1 Kings 11:5

5 For Solomon went after Ash'toreth the goddess of the Sido'nians, and after Milcom the abomination 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 wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.

4 For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father.

5 For Solomon went after Ash'toreth the goddess of the Sido'nians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites.

6 So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the LORD, and did not wholly follow the LORD, as David his father had done.

7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem.