Was it a romantic wedding? Was there even much of a relationship between the two? Did Solomon love Pharaoh’s daughter? Was their marriage just political? If it was it must have worked because there was peace between Israel and Egypt during Solomon’s reign.
The chapter we are reading today starts with some of Solomon’s accomplishments. After 20 years, the temple of the Lord and the royal palace were both completed. Pharaoh’s Daughter however didn’t live there. She was moved out of town.
Solomon moved his wife, Pharaoh’s daughter, from the City of David to the new palace he had built for her. 2 Chronicles 8:11
Did Solomon Love Pharaoh’s Daughter?
Pharaoh’s daughter wasn’t his only wife though. He must have been quite the ladies’ man. If a ruler of another kingdom wanted peace with Israel, he just offered Solomon one of his daughters in marriage. 1 Kings 11 says He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. Solomon was a man of wisdom, but that’s a 1000 women! One is plenty for me.
Let’s get back to Pharaoh’s daughter. There is a good possibility that she was Solomon’s first wife and a very important one to him. So much so, he built a palace just for her. As important as she was, we have no idea what her name was. She has just been known throughout history as Pharaoh’s daughter.
Not Everyone In the Bible Was Named
There are nameless people in the scriptures who have made an impact one way or another. One is Potiphar’s wife. We don’t know her name but she caused all kinds of trouble for Joseph. Another one was the young boy who took his lunch with him to hear Jesus teach. His lunch ended up feeding over 5000 people.
How about this nameless person married to the man of wisdom. The original devotion written in my book called 3 Minutes Alone with God is titled, Who Is She? Did she have any kind of impact at all on Solomon? Yes, she did! Look at 1 Kings 11:2-3.
1 Kings 11:2-3
The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them (foreign women) because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.
What is the lesson we can learn from this? We must be obedient to the Lord in all things. Even when we think something is insignificant, if it goes against God’s Word, then it isn’t.
So did Solomon love Pharaoh’s Daughter? According to what we just read, he did. He loved them all. And this is a classic example that before we marry, we should carefully and prayerfully choose our mate. That means to keep away from making ourselves unequally yoked with a non-Christian.
Lord, help us to love you more than loving our sinful ways and being disobedient to your Word.
You can read all of 2 Chronicles 8 here.
This is an updated edition of a post originally published on Christian Perspectives.
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