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Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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New Life Version

1 Kings 11:3

He had 700 wives, kings' daughters, and 300 women who acted as his wives. And his wives turned his heart away.

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 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

1 Now King Solomon loved many women from other nations. He loved the daughter of Pharaoh, and Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian and Hittite women. 2 They were from the nations about which the Lord had said to the people of Israel, "Do not take wives from them. And do not have them take wives from you. For they will be sure to turn your heart away to follow their gods." But Solomon held on to these women in love. 3 He had 700 wives, kings' daughters, and 300 women who acted as his wives. And his wives turned his heart away. 4 When Solomon was old, his wives turned his heart away to follow other gods. His whole heart was not faithful to the Lord his God, as the heart of his father David had been. 5 For Solomon followed Ashtoreth the false goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom the hated god of the Ammonites. 6 Solomon did what was sinful in the eyes of the Lord. He did not follow the Lord with all his heart, as his father David had done. 7 Then Solomon built a high place for Chemosh the hated god of Moab, and for Molech the hated god of the sons of Ammon, on the mountain east of Jerusalem. 8 He did the same for all his wives from other nations, who burned special perfume and gave gifts to their gods.

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 us build a city for ourselves, with a tower that touches the heavens. Let us make a name for ourselves, or else we may be sent everywhere over the whole earth."
Genesis 11:6
And the Lord said, "See, they are one people, and they all have the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do. Now all they plan to do will be possible for them.
Genesis 11:7
Come, let Us go down and mix up their language so they will not understand what each other says."
Genesis 11:18
When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reu.
Genesis 14:10
Now the Siddim valley was full of deep holes with tar. The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah turned and ran, and some fell there. But the others ran away into the hill country.
Exodus 1:14
They made their lives bitter with hard work building with stones and with all kinds of work in the field. They made them work very hard.
Exodus 2:3
But the time came when she could hide him no longer. So she took a basket made from grass, and covered it with tar and put the child in it. And she set it in the grass by the side of the Nile.
2 Samuel 12:31
He brought out the people who were in it also. He made them work with saws, sharp iron tools, and iron axes. And he made them work in the heat making building stones. He did this to all the cities of the sons of Ammon. Then David and all the people returned to Jerusalem.
Psalms 64:5
They talk each other into doing sinful things. They talk about setting hidden traps. They say, "Who will see them?"
Proverbs 1:11
If they say, "Come with us. Let us lie in wait to kill someone. Let us set a trap for those who are without blame.

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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