1 Kings 11:1

THE APOSTASY; THE REJECTION; AND THE DEATH OF SOLOMON - HIS APOSTASY

"Now king Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites; of the nations concerning which Jehovah said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall not go among them, neither shall they come among you; for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods: Solomon clave unto these in love. And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods; and his heart was not perfect with Jehovah his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah, and went not fully after Jehovah, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, in the mount that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech the abomination of the children of Ammon. And so did he for all his foreign wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods."

The wholesale wickedness of Solomon is presented in this paragraph with all the tenderness and reluctance that filled the heart of the narrator. It should be noted that Solomon's age, "when he was old," is mentioned here, apparently as somewhat of an amelioration of his guilt. And the statement that "he went not fully after Jehovah," while true as it stands, obscures the fact of his total apostasy. Scholars are reluctant to face what is written here.

Keil wrote that "Solomon continued to offer the sacrifices to Jehovah three times in the year (as in 1 Kings 9:25), and that certainly to the day of his death";[1] and Hammond spoke of some who stress the fact that the text does not say that Solomon "served the false gods."[2] These efforts to soften the fact of Solomon's apostasy are futile. The passage in 1 Kings 9:25 refers to a habit in Solomon's early reign, not to the day of his death, and building temples to the name and glory of heathen gods is emphatically the same thing as "serving them." Furthermore, the statement that "when Solomon was old, his wives turned away his heart," although true enough, cannot obscure the multitude of his sinful violations of God's law throughout his whole career.

The most impressive symbol of Christ in the Tabernacle was the veil, and Solomon left it out of his Temple, into which he also brought the pagan pillars of Jachin and Boaz. His polygamy, his multiplication of horses and chariots, his heaping unto himself vast riches of silver and gold, his probable usurpation of priestly functions (1 Kings 9:25), and his making images contrary to the Second Commandment are only a few of his departures from God's Word. These were not sins of "old age."

"Daughter of Pharaoh, women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites" (1 Kings 11:1). "The crime of these marriages was due to Solomon's union with nationals, with whom intermarriage was forbidden (Exodus 34:16 and Deuteronomy 7:3-4)."[3] The simple truth is that Solomon had no respect whatever for God's law in matters where the Divine command contradicted his personal desire.

"Seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines" (1 Kings 11:3). "There is no need to doubt the accuracy of these numbers."[4] "The N.Y. Times, Sept. 11,1939, carried the story of Ibn Saud, king of Arabia, who had 250 wives and 51 children."[5] "Chosroes II had between 3,000,12,000 concubines; and the Sultan Mulay Ismail is reported to have had 2,000 wives, and 800 concubines"![6]

"Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians" (1 Kings 11:5). "This goddess, the same as Astarte, was called Ishtar in Mesopotamia; in Syria she was the female consort of Baal, and a model for the Greek Aphrodite. She was the goddess of fertility and of erotic love."[7] The Canaanites worshipped her with unbelievable licentiousness. It is not difficult to see why a man like Solomon "went after" that kind of a goddess.

"Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites" (1 Kings 11:5). No one knows any difference between this abomination and Molech, the terrible fire-god to whom infant children were sacrificed. There is no record of Solomon's ever offering such a sacrifice, but even if he had done such a thing, no Jewish writer would ever have mentioned it. He certainly built a temple to Molech, and the fact of Rehoboam being the only son of Solomon mentioned in the Bible raises some question regarding the reason why. "The worship of Molech was terribly common in Jerusalem, with its accompanying sacrifices of children."[8]

"Chemosh the abomination of Moab in the mount that is before Jerusalem" (1 Kings 11:5). "This was a sun-god, worshipped by the Moabites as their king and as a god of war. He is also called a god of the Ammonites in Judges 11:24)."[9] The mount "in front of" Jerusalem is the mount of Olives "east of" the city. ("Practically all commentators agree that in front of is the equivalent of east of.")[10] Due to those high places which Solomon built there, it was called, "The Mount of Offense, The Mount of Corruption, and the Mount of Scandal."[11] "Chemosh was the twin brother of Molech of the Ammonites, equally cruel, licentious, and vulgar in his demands."[12]