seven (as the sacred full one) · noun, common both genders singular construct
hundred
מֵא֔וֹתme.'ot
H3967
a hundred · noun, common feminine plural absolute
wives
נָשִׁ֗יםna.Shim
H802
a woman · noun, common masculine plural absolute
princesses
שָׂרוֹת֙sa.rOt
H8282
a mistress · noun, common feminine plural absolute
three
שְׁלֹ֣שׁshe.Losh
H7969
three · noun, common both genders singular construct
hundred
מֵא֑וֹתme.'ot
H3967
a hundred · noun, common feminine plural absolute
concubines
וּפִֽלַגְשִׁ֖יםu.fi.lag.Shim
H6370
a concubine · conjunction + noun, common masculine plural absolute
wives
נָשָׁ֖יוna.Shav
H802
a woman · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
away
וַיַּטּ֥וּvai.ya.Tu
H5186
to stretch or spread out · conjunction + verb, hiphil sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
heart
לִבּֽוֹli.Bo
H3820
the heart · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
2 Samuel 5:13-16 And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to…
Ecclesiastes 7:28 Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.
Judges 8:30-31 And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.
Judges 9:5 And he went unto his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone…
2 Samuel 3:2-5 And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;
2 Chronicles 11:21 And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concu…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Kings 11:1-8
This is a sad story, and very surprising, of Solomon's defection and degeneracy.
I. Let us enquire into the occasions and particulars of it. Shall Solomon fall, that was the beauty of Israel, and so great a blessing of his generation? Yes, it is too true, and the scripture is faithful in relating it, and repeating it, and referring to it long after, Neh 13:26. There was no king like Solomon who was beloved of his God, yet even him did outlandish women cause to sin. There is the summary of his apostasy; it was the woman that deceived him, and was first in the transgression.
1. He doted on strange women, many strange women. Here his revolt began. (1.) He gave himself to women, which his mother…
he had seven hundred wives, princesses--They were, probably, according to an existing custom, the daughters of tributary chiefs, given as hostages for good conduct of their fathers.
concubines--were legitimate, but lower or secondary wives. These the chief or first wife regards without the smallest jealousy or regret, as they look up to her with feelings of respectful submission. Solomon's wives became numerous, not all at once, but gradually. Even at an early period his taste for Oriental show seems to have led to the establishment of a considerable harem (Sol 6:8).
Adam Clarke on 1 Kings 11:3
He had seven hundred wives, princesses - How he could get so many of the blood royal from the different surrounding nations, is astonishing; but probably the daughters of noblemen, generals, etc., may be included.
And three hundred concubines - These were wives of the second rank, who were taken according to the usages of those times; but their offspring could not inherit. Sarah was to Abraham what these seven hundred princesses were to Solomon; and the three hundred concubines stood in the same relation to the Israelitish king as Hagar and Keturah did to the patriarch.
Here then are one thousand wives to form this great bad man's harem! Was it possible that such a person could have any piet…
The words "the wives turned away his heart" do not mean that Solomon himself apostatized and worshiped the idols but that he gave [his wives] freedom to worship their idols without preventing them or converting them, as his father David [had done]. Therefore, since "man and wife become one flesh," and the Scripture usually attributes to them both the action of one because of their union … this is why [Solomon] is justly rebuked for allowing his wives to adore [the idols]. Silence, as they say, expresses consent. Other commentators assert that [Solomon] worships the idols but is not punished, even though he deserved it, thanks to his father and all his merits and toil in building the house.
The hands of the sinful woman were stretched out over his feet, that they might receive a gift from his divinity. Our Lord, therefore, showed his humanity so that the sinful woman might approach him. He also revealed his divinity in order that the Pharisee might be found guilty by him. Consequently, the sinful woman could scoff at the cunning thoughts of him who had been scoffing at her tears. She, through her love, brought into the open the tears that were hidden in the depths of her eyes, and [the Lord], because of her courage, brought into the open the thoughts that were hidden in the Pharisee. The sinful woman thought he was like God. Her faith was witness to this. Simon thought he was [merely] like a man. What he had worked out in his mind showed this. Our Lord, therefore, standing in the middle, worked out a parable between the two of them, so that the sinful woman might be encouraged through his pronouncing the parable and the Pharisee might be denounced through the explanation of the parable.But now, likewise, we are in the middle; and like Solomon we have fallen between women. But, even if we, like Solomon, have fallen between women, we are not, like Solomon, wounded by women. For these Gentile women were turning Solomon aside from the fear of God to their idols by means of their allurements. We place the faith of the Gentile women above the heroic exploits of the Hebrew women. For the latter, through the wholeness of their bodies, rendered Solomon's healthy faith sick, while the former, through their being healed, restore our ailing faith to health. Who therefore would not [wish] to be healed [by such faith]?
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Solomon — Peaceful, (Heb. Shelomoh), David’s second son by Bathsheba, i.e., the first after their legal marriage (2 Sam. 12). He was probably born about B.C. 1035 (1 Chr. 22:5; 29:1). He succeeded his father…
Alliance And Society With The Enemies Of God · Exemplified: Solomon — Exemplified: Solomon
Ammonites, The · Solomon intermarried with, and introduced idols of into Israel — Solomon intermarried with, and introduced idols of into Israel
Concubinage · General references — General references
Influence · EVIL — EVIL
Instability · . — .
Lasciviousness · . — .
Marriage · The Jews: Sometimes guilty of polygamy — The Jews: Sometimes guilty of polygamy
Molech · Worshiped by the wives of — Worshiped by the wives of
Polygamy · General references — General references
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
John Gill on 1 Kings 11:3
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines,.... In all 1000, a prodigious number; though these might not be all for use, but for state after the manner of the eastern monarchs; these were a far greater number than are alluded to in Sol 6:8, unless the virgins without number there, were such of these as were not defiled by him; but the number here seems plainly referred to in Ecclesiastes 7:28,
and his wives turned away his heart; both from his duty to his God, and from attendance to his business as a king, especially the former, as follows.
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Kings 11:1-13
The idolatry into which Solomon fell in his old age appears so strange in a king so wise and God-fearing as Solomon showed himself to be at the dedication of the temple, that many have been quite unable to reconcile the two, and have endeavoured to show either that Solomon's worship of idols was psychologically impossible, or that the knowledge of God and the piety attributed to him are unhistorical. But great wisdom and a refined knowledge of God are not a defence against the folly of idolatry, since this has its roots in the heart, and springs from sensual desires and the lust of the flesh. The cause assigned in the biblical account for Solomon's falling away from the Lord, is that he love…
In spite of his God-given wisdom, Solomon blatantly violated the law of Moses with his excessive wealth and many wives (see Exod 34:12-17; Deut 7:3-4; 17:17). Taking wives to form foreign alliances compromised Solomon’s spiritual commitment, as predicted, and turned his heart away from the Lord. The spiritual and political consequences for his people were disastrous (see 1 Kgs 11:4-13; 12:4, 16; 2 Kgs 17:5-23; 25:1-23).
Rashi on 1 Kings 11:1
And [especially] the daughter of Pharaoh. She too was one of the foreign women, but because she was beloved by him more than all of them, she was counted separately.1Alternatively, Pharaoh’s daughter is singled out because she was the cause for the beginning of Shlomo’s downfall.—Radak And similarly, “And there were missing of Dovid’s servants nineteen men and Asahel.”2II Shmuel 2:30.
