In marrying the daughter of the king of Egypt, Solomon followed his father in indulging his lust to gain a Gentile wife (2 Sam. 11). This was the annulling of the separation of God’s holy people from the people of Satan’s cosmos, the evil world. Solomon was not regulated and restricted by the law of God, in which God charged Israel not to marry the Gentiles, because the Gentiles would cause Israel to worship idols (Exo. 34:16; Deut. 7:3-4; Josh. 23:12-13). In this matter Solomon was disobedient to God in carrying out God’s economy, which included the destroying of all the idol-worshipping Gentiles in the land (Deut. 7:2). Solomon’s marriage to an Egyptian also laid a foundation for his future fall in corruption and ruin (ch. 11; cf. Gal. 6:7-8).

On the one hand, Solomon was seeking God. On the other hand, he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places (vv. 3-4; cf. Deut. 12:5-14). In the Old Testament high places is a negative term, for it refers to the places where the Gentile people, the Canaanites, worshipped their idols (Num. 33:52). In this matter Solomon was foolish and lacking in vision. See 1 Kings 11:7 and note 1 Kings 11:7¹, and 1 Kings 12:31-32 and notes.

Many MSS read, Jehovah.

Some MSS read, the Lord.