1 Kings 11:1

1 Kings 11:1-8. Strange wives turn away Solomon's heart (Not in Chronicles)

1. Solomon loved many strange women Where polygamy was common there would be a great temptation to a powerful king to connect himself by marriage with all the nations about him. At the same time a large harem was an element in Oriental pomp. Most of these women were heathen, and their worship would be practised in the harem. In all the nations of antiquity women had special religious observances which they practised without the assistance of the priests. But Solomon built temples for foreign worship. It seems from 1 Kings 11:8 that these were for the women. If this were so they must have come, under attendance no doubt, from the harem to the Temple. In taking Pharaoh's daughter Solomon had joined to him a mighty but somewhat distant monarch. The other nations mentioned in this verse were close at hand. Edom bordered on the south of Palestine, Moab and Ammon were on the east, and Sidon and the Hittite kingdom on the north. The LXX. (Vat.) adds Syrian and Amorite wives to the number, and incorporates part of 1 Kings 11:3 with this verse.

Of this part of Solomon's conduct and character no mention is made in the books of the Chronicles.