I Kings 11:8 · Bible study
1 Kings 11:8 Commentary: Solomon's Provision for Idolatry
Hebrew · 6 what the commentators say
Meaning in one sentence
Study 1 Kings 11:8: the wisest king built high places for his foreign wives’ gods. Why he fell and what this warns about small compromises.
Research Summary
- Meaning: Solomon constructed a place of worship for each of his foreign wives so they could burn incense and offer sacrifices to their own gods.
- Key words: nokhri (foreign, H5237), wives from forbidden nations; hiqtir (burn incense, H6999), a technical term for offering ritual smoke; zavach (sacrifice, H2076), slaughter for worship.
- Main debate: Did Solomon personally participate in idolatry, or did he merely provide for his wives’ worship? Verse 5 says “Solomon went after Ashtoreth,” suggesting active involvement.
- Theological theme: The danger of gradual accommodation to the world; covenant unfaithfulness leads to judgment; wisdom does not guarantee steadfastness.
- Best use: A sobering warning for anyone who believes they are too mature in faith to be led astray. Use in sermons on marriage, idolatry, or the consequences of small compromises.
Translation Comparison
BSB Berean Standard Bible 2020
He did the same for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
WEB World English Bible 2000
So he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
KJV King James Version 1769
And likewise did he for all his strange wives, which burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
ASV American Standard Version 1901
And so did he for all his foreign wives, who burnt incense and sacrificed unto their gods.
YLT Young's Literal Translation 1898
and so he hath done for all his strange women, who are perfuming and sacrificing to their gods.
Darby Darby Bible 1890
And so he did for all his foreign wives, who burned incense and sacrificed to theirgods.
Douay-Rheims Douay-Rheims Bible 1899
And he did in this manner for all his wives that were strangers, who burnt incense, and offered sacrifice to their gods.
Translations in other languages (10 available)
Y así hizo para todas sus mujeres extranjeras, las cuales quemaban perfumes, y sacrificaban á sus dioses.
E assim fez para todas suas mulheres estrangeiras, as quais queimavam incenso, e sacrificavam aos seus deuses.
Et il fit ainsi pour toutes ses femmes étrangères, qui offraient des parfums et des sacrifices à leurs dieux.
Also tat Salomo allen seinen Weibern, die ihren Göttern räucherten und opferten.
En alzo deed hij voor al zijn vreemde vrouwen, die haar goden rookten en offerden.
E fece così per tutte le sue donne straniere, le quali offrivano profumi e sacrifizi ai loro dèi.
I tak uczynił wszystkim żonom swym cudzoziemkom, które kadziły, i ofiarowały bogom swoim.
Так сделал он для всех своих чужестранных жен, которые кадили и приносили жертвы своим богам.
他為 那些向自己的神 燒香 獻祭 的外邦女子，就是他娶來的妃嬪 也是這樣 行。
And so he did for all his strange wives, who made offerings with burning of perfumes to their gods.
Verse in Context
Original Language (Biblical Hebrew)
Old Testament · Biblical Hebrew · I Kings 11:8
Source: STEPBible TAGNT/TEHB (CC-BY 4.0). Click or tap a morphology code to see the full parsing.
Scholars' Consensus
The commentators agree on the surface meaning: Solomon constructed high places for each of his foreign wives who wanted a place to worship their own gods. The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges explains this was “for such of them as desired a special place for their worship.” Since he had already built prominent high places for Ashtoreth, Chemosh, and Molech (vv. 5, 7), he could hardly refuse the others. Gill’s Exposition adds that “when he had done it for one, he could not refuse it to another, without greatly disobliging them.” Matthew Henry calls the whole episode a “sad story” and highlights the shock: the man who was “the beauty of Israel” now sunk to the worship of wretched deities.
All the sources see this verse as the completion of Solomon’s apostasy. The Hebrew verb ‘a.sah (he did) and the phrase “for all his foreign wives” show systematic, deliberate action. This was not a one-time slip but a pattern of accommodation that contradicted the command to have no other gods.
How settled is the interpretation?
Interpretive difficulty: Medium
Main views:
- Accommodation view: Solomon built high places to keep peace with his wives, without personally sacrificing to their gods. V. 8 says “his foreign wives, who burned incense” – the wives do the offering, not Solomon.
- Active participation view: Verse 5 says “Solomon went after Ashtoreth,” using a Hebrew verb of pursuit. The text does not distinguish his actions from his wives’; he built the high places, so he endorsed the worship.
What is clear: Solomon’s actions constituted direct disobedience to God’s command against going after other gods, and this disobedience resulted in God’s judgment that the kingdom would be torn from his son.
