1 Kings 11:5

5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god 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 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the LORD .

4 In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the LORD his God, as his father, David, had been.

5 Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.

6 In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the LORD ’s sight; he refused to follow the LORD completely, as his father, David, had done.

7 On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites.

Footnotes

• [a] Hebrew Milcom, a variant spelling of Molech; also in 11:33 .