Footnotes

1. 1 Kings 11:2 tn Heb “you must not go into them, and they must not go into you.”
2. 1 Kings 11:2 tn Heb “Surely they will bend your heart after their gods.” The words “if you do” are supplied in the translation for clarification.
3. 1 Kings 11:2 tn Heb “Solomon clung to them for love.” The pronominal suffix, translated “them,” is masculine here, even though it appears the foreign women are in view. Perhaps this is due to attraction to the masculine forms used of the nations earlier in the verse.
4. 1 Kings 11:3 tn Heb “wives, princesses.”
5. 1 Kings 11:3 sn Concubines were slave women in ancient Near Eastern societies who were the legal property of their master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with their master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. The usage in the present passage suggests that after the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (cf. also 2 Sam 21:10-14).
6. 1 Kings 11:3 tn Heb “his wives bent his heart.”