What Scholars Agree and Debate
| Topic | Agreed | Debated |
|---|---|---|
| Solomon's personal participation | Solomon built high places and allowed the worship of other gods in Jerusalem, directly violating God's commands. | Some commentators (e.g., Gill) imply Solomon's primary sin was enabling his wives, while others (e.g., the Cambridge Bible) note that the preceding verses show him going after Ashtoreth and Chemosh himself. |
| The nature of the high places | These were structures set up for offering incense and sacrifices to foreign deities, located on the Mount of Olives and elsewhere. | Whether they were small household shrines or full temples like those for Ashtoreth and Chemosh is not specified; the text describes all as “high places” (bamot), which could vary in size. |
| Solomon's eternal state | Scripture records God’s judgment that the kingdom would be divided because of Solomon’s sin. | Catholic tradition generally holds that Solomon died in a state of sin but may have repented (implied in Wisdom literature); many Protestant traditions see a permanent fall; Orthodox tradition tends to view it as a tragic lapse, with hope of restoration. All agree the account is a warning. |
| Why God allowed the fall | God’s sovereignty and justice are both displayed: the covenant had consequences for disobedience. | Some see it as purely judicial punishment for sin; others see a deeper lesson that God permits even great saints to fall so that others may learn from their mistakes. |
Historical & Cultural Context
First Kings 11 must be read against the command in Deuteronomy 17:16, 17, which forbids a king from multiplying wives “that his heart turn not away.” Lange’s Commentary notes that the writer deliberately connects Solomon’s accumulation of riches (1 Kings 10) and horses from Egypt with his many foreign wives. The harem included seven hundred wives and three hundred concubines (v. 3), most from nations God had forbidden for marriage (v. 2).
The high places Solomon built were not ordinary altars. The “mountain that is before Jerusalem” (v. 7) is the Mount of Olives. By placing the shrines there, he made idolatry visible and accessible, right across from the temple. The Hebrew terms for “burn incense” (hiqtir, H6999) and “sacrifice” (zavach, H2076) cover the full range of pagan worship. In the ancient Near East, a wife typically followed the religion of her household, but these foreign wives retained, and likely promoted, their old devotions.
Solomon’s wisdom had made him a magnet for international alliances, sealed by marriage. Such unions came bundled with religious obligations. Ellicott’s Commentary (on a parallel passage) remarks that foreign queens were often the chief patrons of idolatry. Solomon, perhaps thinking himself too wise to be swayed, allowed the shrines as a diplomatic courtesy. The result was the opposite of what he intended: his heart was turned away (v. 4).
Textual Notes
The supplied sources note no significant textual variants for 1 Kings 11:8 itself. The Hebrew text is stable across manuscripts. However, the Cambridge Bible observes that the Septuagint (Vaticanus) presents a different ordering of verses 1, 8, beginning the narrative with “King Solomon was a lover of women” and rearranging the sequence. This suggests the Greek tradition may have used a different Vorlage, but the wording of verse 8 remains consistent across traditions.
Reception History
Throughout church history, 1 Kings 11:8 has been read as the tragic climax of Solomon’s fall. Early Jewish tradition (Josephus, Antiquities) already treated the episode as proof that worldly alliances corrupt worship. Christian theologians from Origen to Augustine pointed to Solomon as a sobering example of one who began in the Spirit but ended in the flesh, a living warning for the baptized. Matthew Henry, in his classic commentary, calls it “a sad story” and marvels that such wisdom could be so misled. The Reformation commentators (Geneva Notes, Calvin) stressed the human responsibility behind the fall, countering any notion that God’s election guarantees immunity from sin. In many pulpits today, this verse is used to caution against interfaith marriages and the slow drift toward spiritual indifference.
Preaching This Verse
Three-point outline
- Systematic accommodation: Solomon did for all his foreign wives what he did for the prominent ones. A single concession turned into a pattern. Small permissions become large compromises.
- The blind spot of wisdom: Solomon had everything, wisdom, wealth, a personal visit from God (v. 9). He still fell. Intelligence and experience do not protect against a divided heart.
- From provision to punishment: The very act meant to please his wives provoked God’s anger (v. 9). What seemed like peacemaking at home brought war with Heaven.
Five-point outline
- The starting point: love for foreign women (v. 1)
- The forbidden marriages: ignoring God’s boundary (v. 2)
- The massive harem: 700 wives, 300 concubines (v. 3)
- The turn away: old age + pressure = divided heart (v. 4)
- The provision: high places for every wife’s god (v. 7, 8)
Illustration hooks
- House rules: A parent allows a “small” exception to a family rule to keep peace with a teenager. Over months, the exception becomes a new normal, and the rule fades away.
- Office politics: A manager joins colleagues in gossip just once to fit in. Soon she’s the one starting it. Solomon’s “just once” opened the floodgate.
- Marriage and faith: A believer marries someone of a different faith, promising not to pressure him. Over time, to avoid conflict, she stops going to church, then stops praying. The accommodation that started as love ends as spiritual drift.
Questions your congregation is asking
- Was Solomon saved in the end? The Bible does not record his repentance, but 2 Chronicles 12:13, 14 shows Rehoboam was born after this, and Solomon ruled forty years. Many traditions hold that he died in a state of judgment; others see possible restoration in Ecclesiastes. The passage itself leaves the question open as a warning.
