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Solomon Turns from God

11 Now king Solomon [defiantly] loved [a]many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the very nations of whom the Lord said to the Israelites, “You shall not associate with them, nor shall they associate with you, for the result will be that they will turn away your hearts to follow their gods.” Yet Solomon clung to these in love.(A) He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred [b]concubines, and his wives turned his heart away [from God]. For when Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away after other gods; and his heart was not completely devoted to the Lord his God, as was the heart of his father David. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth, the [fertility] goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the horror (detestable idol) of the Ammonites.(B) Solomon did evil [things] in the sight of the Lord, and did not follow the Lord fully, as his father David had done. Then Solomon built a [c]high place for [worshiping] Chemosh the horror (detestable idol) of Moab, on the hill which is east of Jerusalem, and for Molech the horror (detestable idol) of the sons of Ammon. And he did the same for all of his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.

So the Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart was turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice, 10 and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not follow other gods; but he did not observe (remember, obey) what the Lord had commanded. 11 Therefore the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you have done this and have not kept My covenant and My statutes, which I have commanded you, I will certainly tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 11:1 It was a common practice among pagan rulers in the Near East to ratify treaties with other kingdoms by marriage to foreign wives. In Deut 17:17 the kings of Israel were strictly forbidden from participating in such alliances. Solomon’s defiance of God’s command led him into sin and the loss of his kingdom.
  2. 1 Kings 11:3 See note Gen 22:24.
  3. 1 Kings 11:7 I.e. an altar on the top of a hill, which was customary for pagan worship. The only proper place for worship was the temple.

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