1 Kings 3

These tidings were told to Joab, who could not expect a gentler fate; he therefore fled to the horns of the altar, flattering himself that the sacredness of the place might be his protection; but there was an express law to exempt murderers from this privilege; he was therefore slain. Solomon next sent for Shimei, directed him to build a house at Jerusalem, and there to live, promising him safety so long as he there continued, but denouncing death if he ever left the city. Shimei remained there three years, but two of his slaves having absconded, he rashly went to Gath in pursuit of them, and on his return, suffered the penalty of all his crimes; and so by the death of his rival brother—and his powerful enemies Joab and Shimei, “the kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.”

It is painful, doubtless, to a feeling mind, to read of such tragical events; but these executions might not only be acts of justice, but necessary sacrifices to the peace and stability of Solomon’s throne, which could hardly be pronounced safe, had Joab or Shimei been left at liberty to plot against him. ‘Take away the wicked from before the king, that his throne may be established in righteousness.” (Proverbs 25:5). Chap. III. Ver. 1—28. Solomon’s marriage to Pharaoh’s daughter: his early piety, and extraordinary wisdom.—The Hebrews, we know, were not permitted to take wives of the giving up idolatry. So Abraham had an Egyptian concubine, and Moses married a Cushite, or Ethiopian; but both gave up the profession of idolatry, as we may reasonably believe was the case with Pharaoh’s daughter, who is not in Scripture charged with that offence.

It is possible, also, that Solomon’s other heathen wives might promise to do the same; and indeed, who would not, to marry Solomon in all his glory? though they afterwards returned to idolatry, and drew him with them. ((1 Kings 11:1-8).) But at this period, we are informed, “Solomon loved the Lord, walking in the statutes of David his father;” by which we may reasonably understand the good advice he gave him a short time before his death, as mentioned in the preceding chapter. Under the Mosaic dispensation, the piety of a prince was expressed in the number and cost of his animal sacrifices. Those of Solomon, we are told, were offered in “the great high place” at Gibeon, because the temple was not yet built; but the tabernacle was now there, ((2 Chronicles 1:3).) and therefore this was the proper place: the intimation may be only intended to remind us, that he was waiting with some anxiety for the building of the temple. On the following night ((2 Chronicles 1:7).) Solomon had a dream of a prophetic nature, in which he was permitted to ask of the Lord some heavenly gift, and he asked for wisdom—that wisdom especially which was “profitable to direct” him in his public duties:—“‘And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father; and I—a little child!—I know not how to go out, or come in…… Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge this thy so great a people?’ With this request the Lord was well pleased, and it was instantly granted; of which we have a striking proof in the decision the king made between the two harlots, in their dispute as to the identity of a child, as above related: on his ordering the disputed infant to be slain, he immediately discerned the true mother, by her feelings.

The report of this decision raised Solomon’s fame throughout the land, for ‘the people saw that the wisdom of God was in him, to do judgment.” Wisdom always inspires reverence; they therefore “feared the king,” and yielded a prompt obedience to his commands. How then should we fear to neglect or disobey him of whom Solomon was but a type or shadow— “the only wise God, our Saviour!”

Notes on the verses

The protection afforded by heathen altars is well known; yet the heathen would drag notorious criminals from their altars. Ver. 37. Thy blood shall be upon thine own head.—The LXX. add, “The king made him swear that day: which is confirmed by the words of Solomon, ver. 42; ‘Did I not make thee swear?’ ‘Did I not adjure thee?”—Dr. Crapp, Ill. Ver. “lik as took Pharaoh’s daughter.—It is remarkable, that Moses married an Ethiopian; Abraham had an Egyptian concubine, (Hagar;) and Solomon an Egyptian wife. This has been thought contrary to the divine law; but it is clear from Exod. xxxiv, 12—16. that a Hebrew may marry a woman of any nation, except Canaanite, upon one condition only, that of her giving up idolatry; (Deuteronomy 21:10-14). ‘This condition, it is probable, Solomon insisted upon with his first wives, if not afterwards. See Michaelis’ Comm. on the Laws of Moses, by Dr. Smith. f Ver. 16, Harlots.{The word zanoth, rendered harlots, is here translated by the Targumist, the best judge in this case, pundekon, “tavern-keepers:” see on (Joshua 2:1). Ju. xi. 1. Had these women been harlots, it is not likely that they would have dared to appear before Solomon; nor is it likely that such persons would have been permitted in the reign of David. Their husbands might, at this time, have been following their necessary occupations in distant parts.]|—Bagster. ‘ Ver. %. Divide the living child.—[This was apparently a very strange decision; but Solomon saw that the only way to discover the real mother was by the affection and tenderness she would necessarily show to her offspring.

The plan was tried, and succeeded: and it was a proof of his sound judgment, penetration, and acquaintance with the human heart, if not of his extraordinary and supernatural wisdom. There are several similar decisions recorded by heathen writers. Suetonius, in his life of the Emperor Claudian, (c. xv.) whom he celebrates for his wonderful sagacity and penetration, tells us, that this emperor discovered a woman to be the real mother of a young man, whom she refused to acknowledge, by commanding her to marry him, the proofs being doubtful on both sides; for, rather than commit incest, she confessed the truth. Diodorus Siculus also informs us, that Ariopharnes, king of Thrace, being appointed to decide between three young men, each of whom professed to be the son of the deceased king of the Cimmerians, and claimed the succession, discovered the real son by ordering each to shoot an arrow into the dead body of the king: two of them did this without hesitation; but the real son of the deceased monarch refused.]—Bagster.