1 Kings 11:3

3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

1 Kings 11:3 Meaning and Commentary

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 ( Song of Solomon 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.

1 Kings 11:3 In-Context

1 But king Solomon loved many foreign women, besides the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, Hittites;

2 of the nations of which Jehovah had said to the children of Israel, Ye shall not go in to them, neither shall they come in to you; they would certainly turn away your heart after their gods: to these Solomon was attached in love.

3 And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

4 And it came to pass when Solomon was old, [that] his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as the heart of David his father.

5 And Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.