Naamah, Solomon’s first wife

Naamah

Summarizing the Song of Songs. The young newly anointed co-regent king, Solomon, fell in love with a woman (Naamah) at his first anointing. They courted. Got engaged. Married. And then Naamah told Solomon her thoughts and feelings. Then he wrote Solomon’s Song of Songs. It’s about how love brought the two of them closer and closer to the point that they were one and acting like it. Written so that we could get a right idea of love.

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1 Naamah, Solomon’s wife gave birth to Solomon’s first son.

^” So King Rehoboam strengthened himself in Jerusalem and reigned. Now Rehoboam was forty-one years old when he began to reign, and he reigned seventeen years in Jerusalem, the city which the Lord had chosen from all the tribes of Israel, to put His name there. And his mother’s name was Naamah the Ammonitess.” 2 Chronicles 12:13.

Solomon’s reign was 40 years 1 Kings 11:42-43. Rehoboam was 41 when he became king. This means that Naamah gave birth to Rehoboam within the first year of Solomon’s reign. Making Naamah the most likely woman to be Solomon’s wife in the Song of Songs.

2 Naamah was pregnant with Rehoboam within three months of the wedding and Solomon’s second crowning.

“gaze on King Solomon with the crown
With which his mother has crowned him
On the day of his wedding,
And on the day of his gladness of heart.” Song of Songs 3:11.

So you have a wedding and a crowning on the same day!! One of the easiest verses in the whole poem to understand just happens to be clearly literal and historical. Isn’t that so nice!! This crowning marks the official beginning of Solomon’s reign. This is important because Solomon reigned 40 years and Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king. This would mean that Naamah would of had to have been pregnant with Rehoboam within 3 months of the crowning and wedding in Song of Songs 3:11!!

Chronicles records Solomon having a second anointing. “And they made Solomon the son of David king a second time, and they anointed him as ruler for the Lord and Zadok as priest.” 1 Chron. 29:22.

The first anointing was when David was still alive in 1 Kings. The Song of Songs talks about a king and his anointing oils in Song 1:2-4. Commonalities between 1 Kings and Song 1:2-4 along with Song 3:11 talking about a crowning lead me to understand that the woman in the Song fell in love with Solomon at his first anointing. The Song is clearly about Solomon so the king in Song 1:4 isn’t David but Solomon. So you have King Solomon in Song 1:4 with anointing oils 1:3 and then a crowning in Song 3:11 which makes the context of Song 1:2-4 the first anointing of King Solomon and Song 3:11 the second.

Commonalities between Song 1:2-4 and the first anointing in 1 Kings are 1 You have King Solomon in both. Since there are two anointings that makes the one in Song 1:2-4 the first one and the one in Song 3:11 the second. This is really important because then you can add Psalm 72, David’s prayer for Solomon, and 2 Sam. 7:12-16 and the peace in 1 Chron. 22:9 to the context of what Naamah believed because they would have been read and talked about at Solomon’s first anointing and heard by all. Plus, since Naamah had love she would then have believed all of the prayer for “love…believes all“ God’s says and promises 1 Cor. 13:7. Thus, Naamah had faith for she believed what God promised about Solomon, which made his name pleasing for her to hear. 2 You have anointing oils in both 1:3 and  1 King 1:39 “Zadok the priest then took the horn of oil from the tent and anointed Solomon. Then they blew the trumpet, and all the people said, “Long live King Solomon!” and “your anointing oils are fragrant, your name is oil poured out” RSV 1:3. 3 You have a woman pleased at the mention of King Solomon’s “name” 1:3 along with the Israelite’s saying Solomon’s name “Long live King Solomon” 1 Kings 1:39.

3 Naamah is the embodiment of the most excellent wife in Proverbs. The woman in Solomon’s Song of Songs is so much like the Proverbs 31 excellent wife.

1 When their marriage had matured they were one and acting like it, her husband cold fully “trust her and he would lack no gain” with her sealed to his heart and arm Song 8:6-7 with Pr. 31:11.

2 “She deals bountifully with him for good and not evil
All the days of her life.” Pr. 31:12 with Song 8:10, 5:1, 7:1-10 and other’s.

3 “she rises while it is still night” as would someone who shone like the “full moon” who’s “lamp does not go out at night” Pr. 31:15 with Solomon’s Song of Songs 6:10,18. The praise of her being like the moon and sun implies that she was loving all the time. Both at night and during the day.

4 Her family was “clothed with scarlet” and “her clothing is fine linen and purple” Pr. 31:21-22 which is consistent with royalty, her being Solomon’s Queen.

5 “Her husband is known in the gates” Pr. 31:23. Solomon as king and gifted with immeasurable wisdom 1 Kings 4:29 would have been quite known at the gates where the wise men were.

6 “Strength and majesty are her clothing” with “You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, As lovely as Jerusalem, As majestic as an army with banners.” Pr. 31:25 with Song 6:4.

