1 Kings 11:5

5 Solomon went after Ashtoreth the god of [the] Sidonians and after Molech the abhorrence of the Ammonites.

1 Kings 11:5 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 11:5

And Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians,
&c.] Enticed by the Zidonian women, or woman, he had, ( 1 Kings 11:1 ) . According to the Phoenician histories ^F9, Solomon married a daughter of Hiram, king of Tyre and Zidon; so Clemens of Alexandria says ^F11, that Hiram gave his daughter to Solomon; Ashtoreth is Astarte, the same with the Venus of the Greeks, so Suidas ^F12; and Lucian ^F13 expressly says, the Sidonians had a temple, said by them to belong to Astarte, which he takes to be the moon; and both Venus and Juno signify the same planet; (See Gill on Judges 2:13)

and after Milcom the abomination of the Amnonites;
the same with Molech, ( 1 Kings 11:7 ) . (See Gill on Leviticus 18:21). (See Gill on Amos 1:13). After this he was drawn by his Ammonitish wife, or wives, ( 1 Kings 11:1 ) , though the Jewish writers think he did not worship these idols, but suffered his wives to do it, and connived at it, which was his sin; so Ben Gersom and Abarbinel.

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FOOTNOTES:

F9 Apud Tatian. contr. Graecos, p. 171.
F11 Stromat. l. 1. p. 325.
F12 In voce (Astarth) .
F13 De Dea Syria.

1 Kings 11:5 In-Context

3 He had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart.

4 It happened at the time of Solomon's old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father [had been].

5 Solomon went after Ashtoreth the god of [the] Sidonians and after Molech the abhorrence of the Ammonites.

6 So Solomon did evil in the eyes of Yahweh and did not fully [follow] after Yahweh as David his father.

7 At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain which {faces} Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the {Ammonites}.