^11:3He had 700 royal wives⁴ and 300 concubines;⁵ his wives had a powerful influence over him.⁶^11:4When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to⁷ other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.⁸^11:5Solomon worshiped⁹ the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom.¹⁰^11:6Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight;¹¹ he did not remain loyal to¹² the Lord, like his father David had. ^11:7Furthermore,¹³ on the hill east of Jerusalem¹⁴ Solomon built a high place¹⁵ for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh¹⁶ and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom.¹⁷^11:8He built high places for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and make sacrifices to their gods.¹⁸

^11:9The Lord was angry with Solomon because he had shifted his allegiance¹⁹ away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him on two occasions²⁰^11:10and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods.²¹ But he did not obey²² the Lord’s command.

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Footnotes

4 Heb “wives, princesses.”
5 Concubines were slave women in ancient Near Eastern societies who were the legal property of their master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with their master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. The usage in the present passage suggests that after the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (cf. also 2 Sam 21:10–14).
6 Heb “his wives bent his heart.”
7 Heb “bent his heart after.”
8 Heb “his heart was not complete with the Lord his God, like the heart of David his father.”
9 Heb “walked after.”
10 Heb “Milcom, the detestable thing of the Ammonites.”
11 Heb “in the eyes of the Lord.”
12 The idiomatic statement reads in Hebrew, “he did not fill up after.”
13 Heb “then.”
14 The hill east of Jerusalem refers to the Mount of Olives. For location see ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; .
15 A high place. The “high places” were places of worship that were naturally or artificially elevated (see 1 Kgs 3:2).
16 Heb “Chemosh, the detestable thing of Moab.”
17 The reads “Molech,” but Milcom must be intended (see vv. 5, 33).
18 Heb “and the same thing he did for all his foreign wives, [who] were burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.”
19 Heb “bent his heart.”
20 These two occasions are mentioned in 1 Kgs 3:5 and 9:2.
21 Heb “and had commanded him concerning this thing not to walk after other gods.”
22 Or “keep.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the Lord 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. So Solomon did what was evil in the sight of the Lord and did not wholly follow the Lord, as David his father had done. Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. And so he did for all his foreign wives, who made offerings and sacrificed to their gods.

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines, and his wives led him astray. As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done.

On a hill east of Jerusalem, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the detestable god of Moab, and for Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and offered sacrifices to their gods.

The Lord became angry with Solomon because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. Although he had forbidden Solomon to follow other gods, Solomon did not keep the Lord’s command.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines, and they turned his heart away.

When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. He was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been. Solomon followed Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom, the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites. Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight, and unlike his father David, he did not remain loyal to the Lord.

At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abhorrent idol of Moab, and for Milcom, the abhorrent idol of the Ammonites, on the hill across from Jerusalem. He did the same for all his foreign wives, who were burning incense and offering sacrifices to their gods.

The Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. He had commanded him about this, so that he would not follow other gods, but Solomon did not do what the Lord had commanded.

NLTNew Living Translation

He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord.

In Solomon’s old age, they turned his heart to worship other gods instead of being completely faithful to the Lord his God, as his father, David, had been. Solomon worshiped Ashtoreth, the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. In this way, Solomon did what was evil in the Lord’s sight; he refused to follow the Lord completely, as his father, David, had done.

On the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, he even built a pagan shrine for Chemosh, the detestable god of Moab, and another for Molech, the detestable god of the Ammonites. Solomon built such shrines for all his foreign wives to use for burning incense and sacrificing to their gods.

The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice. He had warned Solomon specifically about worshiping other gods, but Solomon did not listen to the Lord’s command.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

He had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart.

It happened at the time of Solomon’s old age that his wives guided his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully with Yahweh his God as the heart of David his father had been. Solomon went after Ashtoreth the god of the Sidonians and after Milcom the abhorrence of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of Yahweh and did not fully follow after Yahweh as David his father. At that time, Solomon built a high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, on the mountain which faces Jerusalem and for Molech, the abomination of the Ammonites. Thus he did for all of his foreign wives, offering incense and sacrificing to their gods.

Yahweh was angry with Solomon, for he had turned his heart from Yahweh, the God of Israel who had appeared to him twice. And he had commanded him concerning this matter not to go after other gods, but he did not keep that which Yahweh commanded.

KJV 1900King James Version

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 the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father. For Solomon went after Ashtoreth the goddess of the Zidonians, and after Milcom the abomination of the Ammonites. And Solomon did evil in the sight of the Lord, and went not fully after the Lord, as did David his father. Then did Solomon build an high place for Chemosh, the abomination of Moab, in the hill that is before Jerusalem, and for Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart was turned from the Lord God of Israel, which had appeared unto him twice, And had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods: but he kept not that which the Lord commanded.

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