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THE MESSAGE

1 Kings 11:3

This verse is not available in the MSG!

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Concubinage;   Fellowship;   Influence;   Instability;   Lasciviousness;   Molech;   Polygamy;   Rulers;   Solomon;   Women;   Thompson Chain Reference - Concubinage;   Foes of the Home;   Home;   Polygamy;   Solomon;   The Topic Concordance - Marriage;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Alliance and Society with the Enemies of God;   Ammonites, the;   Backsliding;   Marriage;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Ecclesiastes;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Concubine;   King;   Marriage;   Solomon;   Song of songs;   Treaty;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Gods and Goddesses, Pagan;   Government;   Idol, Idolatry;   Leadership;   Woman;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Concubinage;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Solomon;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Ashtoreth;   Giants;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Ammonites;   Concubine;   High Place;   Kings, 1 and 2;   Moab and the Moabite Stone;   Princess;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Israel;   Molech, Moloch;   Prince;   Solomon;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Concubines;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Mount olivet;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Concubine;   Kings;   Solomon;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Sol'omon;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Kingdom of Israel;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Deuteronomy;   Princess;   Temple;   Woman;   Kitto Biblical Cyclopedia - Alliances;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Polygamy;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
He had seven hundred wives who were princesses and three hundred who were concubines, and they turned his heart away.
Hebrew Names Version
He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
King James Version
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
English Standard Version
He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart.
New Century Version
He had seven hundred wives who were from royal families and three hundred slave women who gave birth to his children. His wives caused him to turn away from God.
New English Translation
He had 700 royal wives and 300 concubines; his wives had a powerful influence over him.
Amplified Bible
He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away [from God].
New American Standard Bible
He had seven hundred wives, who were princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned his heart away.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And he had seuen hundreth wiues, that were princesses, and three hundreth concubines, and his wiues turned away his heart.
Legacy Standard Bible
And he had 700 wives—princesses—and 300 concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.
Contemporary English Version
Seven hundred of his wives were daughters of kings, but he also married three hundred other women. As Solomon got older, some of his wives led him to worship their gods. He wasn't like his father David, who had worshiped only the Lord God.
Complete Jewish Bible
He had 700 wives, all princesses, and 300 concubines; and his wives turned his heart away.
Darby Translation
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
Easy-to-Read Version
He had 700 wives who were the daughters of leaders from other nations. He also had 300 slave women who were like wives to him. His wives caused him to turn away from God.
George Lamsa Translation
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
Good News Translation
Solomon married seven hundred princesses and also had three hundred concubines. They made him turn away from God,
Lexham English Bible
He had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart.
Literal Translation
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And he had seuen hundreth wemen to wyues, and thre hundreth concubynes, and his wyues turned his hert asyde.
American Standard Version
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
Bible in Basic English
He had seven hundred wives, daughters of kings, and three hundred other wives; and through his wives his heart was turned away.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he had seuen hundred queenes, and three hundred concubines: and his wyues turned away his heart.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
King James Version (1611)
And he had seuen hundred wiues, Princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wiues turned away his heart.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines.
English Revised Version
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
Berean Standard Bible
He had seven hundred wives of royal birth and three hundred concubines-and his wives turned his heart away.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And wyues as queenys weren seuene hundrid to hym, and thre hundrid secundarie wyues; and the wymmen turneden awey his herte.
Young's Literal Translation
And he hath women, princesses, seven hundred, and concubines three hundred; and his wives turn aside his heart.
Update Bible Version
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
Webster's Bible Translation
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines: and his wives turned away his heart.
World English Bible
He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
New King James Version
And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
New Living Translation
He had 700 wives of royal birth and 300 concubines. And in fact, they did turn his heart away from the Lord .
New Life Bible
He had 700 wives, kings' daughters, and 300 women who acted as his wives. And his wives turned his heart away.
New Revised Standard
Among his wives were seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
So it came to pass that he had seven hundred wives who were princesses, and three hundred concubines, - and, his wives, turned aside, his heart.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And he had seven hundred wives as queens, and three hundred concubines: and the women turned away his heart.
Revised Standard Version
He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
He had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart away.

Contextual Overview

1King Solomon was obsessed with women. Pharaoh's daughter was only the first of the many foreign women he loved—Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite. He took them from the surrounding pagan nations of which God had clearly warned Israel, "You must not marry them; they'll seduce you into infatuations with their gods." Solomon fell in love with them anyway, refusing to give them up. He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines—a thousand women in all! And they did seduce him away from God. As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful—he didn't stay true to his God as his father David had done. Solomon took up with Ashtoreth, the whore goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites. 6Solomon openly defied God ; he did not follow in his father David's footsteps. He went on to build a sacred shrine to Chemosh, the horrible god of Moab, and to Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites, on a hill just east of Jerusalem. He built similar shrines for all his foreign wives, who then polluted the countryside with the smoke and stench of their sacrifices.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

seven hundred: Judges 8:30, Judges 8:31, Judges 9:5, 2 Samuel 3:2-5, 2 Samuel 5:13-16, 2 Chronicles 11:21, Ecclesiastes 7:28

Reciprocal: Genesis 16:3 - his Judges 19:1 - a concubine 1 Kings 11:9 - his heart 1 Chronicles 14:3 - took Esther 1:18 - the ladies Jeremiah 3:2 - unto

