1 Kings 11:3

_AND HE HAD SEVEN HUNDRED WIVES, PRINCESSES, AND THREE HUNDRED CONCUBINES: AND HIS WIVES TURNED AWAY HIS HEART._ Wives, princesses. They were probably, according to an existing custom, the daughters of tributary chiefs, given as hostages for the good conduct of their fathers. CONCUBINES - were legitimate, but lower or secondary wives. These the chief or first wife regards without the smallest jealousy or regret, as they look up to her with feelings of respectful submission. Solomon's wives became so numerous, not all at once, but gradually, since even at an early period his taste for Oriental show seems to have led to the establishment of a considerable harem (Song of Solomon 6:8)....

1-8 There is not a more melancholy and astonishing instance of human depravity in the sacred Scriptures, than that here recorded. Solomon became a public worshipper of abominable idols! Probably he by degrees gave way to pride and luxury, and thus lost his relish for true wisdom. Nothing forms in itself a security against the deceitfulness and depravity of the human heart. Nor will old age cure the heart of any evil propensity. If our sinful passions are not crucified and mortified by the grace of God, they never will die of themselves, but will last even when opportunities to gratify them are taken away. Let him that thinks he stands, take heed lest he fall. We see how weak we are of ourselves, without the grace of God; let us therefore live in constant dependence on that grace. Let us watch and be sober: ours is a dangerous warfare, and in an enemy's country, while our worst foes are t...

Verse 1 Kings 11:3. _HE HAD SEVEN HUNDRED WIVES, PRINCESSES_] How he could get so many of the blood royal from the different surrounding nations, is astonishing; but probably the daughters of _noblemen,_ _generals_, c., may be included. _AND THREE HUNDRED CONCUBINES_] These were _wives of the second_ _rank_, who were taken according to the usages of those times but their offspring could not inherit. Sarah was to Abraham what these _seven hundred_ princesses were to Solomon; and the _three hundred_ concubines stood in the same relation to the Israelitish king as _Hagar_ and _Keturah_ did to the patriarch. Here then are _one thousand wives_ to form this great bad man's _harem_! Was it possible that such a person could have any piety to God, who was absorbed by such a number of women? We scarcel

These numbers seem excessive to many critics, and it must be admitted that history furnishes no parallel to them. In Song of Solomon 6:8 the number of Solomon’s legitimate wives is said to be sixty, and that of his concubines eighty. It is, perhaps probable, that the text has in this place suffered corruption. For “700” we should perhaps read “70.”...

EXPOSITION SOLOMON'S DEFECTION.—The observant reader will have already remarked in this history some intimations of Solomon's approaching fall. Among these are, first, the repeated warnings which are addressed to him, especially in 1 Kings 9:6, and, second, his repeated transgressions of the law by which he ruled. We have already heard of the multiplication of silver and gold (1 Kings 10:14-11), in defiance of Deuteronomy 17:17, and of the multiplication of horses (1 Kings 10:27-11), in disregard of...

AND HE HAD SEVEN HUNDRED WIVES, PRINCESSES, AND THREE HUNDRED CONCUBINES,.... In all 1000, a prodigious number; though these might not be all for use, but for state after the manner of the eastern monarchs; these were a far greater number than are alluded to in Song of Solomon 6:8, unless the virgins without number there, were such of these as were not defiled by him; but the number here seems plainly referred to in Ecclesiastes 7:28, AND HIS WIVES TURNED AWAY HIS HEART; both from his duty to his God, and from attendance to his business as a king, especially the former, as follows....

7. SOLOMON'S FAILURE: JUDGMENT ANNOUNCED AND THE BEGINNING OF DISRUPTION CHAPTER 11 _ 1. Solomon's polygamy and departure from God (1 Kings 11:1)_ 2. Hadad the Edomite (1 Kings 11:14) 3. Rezon the second adversary (1 Kings 11:23) 4. Jeroboam (1 Kings 11:26) 5. Solomon's reign and death (1 Kings 11:41) “But--.” An ominous word with which this chapter begins. It introduces us to the sad picture of Solomon's great apostasy. “He shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people

SIN OF SOLOMON, AND THE ADVERSARIES RAISED UP IN CONSEQUENCE. From various differences in the arrangement of the earlier verses in the LXX and Heb., it has been supposed that in its original form the narrative merely recorded the fact that Solomon had a number of wives, and that he built sanctuaries and offered sacrifice to their gods. In its present form the influence of a Deuteronomic editor is unmistakable. But the account of Solomon's adversaries (1 Kings 11:14 ff.) must be derived from an earlier source; and even as it stands does not necessarily mean that they were raised up in punishment of his sin. Hadad, the Edomite (1 Kings 11:14) must have troubled him early in his reign (1 Kings 11:21 f.), and Rezon wa

CHILDREN. sons....

_seven hundred wives, princesses_ The numbers in this verse are far in excess of those in the Song of Solomon, which makes mention (1 Kings 6:8) of threescore queens. But from the instances known of other monarchs there is little reason to question what is stated in this verse. Philippson (_die Israelitische Bibel_) tells of the wives of the great Mogul as 1000 in number, and in ancient history there are similar examples. Many of these were probably never seen by the monarch in his life, but counted among his household, as an item of magnificence. It was only by the few who were his more constant companions that Solomon's heart was turned away....