Solomon’s Unfaithfulness to God

11 King Solomon loved many foreign women in addition to Pharaoh’s daughter:(A) Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women(B) from the nations that the Lord had told the Israelites about, “Do not intermarry with them, and they must not intermarry with you, because they will turn you away from Me to their gods.”(C) Solomon was deeply attached to these women and loved them. He had 700 wives who were princesses and 300 concubines,(D) and they turned his heart away from the Lord.(E)

When Solomon was old, his wives seduced him to follow other gods. He was not completely devoted to Yahweh his God, as his father David had been.(F) Solomon followed Ashtoreth,(G) the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom,(H) the detestable idol of the Ammonites.(I) Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not completely follow Yahweh.

At that time, Solomon built a high place(J) for Chemosh,(K) the detestable idol of Moab, and for Milcom,[a](L) the detestable idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem.(M) He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1 Kings 11:7 Lit Molech

Solomon’s Many Wives

11 Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites. The Lord had clearly instructed the people of Israel, “You must not marry them, because they will turn your hearts to their gods.” Yet Solomon insisted on loving them anyway. He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.

In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been. Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech,[a] the detestable god of the Ammonites. In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done.

On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem,[b] he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 11:5 Hebrew Milcom, a variant spelling of Molech; also in 11:33.
  2. 11:7 Hebrew On the mountain east of Jerusalem.