Cross-References

Genesis 11:4
Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let's make ourselves famous so we won't be scattered here and there across the Earth."
Genesis 11:6
God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next—they'll stop at nothing! Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other." Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That's how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From there God scattered them all over the world.
Genesis 11:18
When Peleg was thirty years old, he had Reu. After he had Reu, he lived 209 more years and had other sons and daughters.
Genesis 14:10
The Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits. When the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, they fell into the tar pits, but the rest escaped into the mountains. The four kings captured all the possessions of Sodom and Gomorrah, all their food and equipment, and went on their way. They captured Lot, Abram's nephew who was living in Sodom at the time, taking everything he owned with them.
2 Samuel 12:31
David emptied the city of its people and put them to slave labor using saws, picks, and axes, and making bricks. He did this to all the Ammonite cities. Then David and the whole army returned to Jerusalem.
Ecclesiastes 2:1
I said to myself, "Let's go for it—experiment with pleasure, have a good time!" But there was nothing to it, nothing but smoke. What do I think of the fun-filled life? Insane! Inane! My verdict on the pursuit of happiness? Who needs it? With the help of a bottle of wine and all the wisdom I could muster, I tried my level best to penetrate the absurdity of life. I wanted to get a handle on anything useful we mortals might do during the years we spend on this earth.
Isaiah 5:5
"Well now, let me tell you what I'll do to my vineyard: I'll tear down its fence and let it go to ruin. I'll knock down the gate and let it be trampled. I'll turn it into a patch of weeds, untended, uncared for— thistles and thorns will take over. I'll give orders to the clouds: ‘Don't rain on that vineyard, ever!'"
Nahum 3:14
Store up water for the siege. Shore up your defenses. Get down to basics: Work the clay and make bricks. Sorry. Too late. Enemy fire will burn you up. Swords will cut you to pieces. You'll be chewed up as if by locusts. Yes, as if by locusts—a fitting fate, for you yourselves are a locust plague. You've multiplied shops and shopkeepers— more buyers and sellers than stars in the sky! A plague of locusts, cleaning out the neighborhood and then flying off. Your bureaucrats are locusts, your brokers and bankers are locusts. Early on, they're all at your service, full of smiles and promises, But later when you return with questions or complaints, you'll find they've flown off and are nowhere to be found. King of Assyria! Your shepherd-leaders, in charge of caring for your people, Are busy doing everything else but. They're not doing their job, And your people are scattered and lost. There's no one to look after them. You're past the point of no return. Your wound is fatal. When the story of your fate gets out, the whole world will applaud and cry "Encore!" Your cruel evil has seeped into every nook and cranny of the world. Everyone has felt it and suffered.
James 4:13
And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, "Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we're off to such and such a city for the year. We're going to start a business and make a lot of money." You don't know the first thing about tomorrow. You're nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, "If the Master wills it and we're still alive, we'll do this or that."
James 5:1
And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some lessons in lament. You'll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you've piled up is judgment.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three hundred concubines,.... In all 1000, a prodigious number; though these might not be all for use, but for state after the manner of the eastern monarchs; these were a far greater number than are alluded to in Song of Solomon 6:8, unless the virgins without number there, were such of these as were not defiled by him; but the number here seems plainly referred to in Ecclesiastes 7:28,

and his wives turned away his heart; both from his duty to his God, and from attendance to his business as a king, especially the former, as follows.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

These numbers seem excessive to many critics, and it must be admitted that history furnishes no parallel to them. In Song of Solomon 6:8 the number of Solomon’s legitimate wives is said to be sixty, and that of his concubines eighty. It is, perhaps probable, that the text has in this place suffered corruption. For “700” we should perhaps read “70.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 1 Kings 11:3. He had seven hundred wives, princesses — How he could get so many of the blood royal from the different surrounding nations, is astonishing; but probably the daughters of noblemen, generals, c., may be included.

And three hundred concubines — These were wives of the second rank, who were taken according to the usages of those times but their offspring could not inherit. Sarah was to Abraham what these seven hundred princesses were to Solomon; and the three hundred concubines stood in the same relation to the Israelitish king as Hagar and Keturah did to the patriarch.

Here then are one thousand wives to form this great bad man's harem! Was it possible that such a person could have any piety to God, who was absorbed by such a number of women? We scarcely allow a man to have the fear of God who has a second wife or mistress; in what state then must the man be who has one thousand of them? We may endeavour to excuse all this by saying, "It was a custom in the East to have a multitude of women, and that there were many of those whom Solomon probably never saw," c., c. But was there any of them whom he might not have seen? Was it for reasons of state, or merely court splendour, that he had so many? How then is it said that he loved many strange women? - that he clave to them in love? And did he not give them the utmost proofs of his attachment when he not only tolerated their iniquitous worship in the land, but built temples to their idols, and more, burnt incense to them himself? As we should not condemn what God justifies, so we should not justify what God condemns. He went after Ashtaroth, the impure Venus of the Sidonians after Milcom, the abomination of the Ammonites after Chemosh, the abomination of the Moabites; and after the murderous Molech, the abomination of the children of Ammon. He seems to have gone as far in iniquity as it was possible.


 
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