What is the context?
Solomon forms an alliance with Egypt by marrying Pharaoh’s daughter. She lives in the City of David while his palace, the LORD’s house and Jerusalem’s wall are being completed.
The narrator says that Solomon loves the LORD and follows David’s statutes, while also noting his sacrifices and incense at the high places. The temple has not yet been built.
Solomon goes to Gibeon, the great high place, and offers a thousand burnt offerings. 2 Chronicles 1:3–6 explains that the Tent of Meeting and its bronze altar are there. At night, God appears to Solomon in a dream and invites him to ask for a gift.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Henry criticizes Solomon’s choice of a foreign wife. Wesley and Gill instead suppose that Pharaoh’s daughter first adopted Israel’s faith. The narrative itself records the alliance and marriage without describing her conversion.
Wesley also criticizes the wider use of high places, since the tabernacle already provided an appointed place for sacrifice. Gill distinguishes Gibeon’s importance by the presence of that tabernacle and its altar.
These details make the opening more than a simple account of success. Solomon’s love for the LORD is affirmed, while choices about marriage and worship remain matters the reader must follow through the rest of his reign.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.