7 “She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the instruction of loving kindness is on her tongue” with “We have a little sister, And she has no breasts; What shall we do for our sister On the day when she is spoken for? If she is a wall, We will build on her a battlement of silver; But if she is a door, We will barricade her with planks of cedar.” Pr. 31:26 with Song 8:8-9.

8 “Her husband, he also praises her, saying:“Many daughters have done excellently, But you have gone above them all.” with her being the “most beautiful of women” due to her love, inner beauty Song 1:9. Given the context her moral excellency is her love. She had the greatest degree of love, her being a Gentile and looking like an outcast, her love gave her holy courage to pursue a closer relationship with the holy Messiah, Solomon. This love and courage made her the most beautiful of them all. And this was only his first praise of her moral excellencies. She was worthy of all the praise, “a woman who fears Yahweh, she shall be praised” Pr. 31:30. Solomon gave her for those who love have fear of God and are worthy of praise. The other praises of her love, inner and outer beauty are Song 1:9-10, 15, 2:14, 4, 6:4-10, 7:1-9.

All of this should be more than enough to convince us that the woman in Solomon’s Song of Songs is the embodiment of the most excellent wife in Proverbs 31:10-31.

Naamah gave birth to Rehoboam, who was King after Solomon’s 40 year reign. Rehoboam was 41 years old when he became king. This tells us that Naamah would of had to have been pregnant with Rehoboam within 3 months of the start of Solomon’s reign in Song 3:11 and 1 Chron. 29:22. All of this indicates Naamah as being Solomon’s first wife. Since the Love Song clearly teaches that Solomon was “wholly desirable ” Song 5:16 and not a promiscuous man yet would indicate a young Solomon.

Other’s reasons that Naamah is Solomon’s first wife that may not hold so much wieght

1 Naamah means “beautiful“, and she was the “most beautiful woman” speaking of her inner beauty Song 1:9. Often times names were given by God because they would fulfill a Divine purpose. The woman in the Song would have easily lived up to the name Naamah.

2 Naamah was a princess in the Love Song 7:1 and in Rabbinical literature said to be the daughter of king Hanun.

3 Naamah was an Ammonite. Some Ammonites made peace with Israel at Mahanaim. The foreigners did the outside labor during Davids reign 1 Chronicles 22:22, this would be consistent with her being sun burnt and sun scorched in Song 1:5-6. The woman in the Song is looked upon as doing the dance of the Mahanaim, which Ammonites would know. Song 6:13.

Though a foreigner or Gentile there was a way for her to be accepted into their fellowship. 1 Chronicles 6:32-33 . If Naamah was a captive of David’s men then put into forced labor. She could be still married by a Jew. Dt. 21:10-14.

4 Naamah was an Ammonitess. This means that she was not a Jew but was born a Gentile, outside a covenant relationship with God. This helps explain why the daughters of Jerusalem were starring at her (Song 1:5) as if she had no right to be married to a holy Messiah. Being a Gentile she had no place in God’s holy kingdom.

This would also explain her hesitancy to say yes to Solomon’s proposal in Song 2:8-14. Having been a Gentile and Solomon a Jew, there would be many issues or “little foxes” 2:15 to work out in order for a happy and harmonious marriage. After Solomon proposes in Song 2 she doesn’t immediately say yes, but rather asks him to help catch the little foxes from keeping their relationship from blossoming 2:14-15.

This would also put the glory of love on display even more due to it making Naamah a good and fit wife. Love beautifies the soul for it is a moral excellency. Her inner beauty was matchless. She was the most beautiful of women 1:9, not just because of her outer beauty but because of her fearless courage and intense zeal, lovely humility and good sense of judgement.

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What does all this mean and why is it important?

1 It gives us a timeline for the Love Song

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1 Naamah was Solomon’s first wife

Her son Rehoboam reigned over Israel when he was 41 years old. Naamah’s husband, Solomon, reigned for 40 years. 1 Kings 14:21, 2 Chronicles 12:13.

Naamah and Rehoboam.

In the Song Solomon is both married and crowned king on the same day. This would mean that Naamah would have been pregnant in the next 3 months in order for Rehoboam to be age 41 on the first year of his reign. (Albeit his first year would have only been 1-3 months in reality then he would be in his second year. So, this puts Naamah pregnant at least 3 months after Solomon’s first wedding as king in Song 3:10 She got married the same day that Solomon was officially crowned king Solomon’s song of songs 3:10 and 1 Chronicles 29:22. This second crowning happens after David’s death. The first crowning was when Solomon’s father David was still alive.

The first crowning of Solomon is in 1 Kings and Song 1:2-5 when David is still alive. Notice she is close enough to smell his anointing oils. The first anointing is in 1 kings 1 and Solomon’s song of Songs 1:2-5

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History of Ammonites

Moses was to not destroy the ammonites. Dt. 2:19. This command by God would have helped to preserve the life of Naamah.