Nehemiah 13:26

26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin.

Nehemiah 13:26 Meaning and Commentary

Nehemiah 13:26

Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things?
&c.] By marrying strange wives, by whom he was drawn into idolatry, ( 1 Kings 11:3 1 Kings 11:4 ) ,

yet among many nations was there no king like him;
as not for grandeur and riches, so not for wisdom, and yet was ensnared by his idolatrous wives:

who was beloved of God;
alluding to his name Jedidiah, which signifies beloved of the Lord, ( 2 Samuel 12:24 2 Samuel 12:25 )

and God made him king over all Israel;
which was a proof of his love to him, and so he was under the greater obligation to serve him, and him only, and yet his heart, through his wives, was turned after other gods:

even him did outlandish women cause to sin;
and if so great and wise a man was enticed by them to idolatry, much more may you, and therefore it was very dangerous to marry with them.

Nehemiah 13:26 In-Context

24 And half of their children spoke the language of Ashdod, and could not speak the language of Judah, but spoke according to the language of one or the other people.

25 So I contended with them and cursed them, struck some of them and pulled out their hair, and made them swear by God, saying, "You shall not give your daughters as wives to their sons, nor take their daughters for your sons or yourselves.

26 Did not Solomon king of Israel sin by these things? Yet among many nations there was no king like him, who was beloved of his God; and God made him king over all Israel. Nevertheless pagan women caused even him to sin.

27 Should we then hear of your doing all this great evil, transgressing against our God by marrying pagan women?"

28 And one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was a son-in-law of Sanballat the Horonite; therefore I drove him from me.