# 1 Kings 11 📖: Solomon's Heart Turns Away [[📚 Explore the Bible Books]] [[-1 Kings Overview]] | [[1 Kings 10]] | [[1 Kings 12]] > [!info] Table of Contents > [[#📜 Scripture Text (NET)]] > [[#📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary]] > [[#🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights]] > [[#🧠 Chapter Summary]] > [[#✝️ Christ in This Chapter]] > [[#🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application]] > [[#💬 Discussion Questions]] > [[#✍️ Key Verses to Remember]] > [[#🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference]] > [[#🙏 Devotional Reflection]] > [[#📂 Internal Notes]] ## 📜 Scripture Text (NET) (The NET Bible: New English Translation. Biblical Studies Press, 2005) ## The Lord Punishes Solomon for Idolatry [[#Verse 01.]] King Solomon fell in love with many foreign women (besides Pharaoh’s daughter), including Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites.  [[#Verse 02.]] They came from nations about which the Lord had warned the Israelites, “You must not establish friendly relations with them! If you do, they will surely shift your allegiance to their gods.” But Solomon was irresistibly attracted to them. [[#Verse 03.]] He had 700 royal wives and 300 concubines; his wives had a powerful influence over him.  [[#Verse 04.]] When Solomon became old, his wives shifted his allegiance to other gods; he was not wholeheartedly devoted to the Lord his God, as his father David had been.  [[#Verse 05.]] Solomon worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte and the detestable Ammonite god Milcom.  [[#Verse 06.]] Solomon did evil in the Lord’s sight; he did not remain loyal to the Lord, as his father David had.  [[#Verse 07.]] Furthermore, on the hill east of Jerusalem Solomon built a high place for the detestable Moabite god Chemosh and for the detestable Ammonite god Milcom.  [[#Verse 08.]] He built high places for all his foreign wives so they could burn incense and make sacrifices to their gods. [[#Verse 09.]] The Lord was angry with Solomon because he had shifted his allegiance away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him on two occasions  [[#Verse 10.]] and had warned him about this very thing, so that he would not follow other gods. But he did not obey the Lord’s command.  [[#Verse 11.]] So the Lord said to Solomon, “Because you insist on doing these things and have not kept the covenantal rules I gave you, I will surely tear the kingdom away from you and give it to your servant.  [[#Verse 12.]] However, for your father David’s sake I will not do this while you are alive. I will tear it away from your son’s hand instead.  [[#Verse 13.]] But I will not tear away the entire kingdom; I will leave your son one tribe for my servant David’s sake and for the sake of my chosen city Jerusalem.” [[#Verse 14.]] The Lord brought against Solomon an enemy, Hadad the Edomite, a descendant of the Edomite king.  [[#Verse 15.]] During David’s campaign against Edom, Joab, the commander of the army, while on a mission to bury the dead, killed every male in Edom.  [[#Verse 16.]] For Joab and the entire Israelite army stayed there six months until they had exterminated every male in Edom.  [[#Verse 17.]] Hadad, who was only a small boy at the time, escaped with some of his father’s Edomite servants and headed for Egypt.  [[#Verse 18.]] They went from Midian to Paran; they took some men from Paran and went to Egypt. Pharaoh, king of Egypt, gave him a house and some land and supplied him with food. [[#Verse 19.]] Pharaoh liked Hadad so well he gave him his sister-in-law (Queen Tahpenes’ sister) as a wife.  [[#Verse 20.]] Tahpenes’ sister gave birth to his son, named Genubath. Tahpenes raised him in Pharaoh’s palace; Genubath grew up in Pharaoh’s palace among Pharaoh’s sons.  [[#Verse 21.]] While in Egypt Hadad heard that David had passed away and that Joab, the commander of the army, was dead. So Hadad asked Pharaoh, “Give me permission to leave so I can return to my homeland.”  [[#Verse 22.]] Pharaoh said to him, “What do you lack here that makes you want to go to your homeland?” Hadad replied, “Nothing, but please give me permission to leave.” [[#Verse 23.]] God also brought against Solomon another enemy, Rezon son of Eliada who had run away from his master, King Hadadezer of Zobah.  [[#Verse 24.]] He gathered some men and organized a raiding band. When David tried to kill them, they went to Damascus, where they settled down and gained control of the city.  [[#Verse 25.]] He was Israel’s enemy throughout Solomon’s reign and, like Hadad, caused trouble. He loathed Israel and ruled over Syria. [[#Verse 16.]] Jeroboam son of Nebat, one of Solomon’s servants, rebelled against the king. He was an Ephraimite from Zeredah whose mother was a widow named Zeruah.  [[#Verse 27.]] This is what prompted him to rebel against the king: Solomon built a terrace, and he closed up a gap in the wall of the city of his father David.  [[#Verse 29.]] Jeroboam was a talented man; when Solomon saw that the young man was an accomplished worker, he made him the leader of the work crew from the tribe of Joseph.  [[#Verse 29.]] At that time, when Jeroboam had left Jerusalem, the prophet Ahijah the Shilonite met him on the road; the two of them were alone in the open country. Ahijah was wearing a brand new robe,  [[#Verse 30.]] and he grabbed the robe and tore it into twelve pieces.  [[#Verse 31.]] Then he told Jeroboam, “Take ten pieces, for this is what the Lord God of Israel has said: ‘Look, I am about to tear the kingdom from Solomon’s hand and I will give ten tribes to you.  [[#Verse 32.]] He will retain one tribe, for my servant David’s sake and for the sake of Jerusalem, the city I have chosen out of all the tribes of Israel.  [[#Verse 33.]] I am taking the kingdom from him because they have abandoned me and worshiped the Sidonian goddess Astarte, the Moabite god Chemosh, and the Ammonite god Milcom. They have not followed my instructions by doing what I approve and obeying my rules and regulations, as Solomon’s father David did.  [[#Verse 34.]] I will not take the whole kingdom from his hand. I will allow him to be ruler for the rest of his life for the sake of my chosen servant David who kept my commandments and rules.  [[#Verse 35.]] I will take the kingdom from the hand of his son and give ten tribes to you.  [[#Verse 36.]] I will leave his son one tribe so my servant David’s dynasty may continue to serve me in Jerusalem, the city I have chosen as my home.  [[#Verse 37.]] I will select you; you will rule over all you desire to have and you will be king over Israel.  [[#Verse 38.]] You must obey all I command you to do, follow my instructions, do what I approve, and keep my rules and commandments, as my servant David did. Then I will be with you and establish for you a lasting dynasty, as I did for David; I will give you Israel.  [[#Verse 39.]] I will humiliate David’s descendants because of this, but not forever.’”  [[#Verse 40.]] Solomon tried to kill Jeroboam, but Jeroboam escaped to Egypt and found refuge with King Shishak of Egypt. He stayed in Egypt until Solomon died. ## Solomon’s Reign Ends [[#Verse 41.]] The rest of the events of Solomon’s reign, including all his accomplishments and his wise decisions, are recorded in the scroll called the Annals of Solomon.  [[#Verse 42.]] Solomon ruled over all Israel from Jerusalem for forty years.  [[#Verse 43.]] Then Solomon passed away and was buried in the city of his father David. His son Rehoboam replaced him as king. ## 📖 Verse-by-Verse Commentary ###### Overall. ###### Verse 01. ###### Verse 02. ###### Verse 03. ###### Verse 04. ###### Verse 05. ###### Verse 06. ###### Verse 07. ###### Verse 08. ###### Verse 09. ###### Verse 10. ###### Verse 11. ###### Verse 12. ###### Verse 13. ###### Verse 14. ###### Verse 15. ###### Verse 16. ###### Verse 17. ###### Verse 18. ###### Verse 19. ###### Verse 20. ###### Verse 21. ###### Verse 22. ###### Verse 23. ###### Verse 24. ###### Verse 25. ###### Verse 26. ###### Verse 27. ###### Verse 28. ###### Verse 29. ###### Verse 30. ###### Verse 31. ###### Verse 32. ###### Verse 33. ###### Verse 34. ###### Verse 35. ###### Verse 36. ###### Verse 37. ###### Verse 38. ###### Verse 39. ###### Verse 40. ###### Verse 41. ###### Verse 42. ###### Verse 43. ## 🤔 Interesting Facts / Historical and Cultural Insights 1. Solomon had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines (11:3). 2. Deuteronomy 17:17 warned that a king must not take many wives, or his heart would turn away. 3. Ashtoreth was a goddess of the Sidonians, Milcom an Ammonite god, and Chemosh the god of Moab (11:5-7). 4. Solomon built high places on the hill east of Jerusalem (11:7), the Mount of Olives, which Josiah later tore down (2 Kings 23:13). 5. Hadad the Edomite fled to Egypt as a boy and married the sister of Pharaoh's wife Tahpenes (11:17-19). 6. Rezon became king in Damascus and opposed Israel throughout Solomon's reign (11:23-25). 7. Jeroboam was an Ephraimite whom Solomon put in charge of the labor force of the house of Joseph (11:26-28). 8. The prophet Ahijah from Shiloh tore a new cloak into twelve pieces and gave Jeroboam ten (11:29-31). 9. Shishak (11:40) is the first Egyptian pharaoh named in the Bible, usually identified with Shoshenq I. 10. Solomon reigned forty years (11:42), the same length as David and Saul (Acts 13:21). ## 🧠 Chapter Summary > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## ✝️ Christ in This Chapter Christ is the faithful Son of David whose heart never turned away. Solomon's heart was led astray (11:4), but God kept a lamp for David in Jerusalem (11:36), pointing to Jesus, the Root and Descendant of David (Revelation 22:16). ## 🔎 Key Principles / 🛟 Life Application > [!note] 🌱 Still growing. This section is on its way. ## 💬 Discussion Questions 1. Solomon's heart did not turn away all at once but gradually as he grew old (11:4). How do small compromises add up over time? 2. God raised up adversaries against Solomon (11:14, 23). How might God use difficulty to get our attention? 3. Even in judgment, God kept His promise to David (11:12-13, 36). What does that show about His faithfulness? ## ✍️ Key Verses to Remember - 📖 verse 4: Solomon's wives turn his heart after other gods in his old age. - 📖 verse 11: Because Solomon did not keep God's covenant, the kingdom will be torn from him. - 📖 verse 36: God will leave one tribe so that David will always have a lamp in Jerusalem. ## 🔗 Related Passages/Cross Reference - 🔗 [[Deuteronomy 17#Verse 17.|Deuteronomy 17:17]] - A king must not take many wives. - 🔗 [[Nehemiah 13#Verse 26.|Nehemiah 13:26]] - Even Solomon was led into sin by foreign wives. - 🔗 [[1 Samuel 15#Verse 27.|1 Samuel 15:27-28]] - The torn robe and the kingdom torn from Saul. - 🔗 [[2 Kings 23#Verse 13.|2 Kings 23:13]] - Josiah destroys Solomon's high places. - 🔗 [[Revelation 22#Verse 16.|Revelation 22:16]] - Jesus is the Root and Descendant of David. ## 🙏 Devotional Reflection 📝 SOAP: [[1 Kings 11 - SOAP|Faithfulness is a Lifelong Journey]] ## 📂 Internal Notes