The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 103

may be a precious gm of Heaven, and moral sweetness desirable in one who is to be a. wife; but nothing can compensate for the absence of religion. "Favour is deceitful," etc. (Prov. xxxi. 30). III. Trrrn QUEEN'S WEDDING, 1. Celebrated early in the king's reign (1 Kin"'s iii. 1), and doubtless with becoming splendour. It is not good for princes any more"than for peasants to be alone, and " he that findeth a wife" (provided she be a woman that fea.reth the Lord) "findeth a good thing" (Prov. xviii. 22). 2. Politi,,;ally advantageous for the state, though this is questionable. Israel required no buttress, either from Egypt or Assyria, so long as she remained true to Jehovah (Isa. xxx. 3; Jer. ii. 18; xiii. 19). In any case, neither political expedience nor social convenience is a proper motive for contracting marriage, which should always be inspired by love betwEen the parties (Eph. v. 25-28). 3. Possibly against the Law of God. On the one ha.o:i, it is argued (Keil, Bahr) (1) that the Mosaic statute (Exod. xxxiv. 16; Deut. vii. :!) pro- hibited only marriage with Canaanitish women; (2) that not prohibiting, it may be understood to have allowed, alliance with Egyptian maidens; (3) that such marriages were contemplated by Moses as possible (Deut. xxiii. 7, 8); (4) that Pharaoh's daughter may have become a proselyte to the Jewish religion; and (5) that the marriage is nowhere in Scripture explicitly condemned.. On the other hand, it is contended (Adam Clarke) (1) that the principle of the law which forbade marriage with a Caruanitish maiden applied equally to an Egyptian princess, inasmuch as both were foreign or outlandish women ; (2) that Pharaoh's daughter is classed with the outlandioh women who caused Solomon to sin (1 Kings xi. 1; Neh. xiii. 26); and (3) that there is no proof that Pharaoh's daughter was a proselyte. The affirmative, however, of this last assertion is supposed to be justified by the following considerations: (1) That Solomon, at the commencement of his reign, would hardly have married Pharaoh's daughter had she not been a proselyte, he being at the time a lover of Jehovah and an observer of his ways; (2) that Pharaoh's daughter is not named in eh. x:i. among the king's wives who seduced their husband into idolatry; (3) that there is not a trace of Egyptian worship to be found in Israel during this reign; and ( 4) that the Song of Solomon and the forty- fifth psalm would not have been composed in honour of her wedding, and far le:,s admitted to the canon, had she been an idolatress. But none of these is convincing. (1) Solomon had already an Ammonite wife-Naamah, the mother of Rehoboam (et 1 Kings xi. 42 with xiv. :tl and eh. xii. 13): was she a proselyte? (2) Ch. xi. is regarded by some as placing Pharaoh's daughter among the outlandish women who ea.used Solomon to sin. (3) Egyptian idolatry may have been practised in the queen's house, though not in the land; and (4) it is not certain that either the song or the psalm was written in honour of this lady. To these may be added (5) that, had she been a proselyte, Solomon would not have needed to exclude her from the stronghold of Zion where the ark wa8, and (6) that Pharaoh's daughter was certainly an outlandish woma~ 4. Extremely unadvisP.d on Solomon's part. It led to his decline into idolatry, if not directly yet indirectly, by leading him to add more wives and concubines to his harem. IV. THE QUEEN'S RESIDENCE. 1. In a separate house in the city of David. On her wedding, Solomon did not bring her into his father's pa.lace where himself resided- though some hold he did (Bertheau)-but lodged her in a temporary dwelling (Keil, Bahr), assigning as a reason that the rooms of the royal palace had been consecrated and rendered holy by the presence of the ark of Jehovah, and meaning thereby that to have introduced into them an Egyptian queen, even though a proselyte, with probably an establishment of heathen ma.ids, would have been, to say the least, an impropriety. The fact that Solomon could not lodge his wife in his father's house should have made him hesitate as to his marriage. That matrimonial alliance must be doubtful the con- templation of which leads one to apprehend the Divine displeasure, or which one sees to be incongruous with right religious feeling. 2. In a hO'USe contigu?us to Solomon's palace. This house, specially prepared for her, not for a harem (Thenrns), formed part of Solomon's own dwelling (1 Kings vii. 8), being situated either behind (Winer) or above (Keil), or perhaps at the side of it. . LESSONS. 1. Marriaae is honourable in all (Heb. xiii. 4). 2. The duty of weddrng only in the Lord (1 Cor. vl 39). 3. The sin of polygamy. 4. The obligation of husbands to maintain their wives.-W.  THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [on. vm. 1-lB,