Solomon’s Wives
11 King Solomon, however, loved many foreign women besides Pharaoh’s daughter—Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians and Hittites. 2 They were from nations about which the LORD had told the Israelites, “You must not intermarry with them, because they will surely turn your hearts after their gods.” Nevertheless, Solomon held fast to them in love. 3 He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. (NIV)
Is it because Solomon is famous for saying “Pride goeth before the fall” (Proverbs 16:18, KJV) that so many think that Solomon’s problem was his wealth, his extravagance, his opulence? Was it the gold? (About 8% of all the Old Testament references to “gold” happen in 1 Kings 6-10). It seems like Solomon’s story runs with gold more than David’s story ran red with blood.
But God never accuses Solomon of being too rich or too involved with his gold or his riches. Not once. Solomon’s heart wasn’t turned away by his Midas’ touch. His heart was turned away by his wives. God had warned against this time after time. Look at Exodus 34:11-16. Deuteronomy 7:1-4 gives a similar warning: “The Hittites…Amorites… (he lists seven nations)...when the LORD your God has delivered them over to you and you have defeated them….Do not intermarry with them. Do not take their daughters for your sons, for they will turn your sons away from following me to serve other gods, and the LORD’s anger will burn against you.”
Solomon had a thousand wives. There is no reason at all to take these numbers at anything other than face value. They might possibly be round numbers, “about” seven hundred and “about” three hundred, but there is no reason to adopt any other meaning here. The difference might be that the seven hundred wives were of noble birth—the daughters of kings and rulers of the lands around Israel—and the three hundred other wives that our author calls concubines were probably more “ordinary” local girls from Jerusalem and Judah.
God’s intention is that a marriage will consist of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24), and although there are examples of polygamy in the Bible, even among the great Patriarchs like Abraham and Israel himself, these marriages are never commanded nor condoned by God. Jesus himself specifically says that if a man so much as looks with lust at a woman other than his wife, he is guilty of adultery (Matthew 5:28). Jesus also pointedly uses the numeral “two” when he refers to the members in a marriage (Matthew 19:5).
Solomon thought he knew better, and thought he could get away with too many wives and too many gods. He thought his faith was strong enough to stand up to a lifelong test. Anyone who thinks he can put himself into temptation’s way and come out just fine is testing the Holy Spirit. And God tells us, “Do not test the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 6:16).
We all need the forgiveness that comes only from the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross to atone for our sins; we all need his forgiveness, because we are helpless and hopeless without it. And his forgiveness is ours; ours by grace and through faith because of the message of the gospel in the Scriptures.
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. His wife, Kathryn, attended Chapel from 1987-1990 while studying Secondary Education (Theater and Math) at UW-Madison. Kathryn’s father, John Meyer, was also the first man to serve as a Vicar at Chapel.
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