1 Kings 11:3

3 And wives as queens were seven hundred to him, and three hundred secondary wives; and the women 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 Forsooth king Solomon loved burningly many alien women, and the daughter of Pharaoh, and women of Moab, and Ammonites, and Idumeans, and Sidonians, and Hittites; (And King Solomon burningly loved many foreign women, including the daughter of Pharaoh, and women of Moab, and of the Ammonites, and Edomites, and Sidonians, and Hittites;)
2 of the folks of which the Lord said to the sons of Israel, Ye shall not enter to those folks, neither any of them shall enter to you; for most certainly they shall turn away your hearts, that ye follow the gods of them. And so king Solomon was coupled to these women, by most burning love (But King Solomon was coupled to these women with a most burning love).
3 And wives as queens were seven hundred to him, and three hundred secondary wives; and the women turned away his heart.
4 And when he was then eld, his heart was depraved by women, that he followed alien gods (And then when he was old, his heart was so depraved by these women, that he followed other gods); and his heart was not perfect with his Lord God, as the heart of David, his father, was perfect.
5 But Solomon worshipped Astarte, the goddess of Sidonians, and Chemosh, the god of Moabites, and Moloch, the idol of Ammonites; (For Solomon worshipped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Chemosh, the god of the Moabites, and Milcom, the god of the Ammonites;)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.