Now King Solomon loved many foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women,
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;
- KJV But king Solomon loved many strange women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Zidonians, 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—
- 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 17:17He shall not multiply wives to himself, that his heart not turn away. He shall not greatly multiply to himself silver and gold.
- Prov 6:24to keep you from the immoral woman, from the flattery of the wayward wife’s tongue.
- Prov 7:5that they may keep you from the strange woman, from the foreigner who flatters with her words.
- Neh 13:23–27In those days I also saw the Jews who had married women of Ashdod, of Ammon, and of Moab;
- Prov 2:16To deliver you from the strange woman, even from the foreigner who flatters with her words;
- 1 Kgs 11:8So he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
- Prov 5:8–20Remove your way far from her. Don’t come near the door of her house,
- Prov 22:14The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit. He who is under Yahweh’s wrath will fall into it.
- 1 Kgs 3:1Solomon made an alliance with Pharaoh king of Egypt, and took Pharaoh’s daughter, and brought her into David’s city, until he had finished building his own house, Yahweh’s house, and the wall around Jerusalem.
- Prov 23:33Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.
- Lev 18:18“‘You shall not take a wife to her sister, to be a rival, to uncover her nakedness, while her sister is yet alive.
- Gen 6:2–5God’s sons saw that men’s daughters were beautiful, and they took any that they wanted for themselves as wives.
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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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.