One of Solomon’s Fathers-in-Law: Pharaoh Siamun of Egypt

1 Kings 3:1: “Solomon made a treaty with Pharaoh king of Egypt and married Pharaoh’s daughter. He brought her to the City of David until he finished building his own palace and the temple of the Lord, and the wall around Jerusalem.”

The Pharaoh mentioned in 1 Kings 3:1 was most likely Siamun (reigned 986-967 BC), a pharaoh of the ancient Egyptian Twenty-first Dynasty. Very few historical documents about this ruler have been unearthed to date, making it difficult to ascertain much about him beyond the likelihood that he reigned for about 17 years. This pharaoh’s power was restricted by the High Priests of Thebes, preventing him from external expansion. Thus, he formed an alliance with Solomon through a royal marriage and even captured Gezer as his daughter’s dowry (1 Kings 9:16). Gezer was strategically important to both Egypt and Israel, as it controlled the north-south coastal highway and the east-west road connecting Jerusalem to the port of Joppa on the Mediterranean Sea. Once under the control of Solomon, Pharaoh’s son-in-law, it benefited Egypt and facilitated the smooth supply of cedar wood needed for building the Temple (2 Chronicles 2:16).

The benefits of political marriages were fleeting. Pharaoh Siamun died around the time the Temple construction began, and the throne fell into the hands of his rival, High Priest Psusennes II of Thebes (reigned 967-943 BC). Furthermore, in Solomon’s later years, Pharaoh Shoshenq I of the Twenty-second Dynasty (reigned 943-922 BC) became an enemy of Solomon’s dynasty (1 Kings 11:40; 14:25). “It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes” (Psalm 118:9). Solomon allied himself with many foreign powers, but in doing so, he distanced himself from God.

Solomon disregarded God’s command. In addition to the Egyptian princess, he took hundreds of other wives and concubines, many of whom worshipped foreign gods. Gradually, Solomon was corrupted by his wives and concubines, and his heart turned away from the Lord, leading him to worship idols. On the surface, Solomon was blessed by God, enjoying success in both his career and his personal life. However, the people, things, and desires he loved gradually replaced God in his heart, causing him to stray further and further from God. His political marriages with foreign nations not only failed to strengthen Solomon’s kingdom but ultimately, in his old age, his wives and concubines led his heart astray to follow other gods, and he did not follow the Lord his God wholeheartedly as his father David had done (1 Kings 11:4). This ultimately brought God’s judgment and the decline of his kingdom (1 Kings 11:11-13).