- Did Solomon actually worship other gods himself, or just make room for his wives? Verse 5 says “Solomon went after Ashtoreth.” The text implies personal involvement, not mere permission. Even if he only facilitated, the result was the same: God judged the nation for his house of cards.
- How could a man who saw God twice (v. 9) turn so far? This is the terror of the passage. No amount of revelation guarantees obedience if we do not guard our hearts daily. The same power that left the tomb empty still respects our free choice.
Leading a Discussion
This verse sits at the bottom of a long, slow fall. Solomon did not wake up one morning and decide to build altars for idols. He started by loving what God had forbidden, foreign women, and ended by giving them space to worship anything but the Lord. In your group, work through the story step by step.
Discussion questions
- Read 1 Kings 11:1, 8. What is the first step in Solomon’s descent? (v. 1). How could a wise king miss the danger?
- Compare Solomon’s marriages with the command in Deuteronomy 17:16, 17. Was Solomon ignorant of God’s law, or did he choose to set it aside? What does that say about knowledge versus obedience?
- The Hebrew word for “foreign” (nokhri, H5237) also can mean “strange” or “unfamiliar.” Why does the text stress that these wives were foreigners? What made them a unique threat to covenant faithfulness?
- Verse 8 says Solomon did this “for all” of them. What does that “all” suggest about the scope of his compromise? Was it limited or comprehensive?
- First Corinthians 10:11, 12 says these events were written as examples for us. What “example” do you see in Solomon’s actions? How does it make you feel about your own small concessions?
- In your own life, where might you be building a “high place” for something that competes with God, a relationship, a habit, a desire for approval? Name it, even if it feels small.
- The passage ends (v. 9, 13) with God tearing the kingdom from Solomon. Yet many Christians today believe that once saved, always saved. How should this story inform that discussion? (Be careful: different traditions answer differently; the warning stands for all.)
Word Study
The key original-language words in this verse. Select any word for its full lexicon entry — meaning, every occurrence in Scripture, and related words.
Cross-References
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (TSK, public domain)
| I Kings 11:1 | Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, together with the daughter of Pharaoh: women of the Moabites, Ammonites, Edomites, Sidonians, and Hittites, |
| Ezekiel 16:22 | In all your abominations and your prostitution you have not remembered the days of your youth, when you were naked and bare, and were wallowing in your blood. |
| Ezekiel 16:29 | You have moreover multiplied your prostitution to the land of merchants, to Chaldea; and yet you weren’t satisfied with this. |
| Hosea 4:11 | Prostitution, wine, and new wine take away understanding. |
| Hosea 4:12 | My people consult with their wooden idol, and answer to a stick of wood. Indeed the spirit of prostitution has led them astray, and they have been unfaithful to their God. |
| I Corinthians 10:11 | Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come. |
| I Corinthians 10:12 | Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn’t fall. |
| I Corinthians 10:20 | But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons and not to God, and I don’t desire that you would have fellowship with demons. |
Interlinear and lexical data from STEPBible (CC BY 4.0). Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0). Commentaries are public domain.
For personal reflection
Read the devotional page — prayer, application, and "for families"
What the Commentators Say
6 public-domain commentaries, condensed into plain language.
Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges Anglican 1880
The commentator notes that the wording indicates Solomon built special worship sites for each foreign wife’s own god, not only for the well-known deities like Ashtoreth and Chemosh. The text thus implies all these foreign gods received equal treatment. A variation in the Septuagint reorders these verses and starts differently, mentioning Solomon’s love for women.
Geneva Bible Notes Reformed 1599
The Geneva annotators point out that Solomon's failure was total: he allowed every single one of his foreign wives to continue burning incense and offering sacrifices to their own gods. Not one was restrained or corrected.
Gill's Exposition of the Bible Baptist 1748
Gill observes that after Solomon built a high place for one foreign wife's idol, he could not refuse the same for any of the others without offending them. This shows how one compromise forces another, and that even the wisest person, left to his own judgment, can descend into the most foolish idolatry.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary Protestant 1871
JFB notes that burning incense was considered a higher act of homage than sacrificing, often used as a synonym for worship itself. This distinction underscores the gravity of the offense, as it involved the highest form of devotion being offered to false gods, provoking God's threat.
Lange's Commentary Reformed 1857
Lange insists that Solomon never abandoned Jehovah or personally worshipped idols. The king's sin was tolerating and enabling his foreign wives' idolatrous practices, building altars for them while remaining outwardly faithful. The text, Lange argues, never says Solomon himself served or sacrificed to other gods.
Matthew Henry's Commentary Reformed/Presbyterian 1710
Matthew Henry emphasizes the shocking tragedy of Solomon's fall, noting that even the wisest and most blessed king was seduced into idolatry through his doting love for foreign women. He observes that Scripture faithfully records this shameful chapter as a warning that no one is beyond temptation.