But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, and Hittites;
Parallel translations
- WEB Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites;
- BSB King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh—women of Moab, Ammon, Edom, and Sidon, as well as Hittite women.
- NKJV But King Solomon loved many foreign women, as well as the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites—
- NASB Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
- NLT Now King Solomon loved many foreign women. Besides Pharaoh’s daughter, he married women from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and from among the Hittites.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Solomon loved many foreign women from nations God had warned against. It marks the turning point from his glory to his spiritual downfall.
Overview
Despite all his wisdom and blessing, Solomon gave his heart to numerous wives from Moab, Ammon, Edom, Sidon, and the Hittites, peoples whose religions threatened Israel's covenant faithfulness. This love is the hinge on which the narrative turns from glory to decline. It shows that even the wisest man, when he disregards God's clear commands, is vulnerable to ruin, underscoring humanity's need for a Savior who never wavers.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Deut 17:17Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his heart turn not away: neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
- Prov 6:24To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman.
- Prov 7:5That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.
- Neh 13:23–27In those days also saw I Jews that had married wives of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab:
- Prov 2:16To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words;
- 1 Kgs 11:8And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
- Prov 5:8–20Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
- Prov 22:14The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
- 1 Kgs 3:1And Solomon made affinity with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into the city of David, until he had made an end of building his own house, and the house of the LORD, and the wall of Jerusalem round about.
- Prov 23:33Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
- Lev 18:18Neither shalt thou take a wife to her sister, to vex her, to uncover her nakedness, beside the other in her life time.
- Gen 6:2–5That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.
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Christ at the center
Solomon's glory, wisdom, and temple where God's presence dwells are a shadow of the greater Son of David — 'one greater than Solomon is here' — and of the true Temple, Christ himself.
How 1 Kings 11:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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