1 Kings 11:4

4 As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful - he didn't stay true to his God as his father David had done.

1 Kings 11:4 Meaning and Commentary

1 Kings 11:4

And it came to pass, when Solomon was old
Toward the latter end of his reign, when he might be near sixty years of age; for Rehoboam his son and successor was forty one when he began to reign, ( 1 Kings 14:21 ) which is observed either as an aggravation of the sin of Solomon, that in his old age, when by long experience he might have been thought to be still wiser, and less lustful: and yet

that his wives turned away his heart after other gods;
or as pointing at the advantage his wives took of his age:

and his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart
of David his father;
who, though guilty of many sins, never inclined to idolatry; his heart was always right in that point, and sincere in his worship, see ( Psalms 18:20-24 ) .

1 Kings 11:4 In-Context

2 He took them from the surrounding pagan nations of which God had clearly warned Israel, "You must not marry them; they'll seduce you into infatuations with their gods." Solomon fell in love with them anyway, refusing to give them up.
3 He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines - a thousand women in all! And they did seduce him away from God.
4 As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful - he didn't stay true to his God as his father David had done.
5 Solomon took up with Ashtoreth, the whore goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites.
6 Solomon openly defied God; he did not follow in his father David's footsteps.

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Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.