalem, but it is very probable that she brought her own gods with her, something that is confirmed by the fact that Solomon did not take her into his own house until after the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord had been moved to the new Temple that he built (2 Chronicles 8:11). It would appear later that she may well have been one of the wives who encouraged him to dabble in idolatry (1 Kings 11:1-8).

Pharaohs rarely gave their daughters in marriage to any but the greatest of kings, so that this marriage indicated the high esteem in which Solomon was held in Egypt. And while this was not, of course, under one of the greatest Pharaohs, and occurred at a time when Egypt’s fortunes were at a relatively low ebb, it was undoubtedly an honour nevertheless, for Egypt had a great reputation in the ancient world.

We do not know for certain which Pharaoh this was. When Rehoboam, Solomon’s successor, had reigned for five years, Egypt would raid the area over which Solomon had reigned, under the great Pharaoh Shishak (Shishonq of the twenty second dynasty - see 1 Kings 14:25). He had previously plotted to undermine Israel’s stability by harbouring Jeroboam, the son of Nebat, with the end in view of destabilising Israel, but he had done nothing further while Solomon was alive. The Pharaoh in view here, however, was probably not Shishak, but the preceding Pharaoh but one, Siamun, a Pharaoh of the weak twenty first dynasty, who ruled around 978-959 BC. The weakness of the twenty first dynasty is known from external sources but is apparent here in that it is clear that Egypt were making no claims on ‘Canaan’, an area which, in their strongest periods, they had looked on as containing vassal city states. They did, however, continue to conduct local actions against the Philistines in protecting their borders from supposed incursions, in the course of which they ‘smote Gezer’ (1 Kings 9:16), so that they were not totally quiescent. A damaged triumphal relief scene at Tanis depicts Siamun smiting a foreigner, seemingly a Philistine judging by the Aegean type axe in his hand, which confirms that Siamun did engage in such ‘police action’ in Philistia. But with regard to the area of Canaan as a whole Siamun was apparently quite content to make his northern border safe by means of a treaty with the powerful Solomon, something which would be to their mutual benefit, especially tradewise. One of the obvious benefits of this treaty to Solomon was seen in the multiplicity of horses that he later possessed, for Egypt was a well known source of such horses (1 Kings 10:26-29).

1 Kings 3:1 b ‘Until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of YHWH, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.’

Solomon then proceeded with many building works, a favourite occupation of great kings in times of peace, for they left behind a permanent memorial of the greatness of those kings. (Compare Nebuchadnezzar’s pride in declaring, ‘Is this not great Babylon that I have built?’ - Daniel 4:30). He built his own palace (1 Kings 7:1-12) and the house of YHWH (1 Kings 5:1 to 1 Kings 6:38) and strengthened the walls of Jerusalem, along with other building work (1 Kings 9:15-19).

It is significant that he does not appear to have brought the Egyptian princess into his own palace until he had completed the Temple and housed the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord there, possibly for the very reason that he did not want the sanctity of the Ark to be defiled by the princess’s private gods.

1 Kings 3:2

‘ Only the people sacrificed in the high places, because there was no house built for the name of YHWH until those days.’

However, according to the writer there was one major blot on his reign and that was that the people sacrificed in ‘high places’ (bamoth), because there was no house built for YHWH in those days. This can hardly be intended to be a criticism of the worship at the Tabernacle (probably now in Gibeon) or at the sacred Tent in Jerusalem, for neither have been criticised before, but have been looked on with approval. The criticism must therefore be seen as involving worship at other ‘high places’ not approved of by YHWH, which had mainly become syncretistic. In the past YHWH worship was approved of:

1). At the Tabernacle (the Central Sanctuary).

2). In the presence of the sacred Ark wherever it was, for it was ‘the Ark of God, which is called by the Name, even the name of YHWH of Hosts Who sits on the Cherubim’ (2 Samuel 6:2). See Judges 20:26-27; Judges 21:4; 1Sa 1:3 ; 1 Samuel 2:13-17; 1 Samuel 6:14; 2 Samuel 6:13; 2 Samuel 6:17-18.

3). At places where YHWH had ‘recorded His Name’ (Exodus 20:24), e.g. where there was a theophany or prophetic guidance (Joshua 8:31; Judges 2:5; Judges 6:24-26; Jdg 13:16-23 ; 1 Samuel 8:9-10; 1 Samuel 8:17; 1 Samuel 9:12-14; 1 Samuel 10:8; 1 Samuel 11:15; 1 Samuel 16:2; 1 Samuel 16:5; 2 Samuel 24:25).

It was approved of nowhere else. Thus the high places mentioned here clearly did not come within these categories.

