And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
Parallel translations
- WEB He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
- BSB He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines—and his wives turned his heart away.
- NKJV And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
- NASB He had seven hundred wives, who were princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away.
- NLT He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.
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 had seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines, and they turned his heart away. The sheer scale of his disobedience overwhelmed his devotion.
Overview
These marriages, many of them political alliances, multiplied wives far beyond what Deuteronomy 17:17 warned would turn a king's heart. The very thing God had cautioned against came to pass: his many wives drew his heart away from the LORD. The verse soberly shows that accumulated compromise, even when pursued for seemingly prudent reasons, can corrode genuine faith and devotion.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Eccl 7:28Which yet my soul seeketh, but I find not: one man among a thousand have I found; but a woman among all those have I not found.
- 2 Sam 5:13–16And David took him more concubines and wives out of Jerusalem, after he was come from Hebron: and there were yet sons and daughters born to David.
- Judg 8:30–31And Gideon had threescore and ten sons of his body begotten: for he had many wives.
- 2 Sam 3:2–5And unto David were sons born in Hebron: and his firstborn was Amnon, of Ahinoam the Jezreelitess;
- 2 Chr 11:21And Rehoboam loved Maachah the daughter of Absalom above all his wives and his concubines: (for he took eighteen wives, and threescore concubines; and begat twenty and eight sons, and threescore daughters.)
- Judg 9:5And he went unto his father’s house at Ophrah, and slew his brethren the sons of Jerubbaal, being threescore and ten persons, upon one stone: notwithstanding yet Jotham the youngest son of Jerubbaal was left; for he hid himself.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 11:3 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.