We know from a combination of archaeology and Scripture what these high places consisted of. They were local cult sites, often in the form of a rock-hewn platform, containing an altar or sacrificial block. It was possibly the fact that they were regularly on a raised platform that gave them the name ‘high places’. Or it may be because originally they were mainly built on hills. But if so by this time they could be found not only on the heights (which were often seen as the abode of the divine), but also in towns, and even in valleys. Examples of high places found on the heights have been discovered at Megiddo and Arad (compare 1 Kings 14:23; Numbers 22:41; 1 Samuel 9:13; Jeremiah 2:20; Ezekiel 6:13). Examples of high places in towns, mentioned specifically in 2 Kings 17:9; 2 Kings 17:29, have been discovered at Jerusalem, Hazor and Dan. An example of high places in valleys is found in Jeremiah 7:31.

Not all high places were disapproved of. Samuel worshipped at designated high places, presumably because he considered that YHWH had recorded His Name there in some way, perhaps through a prophetic oracle (and there was at the time no Tabernacle). Elijah rebuilt the altar of YHWH on Mount Carmel (1 Kings 18:30), and spoke of other such altars (1 Kings 19:10), where again presumably there had been a revelation of YHWH. These had been torn down and replaced by idolatrous shrines used for syncretistic worship, combining Yahwism with Canaanite worship, the kind of thing that had presumably happened at Bethel and Dan where Jeroboam introduced his golden calves. But the vast number of high places were probably old Canaanite sanctuaries, (or strongly influenced by them), and might well have contained, besides an altar, pillars and Asherah poles or images. These were the high places that were mainly being condemned, but were clearly at this time popular in Israel. The writer’s original source clearly hoped that the building of the Temple would help to resolve the problem.

The word bamoth ‘high places’ as used technically here is found only in Leviticus 26:30; Numbers 21:28; Numbers 22:41; Numbers 33:52. It is not used in this way by any other book prior to Kings. In Deuteronomy 32:13 the term indicates prosperity and blessing, while in Deuteronomy 33:29 it probably signifies their best and most influential cities, although some translate bamoth there as ‘backs’ on the basis of discoveries at Ugarit. Thus we should beware of suggesting that the framework of Kings is ‘Deuteronomic’. It is rather Mosaic.

1 Kings 3:3

‘ And Solomon loved YHWH, walking in the statutes of David his father, only he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.’

The writer then stresses that Solomon truly loved YHWH, and walked in the statutes of David his father (i.e. the law of Moses - see 1 Kings 2:3), but had this against him, that he also got involved with, and sacrificed and burned incense at, high places. Some high places were often used for genuine worship of YHWH, but in the main their syncretism was seen as being a danger that could drag men down, as indeed Solomon was later dragged down (1 Kings 11:1-8). That was why they were to be limited to places where YHWH had recorded His Name’.

It is salutary to recognise that in the end the verdict on Solomon’s reign will be that ‘he did evil in the sight of YHWH and did go fully after the ways of his father David’ (1 Kings 11:6), and that that will be mainly because of his over-indulgence and carelessness towards high places.

1 Kings 3:4

‘ And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there, for that was the great high place, a thousand burnt-offerings did Solomon offer on that altar.’

But meanwhile the king demonstrated his loyalty to YHWH by going to the Tabernacle at Gibeon (the Tabernacle being there made it ‘the great high place’ - 2 Chronicles 1:3), and there offering a multiplicity of burnt offerings to YHWH. ‘A thousand’ was regularly used in order to indicate ‘a great many’ (for such use of ‘a thousand’ compare 1 Kings 4:32; Deuteronomy 1:11; Deuteronomy 7:9; 2 Samuel 18:12; 1 Kings 4:32; Psalms 50:10; Psalms 84:10; Psalms 90:4; Psalms 105:8; Ecclesiastes 6:6; Song of Solomon 4:4; Isaiah 7:23; Dan 5:1 ; 2 Peter 3:8; Revelation 20:3; Revelation 20:5).

Thus Solomon’s kingdom was seen as ‘established in his hand’, from an earthly point of view by his marriage with Pharaoh’s daughter (1 Kings 2:1), and from a heavenly point of view by his obedience to YHWH and by his worshipping in abundance at His Sanctuary (1 Kings 2:3-4).

The site of Gibeon is el-Gib where the handles of jars have been excavated bearing the name Gib‘n. It was in the territory of Benjamin and a designated Levite city (Joshua 18:25; Joshua 21:17).

This summary of Solomon’s spiritual life comes to each of us as a stark warning. He sought to walk in the ways of the Lord, but still married Pharaoh’s daughter. He worshipped in abundance in the way provided by God, and yet he could not resist responding to the lure of the ‘high place’. His life was thus a continual compromise. And that is why when it came to its end all its promise had faded away. It is a sad reflection of his reign that the most popular examination question concerning his life is, ‘Why can Solomon be described as the wisest fool in Jewry?’